inspired by Kim Hughes

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a flower girl; they make me happy in every form.  So when I see a new way to make flowers, you know that I'll be all over it.  Today while blog-hopping, I found a new technique to make flowers, and couldn't wait to try it out.  Kim Hughes at PaperCrafts Connection made a card using all kinds of texts and that idea really appealed to me, too, so I couldn't wait to try casing her card.   To make her flower, Kim starts with a paper ring (I made mine with 2 sizes of scalloped circle diecuts), cuts the ring to open it up, and then rolls it, forming petals as she goes.  Give it a try, it's really fun!  I added as my last layer, the leftover circle that was cut from the ring.

All of my texts are stamped, and all of the stamps are Hero Arts. 

Supplies: CG125 Friend Definition, H2141 Manuscript Background, CG222 Music Background, CL342 Everyday Sayings, parchment, red, green cardstocks, versafine onyx black ink, Nestabilities scalloped circle diecuts

This card was published in the June 2012 issue of CARDS magazine on page 128!

Something old, something new

That's the challenge at The Shabby Tea Room this week.  I just received some new Hero Arts stamps this morning, and the first one I couldn't wait to ink up was the new Music Background cling......it does NOT disappoint!  With a little bit of distressing, doesn't it look just like an old piece of music paper?  After I'd stamped that and ripped the edges, I started looking around for an older stamp......I decided on this Watercolor Rose.  I added some subtle handwriting and more distressing to the edges.  And then I found this old piece of lace, which I believe was a scrap left from the curtains I made for our new dining room back in 1985.  I rubbed some Palette Burnt Umber ink on it to make it look older.  The other brand new thing I added was this pink gingham ribbon, which helped to pull the pink from the rose; it also came this morning in the mail from Really Reasonable Ribbon, my winnings from a challenge I entered last week. 

The effect I was going for was an old-fashioned Valentine; I'm pleased with the way this turned out.

Supplies: pink, parchment, kraft cardstocks, Versafine onyx black, Pallette Burnt Umber, Hero Arts bright pink cube ink, green marker, Hero Arts CG222 Music Background, H3806 Watercolor Rose, LP123 Artistic Windows, CL181 SparkleClear Messages, scrap of lace, bright pink gingham micro ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon, twine, Heidi Grace heart stick pins

In the Forest

That's the challenge for this week's 20th challenge at wee Memories: to incorporate any kind of "In the Forest" things i.e. squirrels, deer, trees, birds, owls, mushrooms, frogs...  I immediately thought of Young Deer......he hasn't been used since last Christmas, and it's time to bring him out again to play.

I started with the Friend Definition for the background, then stamped this unknown tree stamp (got it at a stamp convention, there is no identification on it at all) using a combination of markers and inks on a SU label, and inked around the edges. Then I made my tiny tag using an alphabet set and finally added the heart button and the little fawn. 

Supplies:  kraft, parchment, russet cardstocks, twine, heart button, Hero Arts CG125 Friend Definition, D5234 Young Deer, CL137 Small Variety Alphabet

{Embellish} color challenge with squares

Here is this week's Embellish Magazine challenge, sponsored by Inchie Arts.  As soon as I saw the word "inchie", I decided I would work with these hardly-touched miniature stamps from Inkadinkado, from a set called Flower Garden. 

I chose this lovely little rose design, and stamped it 4 times on Hero Arts iris layering paper, a really pretty shade.  Then I used my 1 1/4" square punch to cut them out.  These were arranged on a  square piece of black cardstock, which was then popped above the green card base.  I just found this old lace seam tape yesterday, while going through my sewing basket, and somehow it just seemed right with the roses. 

Supplies: Inkadinkado 98770 Flower Garden clear stamp set, Hero Arts CL181 SparkleClear Messages, iris layering paper, green and black cardstock, Versafine onyx black ink, Talon stretch lace seam tape, black gem

From Anne and Ann!

I received this award from Anne awhile ago and from Ann this morning!  Thank you so much ladies, I appreciate your kind thoughts!  Anne, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to make this post; it's rule #3 that scared me! 

According to the rules, I must do several things:

1. Thank the person who passed it to you; check!

2. Copy it to my blog; check!

3. List 3 things that you love about yourself; screeching halt -that's such a hard one!  I love that I can call myself a breast cancer survivor, and have been given 6 more years so far, enough to see our first grandson come into this world.  I love that I'm an optimistic person, usually choosing to see the best instead of the alternative.  And I love that I have a wonderful, supportive husband who's seen me through the best and worst of my 61 years and that I still have 2 wonderful parents who made me who I am.

4. Post a picture that you love to your blog.

This is a collage I just made of some pictures we've taken in Maine, our favorite destination at this time of year.  We won't be making the trip this year, so of course, I've been thinking about it alot.

5. Pass the award on to 5 others.  There are SO many people who should receive this award, I don't want to choose.  So I'll pass it on to all of you who inspire me on a daily basis.  I'm so glad that I've discovered this wonderful group of like-minded women; you mean the world to me!

Chickadees

My sweet friend Judy Jung sent me this unmounted chicadee stamp last spring, and I thought it would be fun to try and cut it out and use it instead of my usual flowers for the CASE Study challenge, based on a card by Maki Jones.  I colored them with watercolor pencils, blending with a Dove Blender, then cut it out and added some red metallic gems.  The sentiment is from a clear Hero Arts Thanksgiving set, and the papers used for the background and label are from K&Company fall mat pads. 

Paper-pieced pumpkins

The challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp is paper-piecing.  These pumpkins are perfect for doing just that!  I pieced my background with 2 dotty papers, then stamped the pumpkins on top to use as my base for piecing them.  Then I stamped each of them 6 or 7 times, cutting out individual slices to piece together over my base.  After I'd added the sentiment, they looked lonely, so I stamped and cut out some maple leaves to keep them company. 

Supplies: scraps of various printed papers, Hero Arts G5269 Tall Pumpkin, F5270 Traditional Pumpkin, CL119 Happy Thanksgiving (leaf), The Paper Company Autumn Stamp Kit (sentiment)

CASE study #3

Made for the CASE Study #3 challenge, to case Makiko Jones' card:

I'm in full autumn mode now, helped along by our wonderful cooler temps here in Ohio!  I love Maki's card and plan to have a couple of tries at it.  This one was really simple, using some papers from some K&Company mat stacks for my label and background, then stamping and cutting out the pumpkin and maple leaves on various orange/gold/rust cardstocks.

Supplies: K&Company Fall Harvest and Tim Coffey Fall mat pads, various cardstocks, stampcraft maple leaf and Hero Arts F5270 Traditional Pumpkin stamps

Ariel's butterfly

This is Anita's daughter, Ariel; isn't she a pint-sized replica of her Mama?   A week ago, Anita posted some pictures of her son's birthday party on her blog, and I commented how much I liked Ariel's shirt.  Anita wrote back and said she was working on a card inspired by it and asked if I would like to make a card, too.  So here is mine:

I tried to find colors as close to those in Ariel's shirt as I could: hot pink, orange, and yellow.  The Artists Butterfly was a natural choice to bring all those colors together.  I loved Ariel's little ruffled skirt, too, so that's what my pink flowers represent along the bottom of my card.  And the bow represents the one in her hair.  I added lots of glitter and gems to my butterfly (I seem to remember that little girls love them).

To see Anita's card, go to her blog here.  Thanks, Anita, this was fun, forcing this pastel girl to use some colors I might not use on my own! 

Supplies: Hero Arts H5416 Artists Butterfly, LL206 Take Good Care Greetings, brown, pink, orange, yellow cardstocks, Martha Stewart Butterfly punch, pink flowers and silk ribbon, orange gems, pink and gold glitter

Sweet Treats

Made for the wee Memories challenge called Sweet Treats with Ribbon.  I have been puzzling all week over what I could make for this challenge (I REALLY want some May Arts ribbon!), but the only treats I have on hand here are these cupcakes.  Finally today, going through my basket of ribbons, I saw this ribbon/yarn that Vera sent me; it looks like confetti to me.  Does anyone remember Funfetti?  It was a little package of rainbow sprinkles that could be added to a cake mix or mixed in with the frosting.  Our oldest son always wanted a funfetti cake for his birthday.  So anyway, I wound this ribbon around a piece of white cardstock, and then cut of a few pieces to add to the frosting on my cupcakes, along with a little glitter.

Supplies: Hero Arts CL158 Cupcakes, white and aqua cardstock, colored pencils, glitter, distress inks

Fabric Flowers

Today on the Hero Blog, Sally Traidman showed us her famous fabric flower pins.  They are amazing, and my mind started going immediately.  Since I have a huge stash of quilter's cottons, I couldn't wait to pull some of them out and try her ideas myself.  I don't have the flower stamp that she used (although it's supposedly winging it's way towards me now), so I substituted this Stencil Flower instead.  Sally actually stuffed each petal of her flower, but since this design is a bit more complicated, I made a quilt sandwich with 2 pieces of fabric and a piece or two of cotton batting in the middle, stitched along the stamped lines on the top piece, then cut the flower out carefully close to the stamped lines.  I did the same thing for the leaves.  It was fun to find a button that was just right for the center of each flower.  Here are pictures of each one individually.  This first one was hand-stitched through 4 layers, and my quilting skills need repolishing.  This one is the most "pouffy", but the stitches are huge! 

The remaining flowers were done using the machine:

Supplies: Hero Arts stamps CG194 Stencil Flower, CG198 Blossoms (for leaves), cotton, cotton batting, buttons

Just playing

Supplies: Hero Arts CG194 Stencil Flower, CG118 Stripes Pattern, CG119 Flourish Background, CL447 Beautiful Peacocks (sentiment), white and aqua cardstock, tumbled glass and broken china distress inks, versafine onyx black and versamark inks, white embossing powder, turquoise ribbon, Martha Stewart doily punch

I decided to pull out this big Stencil Flower cling stamp and play with it a bit.  I stamped it on white paper, colored it with a combination of tumbled glass and broken china distress inks, then spritzed it with perfect pearls in water and after drying, added some colored pencil details.  On Jennifer McGuire's blog today, she had some cards using a striped stamp, and that gave me the idea to use my big background stamps for behind the flower.  I love the effect of little pin stripes and lace!  Then all I had to do was add some ribbon and pearls and the sentiment. 

Supplies:  Hero Arts CG194 Stencil Flower, CG 118 Stripes Pattern, CL173 Simple Messages, white cardstock, carnation layering paper, Basic Grey Porcelain designer paper, versafine onyx black, spun sugar and worn lipstick distress inks, Martha Stewart pansy punch

And here is version #2, using spun sugar and worn lipstick distress inks to color the flower and to stamp the background.  This time I added a fabric flower to the center of my stamped flower and some pink-dotted black designer paper from the Basic Grey porcelain paper pad, following Jennifer's lead to use a bit of designer paper with my stamping.

Inspired by Nancy

Supplies: kraft and white cardstocks, versafine onyx black ink and clear embossing powder, black and white gingham ribbon, black button, white twine, white pearls, Hero Arts stamps S5362 Dogwood, S4878 Old Letter Writing, CL380 Truly Appreciated (sentiment), D2129 Vanessa Butterfly, CL383 Antique Engravings (small butterfly)

A few weeks ago the Hero Arts blog featured the Hostesses (fondly dubbed by some as Hosti) and one of them, Nancy, made a card using kraft and white cardstock with all stamping done in embossed black.  HERE it is.  Isn't it a stunner?  Since then there have been many imitations (see HERE and HERE) and today I'm joining the group. 

The Hero Arts Flickr group, for anyone not familiar with it, is a wonderful place of inspiration and friendship!   If you haven't visited lately, you are in for some gorgeous eye-candy.

Want to win some gorgeous ribbon?

Andrea at the Ribbon Girl Blog is giving away some wonderful ribbons and other yummy candy.  There's just a sampling on her picture there on my sidebar.  You have until August 29th to enter - hurry!

EBKS challenge #21

This is the sketch (representing a washing machine) for this week's Everything But the Kitchen Sink challenge.  Here is my entry:

I used papers from DCWV's Mariposa Matstack and some Hero Arts stamps and lace.   Since my sentiment stamp is clear, I was able to curve it to match the curve on the card.   

Supplies:  HA H5426 Artists Butterfly, CL371 Essential Messages, 3 coordinating patterned papers from the Mariposa Matstack, dark aqua cardstock, versafine onyx black ink, lace, blue gems

Play Date Cafe Challenge #43

Isn't the inspiration picture from the Play Date Cafe wonderful?  Especially at this hot time of year, I could just dive into it!

I'm still stuck on my rolled paper roses (this time I started with a die-cut scallop), so this is my take on this week's challenge:

The background and the flowers are made from a double-sided paper (TPC's Woodland Whimsey Mini-Dot) that has both the limeade color and the aqua/turquoise.  The paper I used for the scalloped circle that backs the roses also has the exact colors of the challenge in it; unfortunately, I have just bits and pieces left of it, so I can't identify it.  I got the darker green color from the challenge in by using the punched ferns and the ink for the sentiment. Here's a detail, showing the scalloped edges on the roses and the use of the double-sided paper for them:

Here and here are some tutorials for making these paper roses.

Supplies: Hero Arts CL341 Thank You Sayings, stamped in Versafine Olympia Green ink, limeade and dark green cardstocks, TPC Woodland Whimsey minidot designer paper, unknown designer paper,  nestabilities scalloped circle dies in 3 sizes, fern punch, limeade ribbon

Tea Roses

I wanted to try my hand again at the Shabby Tea Room challenge this week, based on a beautiful picture of a room absolutely drowning with roses.  I started by stamping this beautiful Rose Background in worn lipstick distress ink on ivory parchment paper, then cut it into a labels one shape and distressed the edges a bit.  The sentiment is one of my most used and very favorite ones, stamped in brown.  Then I used the same peachy-pink cardstock as the base of the card to make some rolled paper roses.  I had forgotten how fun and easy to make they are!  I used a sagey green for the leaves and the panel; I love it's softness. 

Also entering this into the PaperPlay Challenge: Pink.

Supplies: Hero Arts CG179 Rose Background, AR137 Script Messages, parchment, pink, green cardstocks, worn lipstick distress ink, Memories artprint brown ink, nestabilities labels one, K&Company paper lace

CASE study challenge #2

Makiko Jones is the creator of this luscious card.  Our challenge at CASE Study is to case it.  Here is my take:

I used my favorite Hero Arts Hydrangea stamp, colored with colored pencils and cut out, and added it to a SU label, backed with a Webster's Pages paper, and added a blue gingham bow and some blue gems.

Supplies:  Hero Arts K5376 Hydrangea, E4147 Sunshine and Flowers, cream cardstock, Websters Pages paper, blue gingham ribbon, blue gems, colored pencils

Buttons, Brads, and Bling!

That's the challenge at wee Memories this week.  I remembered I had these little flower brads, and searched for a stamp that would have flowers small enough to use these with.  What I found was this fence stamp from Anita's.  Then I overstamped the Stampendous Sunflower Stem twice.  After that I just used colored pencils to color in most of the details, then added my brads on top of the small flowers, the large DeNami buttons to the centers of the sunflowers, and a few gems to the buttons. To finish I wrapped some twine around the image and added my sentiment (Hero Arts CL169) before attaching it all to the Bazzill dotted card base.  Thanks, Jenny, this was lots of fun!  Here's a closer picture, to see the details.

Delicate Cottage Rose

This is the beautiful inspiration for this week's Shabby Tea Room challenge #23.   I would love to have a room that looked like this!

Here is my take on it:

The rose is a digital image from Bird's Cards.  I printed it out on Hero Arts carnation layering paper and  green cardstock, then added shading with my colored pencils and mineral spirits.  The background paper is almost the last of the sheet, and therefore unknown.  The brighter pink strip is a grosgrain ribbon, source also unknown.  The sentiment is from a clear set by Impression Obsession called Spring.  The little pearl hearts are from Hero.

My Friend

Doesn't this image remind you of that movie "Beaches" with Bette Midler where she sings "Wind Beneath my Wings"? 

This card was made for the {Embellish Magazine} color challenge, using these colors:

...and we are to make it quirky, cutesy and clean.  I'm not so sure that my card meets ANY of those requirements, but after I found this adorable digital stamp at Digital Two for Tuesday and colored it using the challenge colors, I wanted to share it anyway.  I used Webster's Pages, Cosmo Cricket and K&Company papers for the background, stamped my sentiment, part of one from a Hero Arts clear set, and then added a peach ribbon and a cream button.  For me, this is clean!

Blue Butterfly

I enjoyed using Makiko's sketch so much that I wanted to try it again, using a whole different color scheme.  Here are the challenges that it qualifies for: wee Memories "Butterfly" challenge, Simon Says Stamp and Show "Things with Wings", Simon Says Stamp "Summertime Blues", and of course, CASE Study challenge #1, where I found this sketch to begin with, where the challenge was to case the highlighted card. 
I used this BoBunny sunflower paper from 2005 - I loved it so much I bought multiple pages, and now I'm down to just 1 uncut page; I adore the blue and yellows, they just make me happy. 

Supplies:  Hero Arts H5426 Artists Butterfly, CL184 Thoughtful Messages, versafine onyx black ink,  gold cardstock, Bazzill miniscalloped SlateBlue cardstock, BoBunny Sunflower Stitched Stripe, unknown scraps of yellow gingham and blue and yellow stripe papers, gold dotted ribbon, blue pearl, nesties circle and scalloped circle dies

Daisy Basket

I made this card with 2 challenges in mind, the brand new CASE Stidu, to CASE this card by Makiko Jones:

.....and to use these colors from The Play Date Cafe:

Supplies: PTI Vintage Picnic and Vintage Picnic Sentiments, creamy ivory parchment and kraft cardstocks, papers from K&Company's mat pads called Bailey and by Susan Winget, versafine onyx black and Memories artprint brown inks, raffia ribbon, tiny green buttons

Songbird

I wanted to make another card for 2 challenges, Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge "Things with Wings" and {Embellish} Magazine Birds color challenge.  I came upon this embossed vellum floral paper by K&Company that I have been hoarding forever and decided it would make a lovely background for a Tim Holtz birdcage.  I carefully cut out around 2 of the larger flowers and a leaf, and inserted the cage to look like it was hanging among the flowers.  The bird is an unknown digital image which I colored in brown and peachy rose and popped above the cage.  The sentiment is from a little clear studio g set sent to me by Sue.

Things with Wings

That is the name of the very first challenge at a brand new blog called Simon Says Stamp and Show.   And this also fits for the other Simon Says Stamps Challenge, to use blue in our creation!   Here is my submission:

I was in the mood to get inky, so I stamped the grass silhouette in Versamark, embossed in clear, and then sponged the background in scattered straw, wild honey, and a touch of vintage photo on the edges and the bottom.  I used my nesties labels eight to cut out my shape.  Then I printed out 3 sizes of one of the Flutterbies digital butterflies, and sponged them in a combination of tumbled glass and broken china.  Some twine was wrapped around the label to hold my sentiment, and then it was glued to a Cerulean card.  The butterflies were glued only along their bodies in order to make them flutter. 

Supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts S5316 Silhouette Grass, CL129 Anytime Messages, digital butterflies, scattered straw, wild honey, vintage photo, tumbled glass and broken china distress inks, Cerulean hero hues card, twine

Shabby Tea Room week 22: "Reflections"

The Shabby Tea Room has given us a gorgeous inspiration picture - so romantic and elegant!  Here is my take on it:

The things that I loved about the inspiration were the mirror, the silver candlesticks, the cream candles, and the tiny flower branch.  I first tried making a clear card, but stamping in white on acetate wouldn't show up against my stamped damask background, so I tried embossing the floral flourish in silver on vellum, and was pleased with that result. (my unknown silver embossing powder is quite thick and chunky and makes a thick shiny finish when heated, with pretty good coverage).   Then I added a multi-layer cream and white flower, centered with a big pearl cabochon.  I thought my sentiment would work for an anniversary or a wedding.   The lace does double duty: in addition to adding a little more romance and texture, it helps hold the 2 layers (vellum and cardstock) together.

Supplies: Inkadinkado 97633 Floral Flourishes, Hero Arts S5264 Antique Flower Background, CL163 Always Heart, vellum, versamark ink and silver embossing powder, tan cardstock, white embossing powder, various flowers, pearl cabochon, lace

Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge #19

Aren't these colors gorgeous?  So summery!  They are the challenge colors for Off the Wall Craftiness, a new one for me.  Here is my entry:

I stamped my background with the new spun sugar distress ink, and used shabby shutters for the leaf sprays. I also distressed a bit around the edges of the card and here and there inside it, adding a bit of scattered straw, too.   All stamps Hero Arts. 

Supplies: Hero Arts S5213 Dots and Flowers, CL338 Be Yourself (branches), CL374 Big and Small Flowers, CG130 Butterflies, CL184 Thoughtful Messages, white, corally pink, and yellow cardstocks

wee Memories challenge #17 Butterflies

Made for Jenny's wee Memories butterfly challenge.  I stamped the Artists Buttterfly twice on watercolor paper and then colored one in orange and the other in aqua markers, then combined them.  I tried Kathy R's method of little white dots for highlighting, and that takes a steady hand.....I need lots more practice.   The sentiment is perfect, I think, for a butterfly card.

Supplies:  Hero Arts H5426 Artists Butterfly, CL278 Great Flourishes Messages, My Mind's Eye Bloom and Grow papers, orange and turquoise gems, orange paper flower

THANK YOU, wee Memories, for choosing my card to be in your Fab Four! 

Hope

This will be my last entry for this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge, I promise!  I was inspired by this pendant by Cathy Walters.  Here are the front and back views:
 

And here is my card inspired by that gorgeous pendant:

Supplies: PTI Year of Flowers Violet, Hero Arts S5264 Antique Flower Background, S4878 Old Letter Writing, CG122 Branch Background, CL137 Small Variety Alphabet, iris layering paper, green, yellow, purple cardstocks, versafine onyx black, peeled paint, dusty concord, mustard seed distress inks, versamark ink and white embossing powder, K&Company Handmade Gem Flower