Gold Foil Butterfly

I pulled out the new gold washi tape and the Gold Foil paper for the Stampin' Royalty challenge today. I was looking for a sketch and they had one that's easy to use the washi tape with to create the diagonals.

I'm glad that the gold and silver foil paper got carried over to the new Occasions catalogue - because I absolutely love how they emboss!

Here is the sketch...

We took Elliot for the day, so we picked him up just after he woke up so he could have breakfast with us. 

A perfect way to start the day and the New Year.

Thanks for stopping by,

Joan

ABC123

I have two challenges included in this card today - the sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches and the the Back to School theme is from Stampin' Royalty.

The letters are chipboard.  I have used chipboard on three projects in a row....as you'll see below.  And let me tell you - inking chipboard with our new ink pads ROCKS!  All I had to do is press them into the pad one time - even with the yellow.  And they dried quickly too.   Maybe I'll finally get around to using up all the chipboard pieces I have....or at least some!

This is the layout and colours for Day 27 of 31 Pages in 31 Days.  I wasn't sure what picture I was going to use - but I took time last week to get a bunch of old pictures enlarged, so decided on this group  of high school buddies hamming it up outside the Field Museum in Chicago before going in to see the King Tut Exhibit.  Yeup - I'm the red head standing on the right.

For the "tag" with the writing, I used MDS2.

When I saw the colours and theme for Day 28's layout from 31 Pages in 31 Days, I knew exactly which pictures I was going to use.

Lyssa used tin foil glued to cardstock to create the embossed piece under the car.  Oh - and that was the only car I had and it was on MDS2.  Lyssa had a cool little race car!  Anyway, for the embossed section I used some "heat tape" for taping ducts.  I stuck it onto the cardstock and embossed it.  Very shiny!

I've been to school already today - so I'm ready for the meetings to begin tomorrow.  I'm now off to finish some MDS2 assignments and get Day 29 done!  It really is going to be hard to go back to school.

Hope your Hump Day has been a good one.

Thanks for stopping by.

Joan

Fishy Fishy...

I am a whole lot later posting this than I expected to be....and I have two scrapbook pages to share - but I didn't like the lighting in my stamping room tonight - so I'll re-photo them tomorrow and post them then.

This little silver fish is part of two challenges; the sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches and the colours come from an Inspiration challenge over at Stampin' Royalty.

The base of the card has been "scored" with the diagonal plate and embossing folders were used for the large turquoise piece, the fish and one of the little banners.  I've used the wing from the bird punch to create all of his little fins sponging the edges with white craft ink.

It's been a very busy day - I got a lot accomplished...and now I'm off to bed.

I hope your week has been productive in the areas you want - thanks for dropping by!

Joan

Butterfly Congrats

Busy, busy, busy - I've missed a couple of days posting - sorry.  I got my paper work in line to start my taxes and then we had family visiting too - so I've got butterflies for today.

The sketch for today's card comes from Freshly Made Sketches and the colours - Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride and Concord Crush - are from Stampin' Royalty and the congratulatory theme is for SUO Challenges.

Now I'm off to get ready for a couple of workshops this weekend.  Looking forward to Sunday too when the Retiring Stamp list comes out!  WooooHoooo!

Hope all is exciting it your part of the world.

Thanks for stopping by,

Joan

Spring is in the Air

As soon as I saw the challenge at Stampin' Royalty - "Spring Things", I knew I had to get busy with the project I had planned.....I was inspired by the photo on page 5 of the April Stampin' Success Magazine. 

 I have put this bird cage at our front door for the past two years.  Sometimes it's empty; last year I stuck a chickadee inside (ceramic of course).  When I saw the example in the magazine I knew I had to duplicate it.  I literally had to cram in  the wreath I used as a nest, and the eggs are drastically oversized, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

I've been using pearls or rhinestones as the bodies of my butterflies, but I like the added flowers too.  Linen thread was used of the antennae....it worked well.

The styrofoam eggs are covered with layers of the Blossom Bouquet Triple flower and then spritzed with Soft Suede.  I moistened the paper a bit to make it more pliable, and attached the layers with a hot glue gun.

These little flowers are standard....the Boho Blossoms punch - largest blossom in 5 layers.  Each layer was spritzed with water first before crumpling it up.  I used sewing pins through the middle to hold them together.

Finally, I used the left over butterflies for a card using the sketch from Stamping 411.

I've been babysitting Elliot the past three afternoons while his mom and dad get moved into their new place.  I'm bushed!  But I had a good time.

Hope your weekend is off to a good start.  Thanks for taking the time to visit.

Joan

Umbrella Thanks

I'm sorry I haven't used this set more often - I really like the images - this umbrella and the corset.

Today's creation is a blend of Stampin' Royalty for the sketch, Handstamped Sentiments asks for watercolour this week  and Color Throwdown for the colours - Elegant Eggplant, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, and I used Baha Breeze instead of Brocade Blue.

I used ink and aqua painter for the umbrella and for the faces of each of the watches I added a bit of Crystal Effects.  I absolutely love this pleated ribbon; it's so easy to work with.

We've only got one more day of school before spring break.  Wooo Hooo!  

I haven't shared a picture of Elliot since he was born - he's such a precious calm baby! 

Have an enjoyable day!

Thanks for visiting! 

Joan

Stamp and Dash....

A quick post today, before I head off to school, which incorporates the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge and colours from Stampin' Royalty.

With the sketch I thought I would try just stamping the quadrants with the flourish from Elementary Elegance and topping it with the punched image, which is raised with dimensionals.  In the end I wasn't sure about the central piece - but I used that to incorporate the fourth Stampin Royalty colours - They are Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie, and Crumb Cake.

One I embossed the centre piece, I flipped it and coloured in the swirls with a white gel pen.  And of course, just a little bit of bling added to each section.

Well, I'm off - hope you are having a wonderful day - thanks for stopping by!
Joan

Merry Chickadee

 I finally got around to using this wonderful little chickadee - they're my favorite little bird.  The leaves and berries have been coloured with Frost White Shimmer Paint with a bit of re-inker added.  That way they  shimmer nicely on the card.  I applied the paint with an old blender pen that had lost its "stuff".   An Old Olive marker was used to colour the shading of the leaves.  I also used the shimmer mixture to distress the edge of the oval.

I really should have thought out what paper I was going to use for the rest of the card before I coloured the image though - the image uses Old Olive and the DSP and mat are Garden Green.  But that's okay - the Challenge over at The Paper Players this week is to use traditional red and green colours for a Christmas card - and both greens work.  Stampin' Royalty has provided the sketch for this card.  I have adjusted it a bit because my image was so large and I used 3 little Merry tags on the side.

This is the anniversary card my daughter made for my husband to give to me.  It wasn't what she had had in mind because she couldn't find the stamp set she wanted to use - that threw her for a bit of a loop  (It would throw me for a while too) - but I love what she's come up with.  She didn't realize until later that she put the world on upside down - I said her dad turns my world upside down anyway - so it's all good.   My gift from him was a trip to anywhere in the world I want to go - so the card is fitting!

Hope something turns your world upside down in a good way today - Thanks for stopping by! Joan

Congratulations Medallion

I must say that I am at the age where not many (none) of my friends are getting married.  Nor are any of my children's friends (yet).  However, it is always beneficial to have a card on hand in the case the need arises.  There are two Wedding themed Challenges which this card was created for - one is over at SUOnly Challenges and the other is at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  The colours for the card are courtesy of Stampin' Royalty.  I must say I am congratulating myself this evening because I have all of my report cards done.  Now to just get through to the end of June without being driven absolutely crazy by certain children who feel that school was already finished when Spring Break ended.  It's not so much the little guys as the Jr. High kids in the building.  Ah well - the countdown is on!  Enough rambling - thanks for taking the time to pop by for a visit.   Joan

Sock Monkey in the Flowers

I'm pretty sure that if Sock Monkey didn't insist on coming out to play today, I wouldn't have taken so long to get this card put together. I had to walk away from it for a while!

The sketch is this week's challenge from Stampin' Royalty. I was surprised and honored to have my Sailboat Imagining picked as one of three "Stampin' Royalty Goddess Picks". Thank you Ladies!

Sock Monkey was coloured and cut out before I put her through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. Gives her a bit of texture that I may use again.

Tomorrow is the last school day of the week - the kids got off easy this week with only three days because of Easter Monday and our "Professional Development" day on Friday. Then there's another Extravaganza on Saturday - Wooooo Hooo!!!!! Livin' for the weekend.

Hope you have good plans on the horizon of your week - thanks for stopping by! Joan