Love and a Big snowflake

This first card kind of ended up by accident!!!

 What I mean about that is that I was sitting at my desk and I keep bits of this and that around, things that didn't fit what I was using them for.  I picked up the little strip of border punched white cardstock and added the paper tape to that.  Then I picked up the golden yellow die cut word, "love", and thought that would work just right with these two. 

 I had just picked up this embossing plate on my last Michaels visit so I needed to try that out too.  I finished with the black heart.  That is a wooden heart, colored with a Copic marker and then coated with Glossy Accents.  I loved how it also fit with the CAS(e) this Sketch.

 Here is the CAS(e) this Sketch.
And this is for the Simon Says Anything Goes Challenge.

 For this card I wanted to use the retro sketch.  This big snowflake seemed like a great starting point.  The blue strip of cardstock is sprayed with a white spray ink.

 I love using Distress Stains so I picked up two colors and applied both of them to the stamp.  These stains have a dauber top so this is so easy.  I spritzed the stamp with water so the colors would run a little bit, then stamped it. 

Here is the retro sketch.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Ticket stamps

I am so in love with this weeks CAS(e) this Sketch so it was pretty fun to play along.

 

 I went to my stamp shelves where I keep my favorite older stamps and pulled out a few to use on a mix of elements on my card. 

 The row of tickers are from Invoke Arts stamps, the butterfly is from Stampa Barbara (an amazing store that is not around anymore) and the vine spray is from Paper Source.  The butterfly was colored with Copic markers and then I gave the background a spray or two of Heidi Swapp's gold spray.  It is such a neat gold.

Here is that adorable CAS(e) this Sketch.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Fall leaves

I LOVE fall leaves!!! I love the colors, I love the artistry of them on the tree or off of the tree.  A whole row of trees in golds and oranges and reds is oh so beautiful.

 This love gave me a really good reason to play along with the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger. I have a great fall related card created and it fits the Trigger pretty nicely. I used all Hero Arts stamps for my card.  With that sentiment it fits great for a Thanksgiving related greeting.

 I love background stamps and this new one from Hero Arts in no exception. The design is leaves but I have found it works pretty cool for just about any occasion.  I stamped the leaves in a variety of colors and lightly spritzed them with water before stamping.  That gave them more of a mottled look.  It was fun to accent that background with dots of Liquid Pearls. 

The Trigger piece have a lot more red it in them my card but I used the pile of leaves as my main inspiration.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Chevron love

Both of the cards I wanted to share today have a chevron kind of design.  I love that look.

 First off, I wanted to play along with the 10 minute craft dash.  The color combination is so cool.  I was really able to create this little goodie in just under the 10 minute deadline! I can't believe I could do that but let me tell you, when you are on a time limit you sure can't sit around and try to make decision's!!! You just grab stuff.

The process -

1.  I picked out the Hero Arts stamp and the three colors of Distress Stain. START!

2.  The three colors of the Distress Stain were applied to the stamp and then spritzed with water.

3.  I stamped this on the white cardstock and cut this out to size.

4.  I punched the leaf sprig and added that and the two flowers to the card.

5.  I picked up the set of Heidi Swapp epoxy words that were on my desk and used one of the words for my sentiment.

6.  I took a bottle of red Clearsnap spray ink, took out the sprayer and flicked some of the red ink on my card.

7.  DONE!!!

 Here is a close up of the neat way the colors mixed.

 The 10 Minute Craft Dash

 For this card, I wanted to use the Seize the Sketch challenge.  I turned the sketch on it's side for my card. 

 The sentiment is from a stamp set I just purchased from Verve stamps.  I love sentiments like this that are meant to encourage a friend.  The leaves I stamped on here are from Paper Source and then I accented the tap with some punched leaves, the same punch as on the first card.

 Here is the Seize the Sketch challenge.
And for a photo...

I was watering some of my plants this week and just had to share how pretty this guy is.  It just keeps going with those wonderful blooms.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Lacey and White

With the CAS(e) this Sketch for this week, I saw an opportunity to try what is to me a little bit of a different technique.

 I used a doily die and instead of cutting it out, I embossed it on the white cardstock.  Just that makes a big enough statement to basically complete the entire card.  All I needed was a pretty flower and a simple sentiment.  The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

 To give this even more of a twist, I inked the die first with a Distress Stamp pad.  I just blotted my ink pad all over the raised, cutting edge of the die.  This was then carefully placed on the card front exactly where I wanted it and then I ran it through the Cuttlebug.  I so like the results. 

 Here is the CAS(e) this Sketch.

And for a fun photo...

I tried this recipe, for Strawberry and Cream Cheese Muffins.  I wanted to make mine into mini muffins and that ended up being a little more of a challenge since each little muffin cup is so small and you add the ingredients in layers.  I also drizzled on some simple frosting created with Confectioner sugar, milk and vanilla.  I love the results though, they are moist and sooooo good.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

So much color

I was able to play along with a couple online challenges this week, both are a pretty interesting combination of COLORS!!!

 First off, the Freshly Made sketch.  My color combination is on the unusual side for a winter themed card but I thought it was pretty fun.

 I took a piece of watercolor paper from a little pad of paper I picked up at a Crafter's Warehouse.  The paper was spritzed with some water first and then swiped with four colors of Distress Stain.  The stains reacted with the water and ran for a neat look.  This was sprayed with a white spray and then dotted with some watered down white paint.  I finished it off with some stamped little mittens that are a stamp from Wplus9 Designs.

 Here is the Freshly Made sketch.

 Next off, a card using the Colour Q combination. 

 I used some fun Paper Source stamps, the flower and the leaves.  I stamped the flower twice.  The first one was colored with an orange spray of Stephanie Barnard spray by Clearsnap.  The second was sprayed with a pink spray.  I cut out the middle section of the second flower and added that over the first flower.  The spray made for a fast and easy was to color these flowers. 

 Here is the Colour Q combo.

We were at our pet store this week and they had just gotten in some crabs.  I just loved this guy sitting on top of a big rock.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Tuesday Trigger

I love to play along with Cath's Tuesday Trigger challenges at Moxie Fab. 

I used some of my new Hero Arts stamps and did some stamping with Distress Stains.  I applied the Stains directly to the stamps, giving that inking a spritz of water each time so the result was a watercolor look. 

 The background was created with one brush stroke stamp.  I just stamped it repeatedly in four different colors, overlapping the images from one side to the other side. I loved the result and felt it fit with the Trigger piece. 

Here is the Tuesday Trigger.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Happy Blessings

In order to use a couple sketch challenges, I created two cards, one "Blessings" and the other "Happy". 

 First off, I wanted to play along with the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge with their great sketch.  I so love this notebook paper die so I used that as the foundation of my card and the main piece that follows the sketch. 

 This is actually a tiny card.  After I cut the die piece, I took a Distress Stamp pad and "stamped" that directly to the paper, giving me a square piece of color.  I also gave this a small spritz of water that made some of the color run.  I cut out the leaf from a piece of cardstock after I added some color to that paper with a few colors of Distress Stain.  I coated the leaf with some Distress Rock Candy.  I tried to turn the card so you could see a little bit of the sparkle.

 Here is the Paper Smooches Sparks sketch.

 For my "Happy" card, I used the retro sketch.  I picked up some new papers from Echo Park.  It is always fun to use papers that coordinate. 

 I love the little grouping of accents in the corner.

Here is the retro sketch.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Snowy Winter Day

I love this stamp that is simply a forest full of trees.

My first thought when I saw it is that it could fit for a few different occasions.  Here I used it along with the Colour Q color combination to create a snowy winter day or night  scene.  The stamp is stamped with a Distress Stamp pad on white cardstock. 

 In order to include the yellow in the combo, I punched out a circle and put some yellow cardstock behind that.  My intention was to create a night scene but I'm not sure if the yellow looks like a moon!!  I used the  Liquid Pearls to create my snow. 

Here is the Colour Q combo.
And for a few photos...
We love pumpkin patch visits. We have several really close to us so we try to get in a couple stops. 

 I used my Hipstamatic camera on my phone to capture some pics. 

He had his heart set on getting a gray pumpkin so he was pretty happy to find this one.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Candy Favors

Making quick and easy little treat holders are always fun and great for little gifts or favors.

I created these two little cuties for Crafts n' Things Fall issue using some Paper Smooches stamps.

The borders are stamped directly on the cardstock. The little bats were stamped separately, cut out and colored with Copic markers.  The candy gift in tucked inside in a little plastic bag, making sure the bag is tied to the bag with the twine.  I bought little googly eyes are Michaels.

Here is the image of the Fall issue.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost 

Pumpkins and Blessings

The sketch at CAS(e) this Sketch has so many possibilities but I saw it as the perfect opportunity to use some new stamps.

 I just ordered this adorable little pumpkin set of stamps from PaperTrey, Inc.  All of the sentiments that come with it are fitting for a baby card so I went to a new set of sentiments from Hero Arts. 

The background is also a stamp from Hero Arts, I just didn't ink it all the way so it would have a slight distress look. 

 

Here is the CAS(e) this Sketch.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)