Your Kindness

Here's another card for the All That Glitters challenge at Moxie Fab World.  This time I was inspired by this example that Cath gave us.  LOVE that peach with the gold!

My peach is a hair darker in real life, and it really photographed even darker.

I decided I wanted to emboss my favorite Hydrangea stamp in gold, and I put it on a tag stamped with Musical Collage.  The sentiment is from Flourishes Picking Wildflowers.  And can you believe that just as I was about to put these elements together, my mailman brought me a box from Cath's "Moxie Magical Prize Drawer" that had this Dear Lizzy gold glittery clothespin in it!  How's that for timing?!

Simon's October CardKit!!

I think this may be my favorite CardKit that I've received this year,  simply because it's fall-themed, and I am sadly in need of updated autumn stamps and elements.  Here's the card I made the day I received my kit:

Love, love, LOVE the Lawn Fawn Into the Woods papers that are in this kit, and the sweet little tree stamp and lots of accompanying stamps to decorate it with!  So I stamped the tree and the multi-leaves,  then went back in with the single leaf stamp and added more colors to the leaves, using the paper that I included on my card as a guide: 2 blues, green, orange,and barn red distress inks.  The sequins, also from Lawn Fawn are just too cute not to use, so they were added after I put the rest of my card together.  

Here's a simple second card, using the striped paper, Kelly's alphabet stickers, and the chipboard heart and twine included in the kit:

Don't wait to order this CardKit - I guarantee you'll be kicking yourself when it sells out, as I know it will!

All That Glitters.......

The current challenge at Moxie Fab World is  what Cath calls All That Glitters is Gold, and we are to use gold on our projects.  I thought I'd incorporate it into something fall-like, and in looking through my stamps I found a purchased card that I had saved for inspiration, so I followed its design, though the colors aren't the same.

Starting with a beige card stock, I chose this oak leaf medallion design and a sentiment from the same set (a clear set by The Paper Company Studio that I found several years ago at JoAnne's) and stamped them, then heat-embossed them with Ranger's Super Fine Detail Gold embossing powder.  Then I simply trimmed it out, framed it with some gold vellum, and put it on my card base that had been dry embossed with this Cuttlebug folder called Victoria.  It's hard to get a good picture of the gold.

Cath gave us some gorgeous examples, and I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!  

A tiny card

Here's a tiny little card, measuring 3" X 4", that uses the Penny Black stamp set Summer Fun:

All of the images and sentiments in this set are little, so it's perfect for a little gift enclosure or tiny card like this one.  I simply colored the vase of flowers, stamping the flowers a second time and popping them above the surface, and then surrounded the little panel with some scraps of design papers that use some of the same colors.  It's fun working in miniature!

Thanks for visiting today!

Simon Says.........Embossing

Hello, and welcome to another Wednesday challenge for Simon Says Stamp!  

This week our theme is Embossing, either wet or dry, and the DT are using Cuttlebug or Sizzix products in our creations. With all of the beautiful embossing folders that we have to choose from, it is one of my favorite things to use on my cards.  I made 3 cards for you today, all using embossing folders.

Here's my first card today, using faux letterpress.  I inked the front of the embossing folder before putting my paper inside, and that gives a greater definition to the embossing.

supplies: cream cardstock, Cuttlebug Anna Griffin Poppy folder and strip, butter bar mid-tone ink, Ali Edwards Bring on the Sun sentiment

For my 2nd card, and still in the mood for yellow, I let the embossing folder be the star of the show, just adding a sentiment, some flowers and pearls.  I love how this one turned out:

supplies: cream, yellow, and green cardstock, Sizzix Ornate Frames folder, The Craft's Meow Side by Side, Die-Namics large and mini rolled roses, Wplus9 Folk Art Florals leaf die, yellow pearls

I'd like to enter this 2nd card into the Flourishes Make a Good Impression challenge.

And for my 3rd card, I used a technique I learned from Lisa Spangler, embossing over washi tape and stamping.

supplies: white cardstock, assorted washi tapes, Sizzix Vines folder, Penny Black flutters buterfly die, Ali Edwards So Very Thankful (thank you, Lisa!), picked raspberry distress ink

Our sweet Heidi has provided another $50.00 gift voucher for the random winner of our challenge.

There are so many Embossing folders in the Simon Says Stamp Store, which would you choose if you won?

Penny Black Color Combo Challenge

The Penny Black Blog is featuring a different color combination every day this week, and the challenge is to choose one of the combinations and use it as an inspiration for a card using at least 1 Penny Black stamp.

So I pulled out a stamp set that I haven't inked up until now and grabbed some markers in those colors and here is my simple entry:

I repeatedly stamped only the solid branch and the leaf cluster from Tree-mendous clear set, then colored in the leaves with my markers.  In order to bring in that teal/turquoise color, I mounted my panel on a card base of that color, and added my sentiment (also from the same set) in a die-cut circle.

Next I remembered this Christmas stamp that I got last year and decided to get my Christmas cards going for this year:

This one uses Nature's Best and Indian Wheel for the background.  After stamping and coloring the bird image, it looked too stark against the white background, so I overstamped Indian Wheel using old paper distress ink.  Then I stamped the same thing with Splash ink on a pool notecard.  I know there isn't a sentiment on this one.  I have very few Penny Black Christmas sentiments, but that will be remedied very soon, and I'll add one from the newest catalog when it arrives.  

The contest is open from now until September 27 at 11:59 PM Pacific time.  You can enter as many times as you want, and of course there are prizes up for grabs: 3 winners will receive a prize package each valued at $25.00!!  To see the other color combinations, tune in to the Penny Black Blog every day this week of Sept. 9 - 13.

Please visit me at Simon Says Stamp!

If you're here for The Craft's Meow blog hop, please scroll down 1 post or click HERE.  Thanks!

I'm thrilled to share with you that today 2 of my cards using Penny Black stamps are being featured over at the Simon Says Stamp Blog  for their STAMPtember® event!!  I consider myself primarily a stamper, so I was thrilled to be asked to be part of this fun event!  

Simon Says Stamp was founded in 2002 with an interest in exclusively selling rubber stamps. It didn’t take long until we realized we couldn’t stop there. During the past 11 years we celebrate rubber stamping in its full glory by giving access to people around the world to a one stop shop. Rubber stamps still remain the heart of our business and we are celebrating by hosting a STAMPtember® event intended to inspire, educate, and celebrate the greatness of rubber stamping. Part of the enticement of rubber stamping is that stamps can be used in creating or complementing ANYTHING! From stamping dates on bank documents and postage parcels in the early 18th century, rubber stamping has dramatically expanded to include card making, scrapbooking, mixed media, life documenting, art journaling, and many forms of altering and expressing art.

Here's a little sneak of one of my cards - please hop over to the Simon Says Stamp blog to see my cards in full.

And, courtesy of the generous people at Simon Says Stamp,  I have a 10% coupon code for you for all Penny Black products at the Simon Says Stamp Store from now until 11:59 PM EST September 9, 2013; it's pblacksav.  Happy shopping!

The Craft's Meow September Blog Hop

It's the 7th of the month, and that means our traditional blog hop at The Craft's Meow!  Our theme this month is Anything Goes, using a favorite technique.  You should have arrived from Larissa's blog.  If you just happened across me today and want to start at the beginning, here is a listing of all blogs participating:

Amy Crockett

Angelica Suarez

Clare Buswell
Deborah Nolan

Gayatri Murali

Jennie Harper

Jessica Fick

Jinny Newlin

Karen Baker

Larissa Heskett

Lin Brandyberry (you are here)

Nina Brackett

Sharri Seffens

One of my favorite techniques is called Layered Stamping.  It involves building up various stamps and inks, all on the same level.  Maybe seeing my card will help explain, and then I'll go into detail

To begin, I stamped the Amazing Grace quote from our Beautiful Hymns set, in VersaMark ink 4 times down the center of my watercolor panel, offsetting it to the right slightly each time.  Then I clear embossed those words.  Next, I used an acrylic block and inked it directly with some distress inks: rusty hinge, scattered straw, and peeled paint, splotching on color almost all over the block.  The block was spritzed quite a bit with water to encourage the inks to blend, and then I stamped over my sentiment panel with that acrylic block and allowed the wet inks to soak into the watercolor paper.  After removing my block and blotting up any puddles of excess ink, and using my finger to move some of those puddles into areas that didn't take any ink, I then allowed the panel to dry. The heat embossed words resist the inks and stand out from the background.  I like the uneven edges that this method results in, and you won't ever get the same results twice!

Next I overstamped this beautiful flourish from our Fancy Flourishes set, in opposite corners of my panel, first in rusty hinge and then in peeled paint.  The panel was then added to my rust card base.  To finish I chose 2 Prima resist canvas flowers and colored them with distress inks and water.  I smooshed some of the inks on my kraft sheet, spritzed with water, then used my finger to transfer the ink color to the canvas flowers.  Again, since the canvas has some resist script already on it, the ink settles around the resist.  After allowing them to dry, I added a button and some twine and popped the layered flower above my card as you see it.  Here's a close-up of the finished flowers.

The Layered Stamped Background technique is one I learned from Sharri Carroll, and if you'd like to see a video of it, HERE's one from You Tube.  Like I said, you will never get the exact same results each time when you ink that acrylic block, but that's the beauty of it!

ETA: I'd like to enter this card into the Moxie Fab World's Handmade Cards Week: Color Media Challenge, for the distress inks and techniques I used on it.

Here are the stamp sets I used today:

Beautiful Hymns

Fancy Flourishes

Now it's time to hop on to Nina's blog!  (Coincidentally, Nina is the designer of both of the stamp sets I used today!)  I know that she'll have something extra special to share with you!

Would you like to win a $15.00 gift certificate to The Craft's Meow Store?   Make a card using at least 1 TCM stamp by Sunday, Sept. 15 at 8:00 PM PDT and post it at The Craft's Meow Blog.  The theme is "Anything Goes", so it's wide open!  Can't wait to see what you make for us!

Honoring Ombre

Isn't this a beautiful photo inspiration that Cath gave us for the Tuesday Trigger this time?  I wish I had anything in those colors, but purples/lavenders are very sparse in my collection.  I knew I wanted to stamp something, so in looking through my inks, my best option for ombre was in these aqua/pool colors.  Hero Arts keeps bringing out inks in these tones, and I'm fortunate to have a few of them.

I stamped this Ikat design from Wplus9's Backgrounds & Borders 1 set, using Soft Pool, Tide Pool, and Splash inks, then trimmed it into a panel, framed it in white and added it to my pool layering paper card base.  I thought that this Ali Edwards sentiment from This is the Day worked nicely, and I added a die-cut Leanna butterfly and some enamel dots.

Wishing you a blessed day!  

Less is More with Penny Black

Penny Black is teaming up with Less is More challenge, which is to use a rubber stamp to make a CAS card, and to use watercolors.  Here's my entry:

I feel this Scented Message stamp is the perfect one for this challenge, because it needs very little coloring.   I've used it several times before, surrounded by design papers, ribbons, and embellishments, but I think it looks just as nice done simply like this. After stamping and embossing the image on watercolor paper, I simply colored in the flowers and leaves, using my watercolor pencils, and then went back in with a wet paintbrush and smoothed out the colors.  I tore the edges before mounting the panel on a pale blue notecard, and added some tiny blue pearls under the seal.

Thanks for visiting today!

Simon Says........Animal Antics

.......or Blue Birds of Happiness :))

Happy Wednesday and welcome to another challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge!  

This week the Design Team are playing with Lawn Fawn or The Craft's Meow stamps, and our theme is Animal Antics!  Can't wait to see our gallery fill up with fun designs! I've gone to the birds this week and have 2 cards for you:

My first card uses a The Craft's Meow set called Lovely Birds.  I used just a few of the elements, and put together this cute little bird bath scene, using some older My Mind's Eye design papers, a doily, and a gingham ribbon from my stash.

This is a darling set by Lawn Fawn called Home Sweet Home.  I decided to make a little birdhouse community, since there are 3 birdhouses in this set, and everything else to build a scene.  In order to use all 3 birdhouses, I chose to make this long narrow card which measures 3 3/4" X 8 1/2", and easily fits into a standard business envelope for easy mailing.  After stamping and coloring all the elements with Spectrum Noir markers, I sponged on a sky using tumbled glass distress ink and a finger sponge, mounted my panel to a kraft card base, and then popped a few extra flowers (from Lawn Fawn's Flutter By set) and leaves.

Again, Heidi has provided us with another $50.00 gift voucher:

to the Simon Says Stamp Superstore!!

Best Wishes

I made this card with 2 challenges in mind, Jackie's final color in her Pantone Color Challenges: Poppy Red, and A Blog Named Hero's Button It!  challenge.

supplies:  white cardstock, Hero Arts stamps Layered Flowers, Edged Fabric with Flowers, and Card Messages, Pale Tomato mid-tone ink, My Little Yellow Bicycle Boy Gingham design paper, Dear Lizzy button.  These are all older stamps, and it was great to pull them out and get some more use out of them!

Monaco Blue

We're coming down to the last few Pantone colors that Jackie has been using on her blog header.  This one is called Monaco Blue; I love all blues, but don't use these darker ones enough, so this was a fun card for me!

supplies: white and navy cardstock, Leaf & Floral Background, Navy and Stonewash mid-tone inks,sentiment from Potted Garden, blue pearls

I recently used this lovely flourished background stamp and wanted to play with it one more time before I put it away.  As I've been doing lately, I stamped it in 2 different colors, turning the stamp 180 degrees between stampings.  

ETA: Though there's not a big variety of colors on this card, I'm entering it into the MFW's Handmade Card Week: Color Media Challenge just because I love how it turned out!  Love me my blues!!

It's September!!

For me, as soon as I turn that calendar page, that's the unofficial start of autumn!  No matter that it's broiling here, I am already seeing tiny hints of leaves changing and the gardens going into their final flurry of blooms.  On Friday we went to a county fair that has been a tradition in my husband's family, and enjoyed all the harvest displays of pumpkins and gourds and sunflowers.  And of course I had to have a funnel cake - YUMM!

So in honor of the new season I used some new washi tapes to make a fall card.  As I was finishing it up I noticed that this Teddy who sits on my desk would make a great prop to go with it, and I have a little story about him, too.

You may recall that we visited Ireland and Scotland earlier this summer, and I was so lucky to be able to meet my Hero Arts flickr friend Heather Maria.  She took me on a walk all around Dublin and gave me a goodie bag with such thoughtful gifts, among them this Irish Fisherman Knit sweater that she knit for me, knowing that I'm a Teddy Bear collector.   In thinking about fall, one of my favorite things is wearing big snuggly sweaters like this one.  Thank you, Heather, once again - every time I look at this little guy with your sweater, I am transported back to your beautiful country!  It's one of my treasures!

supplies: Doodlebug Designs fall Washi tapes, and an unknown gold dot washi, assorted buttons, Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirl embossing folder, sentiment from The Paper Company Studio Autumn stamp set, natural twine

Happy Fall, everyone!!