2 Sketches 4 You and Mojo Monday

Yep, this is me using sketches again. Not sure what I would do without them!!! I just love how they make me think outside of my own box.

This first card uses more of the Hero Arts stamps that I have been playing with. You can tell I love them!!! I took my inspiration for the layout of the images from this weeks 2 Sketches 4 you Laura's sketch #23. The card base is a deckle edge card from CutCardStock.com and I added color to that deckle edge by rubbing it with a Fluid Chalk stamp pad.

The woodgrain pattern stamp is stamped with black ink on Silver Stardream Metallic cardstock from CutCardStock.com. One thing I am discovering with this woodgrain stamp is that it changes with the color of paper it is stamped on and the color of ink you use. How cool is that??? The Japanese doll and the flowers are all stamped and embossed so that the black is more intense and the middles of the flowers and the little flowers on her dress are accented with White Slick 3-D Fashion paint by Tulip. Plus I added a flower to her hair with that paint too.

AND - can you see my BRAND NEW stamps from Verve?? Oh how I love these. I knew I had to have that butterfly the minute I saw it but I also just love the scripture verses that they have used on their stamps. This is my first time playing with Mojo Monday Blog and I loved how different the sketch is. The card base is a wonderful, yellow/gold Stardream Metallic cardstock by CutCardStock.com. This metallic cardstock just goes perfectly with the patterned papers, etc.

You can see that I didn't completely glue down the butterfly so that the wings are standing up a bit. I also attached it to the card with foam tape for some dimension.

A couple hints on what I did with the butterfly.

I stamped it with black ink on White Cryogen Curious Iridescent cardstock from CutCardStock.com. I have mentioned before how wonderful this is to stamp on and the emboss on.

I then cut out the butterfly and sprayed it with two colors of Memories Mists spray by Stewart Superior. I love how intense their colors are and I didn't even have to work to color this image.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

FLORAL GARDEN card
Materials:
Cardstock – Cryogen White Curious Iridescent, White deckle edge card and Silver Stardream Metallic cardstock/CutCardStock.com
Patterned paper – Adirondack/Poppy Collection/SEI
Clear stamp set – Four Dolls and WoodGrain background/Hero Arts
Versafine black stamp pad and Clear embossing powder
Fluid Chalk stamp pads – Clearsnap
Copic Markers
White Slick 3-D Fashion paint – Tulip
Ribbon
Rhinestones – Me & My Big Ideas

CREATE IN ME… card
Materials:
Cardstock – Cryogen White Curious Iridescent and Gold Stardream Metallic/CutCardStock.com
Patterned paper – Flutter/Heart Attack collection/We R Memory Keepers
Clear stamp set – Four Dolls/Hero Arts
Versafine black stamp pad and Clear embossing powder
Black Slick 3-D Fashion paint – Tulip
Circle and scallop circle punches – Papershapers/EK Success
Rhinestones – Darice
Fancy label – K&Co.
Memories Mist sprays/Stewart Superior

Spectacular BOLD Flourish

I love this Bold Flourish stamp. I like flourishes anyway but this one is so big! Here you can see it fits the entire front of my card.

I created this card because Hero Arts had a challenge last week to create cards that were one layer. Now, first of all, I would find that to be a hard challenge because I like patterned papers and dimension and layers but once I thought about it, I knew this would be an easy design to work out. I started with a duplex paper. I used to use these alot in cardmaking because I loved that you could have one color on the outside of the card and another on the inside. Since I wanted to cut away around the edges of the flourish, I knew I wanted the inside color to be different. I also knew that I wanted that simple contrast of the kraft color and the white embossing.

I cut one length for my card, I wasn't sure of the exact size I was going to want yet. I stamped the flourish on the one side of my strip of paper. I stamped the image with white ink and then embossed it with white embossing powder. I cut around all of the flourish design that sat on the edge of the paper. Next I determined where I would want the fold of the card to be and then decided where I would cut my strip for the back edge of the card.

Now for the FUN! I did some shadow stamping of my flourish design on the inside edge. I sprayed Glimmer Mist and did a whole bunch of "inking" with the Chalk ink stamp pads. I just wanted to have a nice contrast when you saw the inside of the card from the outside, front. The rhinestones were added on dots that were in the stamped image and I used pink, orange and red rhinestones to further my color scheme.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

WISHING YOU LAUGHTER card
Materials:
Cardstock – Duplex paper
Wood Mount stamp – Bold Flourish/Hero Arts
Greeting stamp – Hero Arts
White stamp pad and white embossing powder
Rhinestones – Me & My Big Ideas
Glimmer Mist – Tattered Angels
Ancient Page and Fluid Chalk stamp pads – Clearsnap

Chinese Lantern Paint Chip - Hero Arts stamps

So, I have been trying to use this amazing stamp set and look what I found at the Home Improvement store while I was doing my creating!? A little paint chip where the red color is named Chinese Lantern! I just knew I had to use it. I love these particular paint chips because they come with a couple coordinating colors on them.

The card base is White Cryogen Curious Iridenscent Cardstock available at CutCardStock.com. I have mentioned before how much I love stamping and coloring with this paper but here I embossed it for the card base. It is a metallic kind of paper so it is just made for embossing plus it has a slight sparkle making it a great card. I just purchased an entire package of this paper and I love having it to reach for.

The long line of flowers and leaves are part of the clear set of stamps that come with the Four Dolls. I stamped them in white and embossed them with white embossing powder on black paper and then cut out the whole line. It made a great accent on top of that blue patterned paper that was punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.

The little lantern is also part of that same set. I just colored the doll and the lantern with Copic markers. For an added accent, I put a dot of the White Slick 3-D Fashion Paint by Tulip. This makes a great, almost pearl look and I also used it as an accent on the lantern.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

CHINESE LACQUER RED card
Materials:
Cardstock – Cryogen White Curious Iridescent/CutCardStock.com
Clear stamp set – Four Dolls/Hero Arts
Versafine stamp pad
Clear Detail embossing powder – Stamps n’ Stuff
White stamp pad – Craft Essentials/Joann’s
White embossing powder
Martha Stewart border punch
Fiskars corner rounder punch
Paint chip – Home Improvement store
Copic markers
Swiss Dot embossing plate – Cuttlebug/Provo Craft
White Slick 3-D Fashion paint – Tulip

More Hero Arts goodness, the BOLD flourish

Remember that Hero Arts is the sponsor this week for CPS and so while I had my stamps out, I created a few projects to share. I already love flourishes but oh how I love this BOLD one! It is a great size. This one stamping of it covered the entire front of my card. The patterned paper already had the red lines, the words and the scallop border to it.

I stamped the little bird cage stamp separately and cut that out. I only colored it by rubbing it or "inking" it with Fluid Chalk stamp pads. I just love how easy it is to add color with these stamp pads and I love how easy the colors mix. I added the ribbon bow to the top of the bird cage by punching a small hole it in and I added it to the card front with foam tape so there is dimension.

The BOLD flourish was stamped with a green/blue colored ink. I then took the Glitter 3-D Fashion paint by Tulip and filled in every part of the flourish and the dots that are also part of the stamp. The edges of the bird cage are also trimmed with the glimmer paint as is the blue scallop on the patterned paper. The reason I just love to use this particular glitter paint is that it adds glitter or bling while letting the color beneath still show through. Some glitter glues are very colored and actually CHANGE the color of your image. I love those too, but in this case, I wanted a subtle glitter and I wanted my ink color to stay the same.

I just have to share this fun photo with you too.

This is our youngest grandson and he is just discovering the wonders of our backyard. Can you see the total joy on his face while he plays with the sand? He loves picking up handfulls and then throwing his arms up in the air and letting the sand fall. Yes, that does result in sand in his hair and all over his clothes but hey, he is a little boy and he is having a ball!!!

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

A NOTE OF THANKS/BIRD CAGE card
Materials:
Cardstock
Wood Mount stamp – Bird in Cage and Bold Flourish/Hero Arts
Greeting stamp – Hero Arts
Patterned paper – Audrey Scallop Ledger/Making Memories
Ancient Page and Fluid Chalk stamp pads – Clearsnap
Diamond 3-D Fashion paint – Tulip
Versafine black stamp pad
Clear embossing powder
Machine sewing
Flowers – Prima
Mini brad – Creative Impressions
Ribbon

It's a Party - Hero Arts and CPS

Hero Arts stamps is the sponsor for this whole week at Card Positioning Systems blog, sketch #110. Hero Arts Blog just celebrated their 1 year birthday of having a blog and so the party continues. I was able to select a set of these adorable DOLLS, the WOODGRAIN background stamp and this amazing BOLD FLOURISH stamp. I had so many ideas for using them so I am going to post a new card every single day this week! Be sure to come back to get a peek!

This is the card I created to go with this weeks sketch. I turned the sketch on it's side. The beauty of working with sketches is to take some inspiration from what you see and make it your own. I did heat emboss the doll so that those solid black areas would be shiny and more intense.

The flourish stamp was stamped with the white stamp pad and embossed with white embossing powder. Again, this step makes the image more intense. I then cut out the entire flourish.

I have a couple hints to share:

I stamped the image on CutCardStock.com's, Cryogen White, Curious Iridescent cardstock. The more I use this paper, the more I LOVE it! It stamps so clear and crisp and it is perfect to heat emboss on. It works so nicely with the Copic Markers too. The paper itself feels like velvet and it has a slight sparkle although that sparkle doesn't really show once it is colored.

I have used a number of white stamp pads and I just love this one from Joann's stores. It is very wet so that you get a good amount of white ink.

The middle of the flower on her dress has a rhinestone accent for a little BLING.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Create Joy
Materials:Cardstock
Stamps courtesy of Hero Arts – Wood Mount/Woodgrain Pattern, Wood Mount/Bold Flourish and Clear set/Four Dolls
Patterned paper – Hampton/Porcelain collection/Basic Grey
Coluzzle oval template
Scallop scissors
White embossing powder - Judi Kinds
White stamp pad - Joann's Craft Essentials (my favorite white stamp pad)
RhinestonesAncient Page and Fluid Chalk stamp pads – Clearsnap
Ribbon

Mr. Wonderful layout

Totally the sweetest thing in the world is a new born baby when he is sleeping!!! This just gets anyones' heart!

This is our youngest grandson. He is 11 months old right now but this photo just got me as he had fallen asleep in our granddaughters arms. It is also amazing that they can just fall asleep anywhere! I am always jealous of that!

The finish on my big, chipboard initials was kind of a mistake but a mistake that I ended up loving! That is what comes from playing with supplies!

My first plan was to put dots on the letters which were kraft colored. I took the wooden end of a paint brush and dipped that in paint and put dots on my letters with white paint. When I had them all "dotted", I knew I really didn't like the look. The contrast wasn't going to be enough against the patterned paper. I just figured, no biggie, I would paint the letters instead. BUT, the dots had partially dried and as paint will do, the paint had already added a dimension. When I painted the blue paint over the letters and the dots, the raised areas of the dots remained. I loved the resulting feel and look of the blue paint and the little, subtle raised areas of the dots.

I also inked the edges of the letters with a black stamp pad to add more definition to the letters.

A final feature to notice are my circle designs. That is NOT real machine sewing but I have to keep looking at it myself to be convinced. This is a stamp by Hero Arts! I just love their stamps that look like machine sewing. The resulting stamped circles really matched the patterned paper.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

DJB-MR. WONDERFUL layout
Materials:
Solid Cardstock
Patterned paper – Explore/Hubcaps/White Out collection/We R Memory Keepers and October Afternoon
Rub-on word - Luxe
Chipboard letters – Paper Loft
Stamps – Stitched Circle/Hero Arts and Clear Flourish set
Stamp pads – Clearsnap
Buttons
Date stamp – Office supply store
Paint - Plaid

On a personal note!

What does a 6 year old boy do on a wonderful spring evening while his big brother has a baseball game!!?? Climb a tree and sit back and relax! Is this CUTE! This is our next the youngest grandson kicking back while his brother's game is going on.

And, this! This is in our backyard right now. It is a mystery plant. It is very tall and long and skinny and these flowers are starting to open up on it. We planted this some months ago after it was given to us by a neighbor who didn't want it. We had no idea what is was or what it would do so it has been so much fun to watch.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)