A Pirate Moose!

I had to make a card for my nephew who is turning 22 on Monday. These are the toughest cards to design - in my opinion. Guys between 17 and 30. Seeing that the pirate theme always goes along well, I saw the Pirate Riley image and thought "This might work!" So I colored him with Copic markers (colors are shown below). It is a lot of colors, but there are a lot of little things to color on this stamp! I used the BoBunny Double Dot Designs striped cardstock for the background and the red and teal colored standard double dot cardstock for accents. I added the black ribbon with the white stitching for some accent (not too girlie, mind you!) and punched out the happy birthday design and layered it to a black scallop circle cut from a Spellbinders die.

I think he will like the card - now we just have to hope that the rain ends before his surprise party!

Thanks for coming by today!
Jeannette

Lovely Violets...

This card is using the violets set from Flourishes. Of all the flower stamps by Flourishes, this set is one of my favorites. I stamped the image on white cardstock with Memento ink first, then cut it out with a circle Spellbinders die so that the image is mostly on the left side of the circle. After cutting it out, but before I popped the circle out of the die, I applied Ranger Wild Honey Distress ink around the edges of the circle - the die protects the edge so you get that nice white contrast when you remove the cardstock from the die. The violets are colored with Copics and the Happy B-Day stamp is from another Flourishes set - Mix-n-Mugs. I used an EK Success border punch to create the 2 purple layers that cover the left edge of the circle. The ribbon is from May Arts - another of my favorites!

Thanks for checking out the blog today!
Jeannette

Pretty Marcie...

This is another fun stamp from La-La Land stamps. I colored her with Copic markers and made her a blonde this time. These stamps color very well with Copics. For the background, I cut out various papers with a Spellbinders Blossom die and some flower punches. I think this is a fun little card that could be used for many occasions.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Jeannette

A Birthday Card with La-La Land!

Well, a sundress might be a little comical in New England these days, as the Seattle area likely has had more sun in the last week than we have had.

For this card, I stamped the image in Memento ink and colored with Copic markers. She is completely cut out and layered to a taupe colored oval cut with the Spellbinders petite ovals and a matching scallop oval. I used a fun birthday paper on card - to help get into the festive spirit and added a happy birthday image popped up in a layered scallop circle. Quick and easy - good for kids and adults alike!

Thanks for coming by!
Jeannette

Delight in the Unexpected...

Sorry I have been so bad about posting. I always have great plans - just don't always seem to execute them as well as expected.

This card features Marcie - one of the characters from LaLa Land Crafts - which is one of the newer companies that we recently picked up for the store. In this image, she is sitting, which always poses a challenge for designing a card, so I had her "sit" on a piece of ribbon. She is colored with Copic markers and cut out. I used an EK Success border punch on 2 different pieces of cardstock - one is an embossed cardstock from Bazzill and the other is a print cardstock from Kaiser. After punching out the borders, I butted the 2 ends together on a lighter purple Bazzill layer, put that on a green layer and wrapped the ribbon piece around where the 2 pieces came together. Then I mounted all that onto a darker purple card and attached Marcie with foam tape so she is sitting on the ribbon. The words are from Hero Arts - I stamped them on green cardstock (same color as the green layer below), then punched them out with a circle punch and added a purple scallop circle cut from a Spellbinders die. That is also attached with foam tape.

Thanks for coming by today!

Jeannette

Who Does Not Love a Butterfly?

This card uses a combination of stamps - the butterfly is from Memory Box and the wording is by Flourishes. I started with a circle cut with a Spellbinders circle die - then stamped the wording on the circle. Next I added a darker shade circle and layered that to a white beaded circle cut out. Instead of using pearls on each of the circle "beads", I punched small circles out of silver metallic paper and glued them on with Ranger Glossy Accents. Couple benefits of this - nothing to get jammed in the postal machines and it is way more cost effective. The butterfly was colored with Copic markers - cut out and attached at the body of the butterfly with Glossy Accents.

Thanks for checking out the blog today!

Jeannette

Another Easter Card...

This is another bunny card using a stamp from Northwoods Rubber Stamps. Cute bunnies in a circle. These were colored with watercolor pencils and a Dove blender. I added a scallop circle under the bunnies - cut from a Spellbinders Classic Scallop Circles die using a swiss dot cardstock from Bazzill. The pink layer is one of the new BoBunny Double Dot Designs cardstock. This is the smaller swirl design - which was perfect for this card. I added some adhesive pearls in the corners.

Thanks for stopping by! Jeannette

JustRite Daffodils

This is another image from the JustRite Breath of Spring stamp set. I LOVE daffodils - they are a happy flower and one of the things that we look forward to seeing every spring!

For this card, I started with the daffodil pitcher image and one of the borders that comes with the set. That was cut out with a Spellbinders classic oval die. The image is colored with Copic markers. I like to do the cutting first, just in case something moves when going through the machine, I have not spent a bunch of time coloring yet! That piece is layered to a blue cut out from the Spellbinders Labels Ten die set. The "background paper" underneath that is actually a very light striped designer paper that I stamped over with a Penny Black stamp in Ranger "Stormy Sky" Distress ink. It was just enough color. After that, I punched a border design out of navy cardstock and layered that to the stamped piece. I wrapped some May Arts ribbon around the layers and attached a bow with a glue dot. Layer that all up to a card with some KaiserCraft paper, add a few pearls and you're done!

Thanks for stopping by!
Jeannette

The New Spellbinders Accent and Motif Dies are IN!

Yes, this is the order that got lost, but Spellbinders shipped it out quickly and these wonderful new dies are now in the store for you to take home! We have been watching the members of the Spellbinders Design Team create wonderful cards with these dies for months - now you can start creating yourself!

Have a wonderful day!
Jeannette

Let the Good Times Roll!

I needed a card for a guy's birthday - and one that owns a Harley! The new Penny Black images just came in last week and this biker hedgie is one of the new images! PERFECT! I stamped the image with black VersaFine ink and colored it with watercolor pencils and a Dove Blender Pen. The DP is both by BoBunny. I added a dark blue strip punched with an EK border punch and a birthday sentiment layered with a couple Spellbinders dies. A fun little card that was quite easy to make!

Have a GREAT day!
Jeannette

JustRite Breath of Spring...

Well, if Mother Nature won't give us Spring weather, we'll just have to create Spring in our cards! This image is from the "Breath of Spring" set from JustRite Stampers. Colored with Copic markers and layered to a fun stripe DP from Memory Box and then some blue Swiss Dots from Bazzill. The ribbon is fun colored edge ribbon from May Arts. I added some tiny adhesive pearls to the centers of flowers facing forward. I stamped the image with Memento ink and then cut it out with a classic ovals Spellbinders die - then layered to a slightly larger oval cut from a blue Bazzill cardstock. This is a great all-purpose card - the kind you can keep in your drawer and use for almost any occasion!

Thanks for checking the blog today!
Jeannette

A Heart-Shaped Valentine...

I used the Spellbinders heart dies to make this heart-shaped valentine card. The actual card is made with the largest straight heart die. Fold a piece of cardstock and secure the die to the card so the the tops of heart die are slightly above the fold. Now, this gives you a heart with flat tops. I then took a large scalloped heart die and cut that out and attached it over the top of the card front - so that it is a complete heart and the card opens underneath it. The little girl image is from Stampendous and she is a real cutie! After that it is just simple layering and coloring. An easy way to make a heart-shaped valentine!

Have a great stamping day!

Jeannette

It's TRUE - Lacey Ovals are Coming!!!!

It was not part of the Spellbinders New release Blog Frenzy, but some of you noticed a card on a blog that used a Lacey Ovals die. I just spoke to Spellbinders and it is TRUE!!! Lacey Ovals are REAL and should be shipping in March! I don't know about you, but I am SO EXCITED!!!! I love ovals and the Lacey Ovals are GORGEOUS!!! There are a handful of other new die sets that were not part of the blog frenzy, more on those this weekend! But, some of you also saw a card online and immediately asked me about it. I had no confirmation until today, but just wanted to let you know that they ARE coming!

Keep checking the blog for other new items being released and pictures from the show!

Jeannette

And now back to our regular programming...

My plan was to upload a card every day during all the information on the new items coming out at CHA. Hmmmmm....did not quite work out that way. So, we're going to sneak one in today. Who can resist a hedgie in heart underwear? Holding a heart balloon no less! This is another great image from Penny Black. I stamped the hedgie on a piece of card stock a little shorter than the size of the stamp. Then I stamped the balloon part of the image on a scrap of cardstock, cut it out and colored it. It was layered to a Spellbinders scalloped square and some designer paper. The words are stamped on a petite oval Spellbinders die, layered to a scalloped oval. I used a couple little "gold pearls" on either side of words. The balloon is put on with foam tape for a little pop. Just a fun little card that will certainly make someone laugh!

Thanks for coming by the blog today!
Jeannette

Hedgehog Love...

Nothing like flowers for a lady! See, even hedgehogs know that a woman cannot resist flowers! This is a fun image from Penny Black with those infamous hedgies! I colored the image with Staedtler watercolor pencils and a Dove blender pen. The words are from Inky Antics and are stamped on a piece cut from the Spellbinders Fancy Tags die set. I added a few punched hearts around the hedgies and some silver pearls.

Enjoy our day!
Jeannette

Christmas Card from the cats...

Besides giving a gift, the cats also make a card every year. Either they are crafty felines or they know who to commission for the job! I did not have a lot of cat Christmas images this year, so I had to improvise. I started with an old QuicKutz cat die - cut them out in 2 colors for the different cats and added some tabby striping. If you noticed the picture of Dora from a few posts back, she is actually a patch tabby with both orange and gray patches, but that is WAY too difficult to try to recreate, so she becomes the orange one. Bucle (pronounced buckle -the name the folks at the humane society gave here) is a classic gray and black tabby - much easier! The tree and swirl is from the new Spellbinders set. I stenciled some green onto the tree, then cut the tree out again from gold and red foil paper. I discovered that it looks like faux metal! It is beautiful! Good thing to discover for future projects! Everything got glued down and I added some little holly springs from a Tonic punch to make the girls more festive! Phew! Now I am off to the gift wrapping phase!

Merry Christmas Eve to everyone!
Jeannette

Outlines Dove Card...

This is one of the new holiday images from Outlines. It is part of a collection of images that can be "inside-outside" designs. The complete design is stamped on the inside. The front of the card has a circle cut out of it and the image is stamped a second time with parts of the design cut out and attached to the front - lined up with the design on the inside. In this particular case, the wing of the dove is cut out and attached with the tip of the wing coming through the circle to the front of the card.

Thanks for coming by for a look!

Jeannette

Define Good...

I am sure that there are a lot of kids saying exactly that during this month as they impatiently wait for Christmas! This adorable image is from The Cat's Pajama's and I just LOVE IT! The image is stamped on a circle cut out with a Spellbinders circle die then layered to one of the Spellbinders labels die. I took the stripe DP and ran it through an embossing folder, then rubbed a Ranger Distress pad (Brushed Corduroy - my fave brown) over the embossed design so that the design was highlited. It totally changes the look of the paper and I love the way it "de-stripes" the paper a bit. I punched a few snowflakes and added gold pearls.

Thanks for visiting today!

Jeannette

Grand Caliber is HERE!

The Spellbinders Grand Caliber die cutting machine and dies have arrived! This machine allows you to cut and emboss dies up to 8-1/4" wide and the new Grand die sets have large dies. Your first thought is that these are only for scrapbooking - not true! I have seen some very interesting card applications with these dies - in some cases folding the die cut in half to make a card. You want to check these items out.

Jeannette

Holiday Mimi!

Wow! Where did the week go? I have seriously fallen off the blogger wagon! And I have stuff to share, just kept forgetting to sign on and post it. Maybe it is the weather here - that Nor 'easter came up the coast and dumped some serious rain and made for some pretty dreary and cold weather. No snow, but 40-degree rain is pretty miserable.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand - card making! This is a cute little card using one of the Mimi stamps from Penny Black. She is a very cute little character and this image with the polar bear is one of my favorites. It's a complex little card. I cut a circle out of the red cardstock with a Spellbinder die. The piece under it is colored with Ranger Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and also stamped with a couple snowflakes out of the same color. Mimi is stamped and colored with Copics, then carefully cut out. The waves are made with a Fiskars border punch and attached below the image, so it looks like they are on an iceberg. I stamped the small piece of green with the harlequin background image from Impression Obsession. For small pieces like this, I simply place the stamp on the table - rubber side up, ink the stamp in this case with a VersaMark pad, and then place the small piece of cardstock on the stamp and rub from behind. Then you just carefully pick it off the stamp. Layer it all up and you have a cute holiday card!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jeannette