A Hedgehog Hello!

I really like the Penny Black Critters stamps because they are easily made into 3D art! They are simple in design and are large enough to cut out some of the smaller pieces for added detail :) - They also just happen to be totally adorable! I was in the process of making this card when the sketch design I was using just didn't fit the image that I planned for it. I somehow usually do this to myself (it almost always takes me longer to put the card together than it does the main image).

For the longest time I couldn't figure out what kind of corner adornment to use...buttons, brads or primas...I decided to use them all with the exception of primas. I recently purchased this set of sizzix sizzlets. They are kind of fun because they are the perfect size for a card and you can layer them.


Tip: You can make co-ordinating flowers to your card by using your die cuts with designer papers. You can also make them a little more special by adding glitter to them! To do this you can either emboss a smallish piece of designer paper with iridescent ice and then die cut it OR you can die cut it first and then add dazzling diamonds or stickles to highlight it. I embossed the DP first and then die cut them in the photo above :) When you do this it tends to make the designer paper quite a bit sturdier as well - bonus!


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Penny Black
Paper: Papertrey White, Certainly Celery, Various Designer Papers
Inks: Basic Black, Versa Mark, Cameo Coral, Green Galore
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Sizzix, Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Aqua Painter, Brads, Button, Embroidery Floss, Sewing Machine, Embossing Powders, Sponges, Heat Tool, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, 1 13/8" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Flocking, Sakura Gel Pen, Quickie Glue Pen , 2 Way Glue Pen, Dimensionals and Taffeta Ribbon.

I would like to take a moment...

I would like to take a moment to thank the academy....oops! That would be the wrong fantasy ;) lol
Now seriously! I really just wanted to write a quick little note on how appreciative I am of every one's wonderful comments here on my blog and on Splitcoast. I would also love to thank everyone at Cards of the Week for making me feel so special! It's been awesome to be posted with SO MANY talented ladies!!!!!

An extra little thank you to Barefootstamper who keeps me informed of these things as I don't know where my mind is most of the time! I'm guessing that everyone has those kind of days...I just have one of those kind of lives! lol

Thanks again ladies! You sure know how to make a girl feel special :)

Why is it....?

Why do you seem to be busier that ever when you are a stay at home mom and crafter? I am running behind on so many things!!! What is that old adage..."a clean house is the sign of a lazy stamper"? I'm telling you, I must be a busy stamper because my house looks like a tornado hit it!!!! Not only that, you should see Mt. Dirty Laundry ready to erupt in the bathroom closet!

You will have to pardon my sporadic blog postings. I have so many wonderful things to write on here but alas, I still need a little sleep to function! I am even behind posting cards that I made days ago on here and on splitcoast. I promise you that one of these days I will post pictures of my craft studio on here too (after I clean it of course :)...Hmmm, maybe I should take pictures of it in "showroom" action and then "in real life"!!! What a difference that is! LOL


This is a card that I made 2 days ago. I used one of my most loved stamps on it. I have used this tulip stamp on cards for all occasions because you can dress it up or keep it simple because if the sketch design. I decided to dress this one up because I wanted to use some Basic Grey DP that I had laying around. The tulip is actually 3 different layers, and springs to life when you look at the card on a slight angle.

Tip: Some of my most versatile stamps are ones that look slightly sketched. You have the opportunity to do so many things with them. You can cut them out because of simple outlines, colour them using various mediums and layer them. Usually something with a simple design can also be made whimsical or classic - simply by choices in colours.


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Rubber Stampede
Paper: Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Watercolour, Papertrey, Cosmo Cricket and Basic Grey DP
Ink: Stazon, Versa Mark, Ruby Red, More Mustard, Creamy Caramel, SU Markers
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Aqua Painter, Sponges, Hodgepodge Hardware, Polytwill Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch, Sewing Machine, Dimensionals

Washed Ashore...

I think that I must be a fairly odd duck! I really enjoy making masculine and nautical cards (I live on an Island...go figure!). I know that so many people have a hard time coming up with something to make that special man in your life - I however am the opposite! I have a VERY hard time coming up with "cutesy" cards!


Some of my favourite stamp sets that I use for my masculine cards are: Lovely as a Tree, Coast to Coast, and Up in the Air. I have recently started purchasing some stamps by a local company called Local King Rubber Stamps and that is where the set for this card came from. It's called Still Life. I love these stamps!!! They are thick red rubber, deeply etched and come already mounted on thick ez-mount for your acrylic blocks! They are lovely to work with and clean up nicely! Some other masculine sets that I purchased from them are Antique Autos and Adventure. Stay tuned for creations made with them :)


This card got me all excited to spend the day at the beach - that was not in our forecast today! The day started out beautiful so we got all packed up and ready to go, the cue the thunder and rain!!!! The temperature dropped, it poured and well...just got kinda icky and gross out! No beach for us today! I think that I will keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow!!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Still Life
Paper: Papertrey White, Creamy Caramel, Watercolour, Cosmo Cricket DP
Inks: Basic Black, Versa Mark, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Craft Knife, Brads, Eyelets, Twine, Dimensionals, Aqua Painter, Markers, Watercolour Wonder Crayons

PS - Some of you wonderful people have asked to subscribe to my blog. I think I have managed to get a feedburner working and you can click on the link in the upper right hand corner of my blog - Please leave a comment and let me know if it does not work! Thanks everybody!!

I love my Friends!

I love a win-win situation! My friend Angela (jellybean74 on SCS) had some of her Stampin' Up! purchases at my house and in it was the Pretty Amazing stamp set. She hates cutting her stamps apart and told me that if I did it for her then I could borrow the set before she got it in her hot little hands! Great!! So, 10 minutes into cutting it apart and covered in sticky red rubber bits, I now have some new toys to play with!

Because this was a set that I didn't order, therefore didn't think that I would be using - I went to Splitcoast for a little inspiration (my favourite place to be). There was so many wonderful cards made using this set that I took a little inspiration from all of them! Thank you ladies for getting the ball rolling for this card!


This card was almost fully completed and it was still lacking something! Its always a guess as to what will finish off a card with me! Today, it was my pretties kit. I very rarely pull it out...I think it's because I forget that I have it! Tsk, tsk! (a shameful, shaking my head in dismay moment)

Anyhoo, out came the white half pearls and with a little help from my quickie glue pen = Done!
I kinda like how the little pearls make this card softer and a little more elegant :) This card came together pretty quickly as there were no little fingers hiding my supplies today!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Pretty Amazing
Paper: Papertrey White, Certainly Celery, Daisybucket DP
Ink: Basic Black, Versa Mark, Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose
Accessories: SU Markers, Aqua Painter, Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Cuttlebug, Nestabilites, Sewing Machine, Pretties Kit, Build-a-Brad, Embossing Powder, Corner Rounder Punch and Half Inch Punch

Blossom Bunnies

This card was fun to watercolour as Penny Black images are just too darn adorable! This particular stamp is quite large and ended up taking up more room on my card than I planned. I really like the little flower that the bunnies are holding onto I tried to re-create that with the bunnies as the "center of my flower". The key word her is tried! lol

I am not sure that I truly love the way the card turned out...but what can you do? I was probably just a little distracted by my little munchkins who were sticking themselves to my craft room window while I was making this! Taiton and Ashlynn were playing in the yard with daddy and since my craft room window is at ground level...well, you can just imagine all the nose and hand prints stuck to the window :) They think it's funny to watch mommy sing and craft at the same time (it's almost impossible for me to be creative without music in the background for me to bop around to.



Ashlynn is the lone ranger in the picture because by the time I got my camera opportunity for a Kodak moment, her older brother ran away giggling :) - What do you think...future crafter? lol


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Penny Black, Friendship Blooms
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Papertrey White, Barely Banana, K&Co. DP
Inks: Bashful Blue, Regal Rose, Basic Black, Versa Mark, So Saffron
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Sewing Machine, Embossing Powders, Brads, Oval Punch, Dimensionals, Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Aqua Painter, Stickles

Green Makes Me Smile...

I am so silly in love with this card! Ever since I saw this adorable Penny Black stamp, I knew that I just had to have it (along with many others *wink*). I used as few of my favourite things on this card: lime green my favourite colour, lime green and orange - my favourite colour combo du jour, sparkles and frogs (they make me giggle and remind me of my baby girl - they are her favourite too).

I consider lime green my "happy" colour. No matter what light it is looked at in, it always looks soothing. I love it so much I painted my craft room in it! My craft room is my most loved room in my house :)

There is a whole lot of embossing going on with this card. The frogs have a lovely 'wet' look to them thanks to clear embossing powder and the white card stock is embossed with iridescent ice. It's so sparkly and fun!


These cute little guys have been popped up in 3 different places. Instead of using markers to watercolour the image, I hauled out my watercolour wonder crayons. It's been awhile since I have used them and I was pleasantly reminded how beautifully they blend together. I also did not use my standard watercolour paper- I used my Papertrey white and it held up beautifully without warping. Gotta love that! If you have ever had any doubts about ordering the card stock from Papertrey - do it! Do it now, don't wait!!!! It is hands down the best and sturdiest white card stock I have ever come across - this is BIG news as I am a Stampin' Up!-aholic through and through!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Penny Black, Bodacious Bouquet, DP
Paper: Papertrey White, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Apricot Appeal
Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Versa Mark, Green Galore, So Saffron
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Dimensionals, Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Aqua Painter, Embossing Powders, Brads, Photo Corner Punch

Out in the Garden

I was fantasizing about a beautiful garden and wanting to use some new designer paper that I purchased down Island. I need to fantasize about a beautiful garden due to the fact that I have yet to do any gardening this year (except mowing the lawn!!) I really need to stop chatting with you all and get my butt out the door to tend to my weeds!!


The layout for this card was inspired by and old sketch challenge on Splitcoast. I used my Natural Beauty set for the images because it is so easy to colour. The flowers are 3D and are rotated to make the bloom loo like a double bloom. I really didn't have a clue what colours to use for the butterfly, so I googled some actual butterfly pictures and found one with simple colours to match my card :) Here is the picture that I used for my inspiration...



Tip: The best way to make any outlines stand out and easy for watercolouring is to ink up your stamp first with Versa Mark, then the colour of classic ink of your choice, then stamp your image. Coat the image with what ever embossing powder (glitter or clear) and then emboss. Not only does this look very nice, it serves double duty for watercolouring. The embossed lines make it more difficult for the paints to bleed onto each other :)




Card Recipe:

Stamps: Natural Beauty
Paper: Old Olive, Papertrey White, Watercolour, unknown Designer Paper (just too tired to look)
Inks: Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Almost Amethyst, Brocade Blue, Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel, Versa Mark
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Aqua Painter, Twinkling H2O's, Stickles, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Powder, Brads, Dimensionals, Gel Pen

On the road again!

This card makes me giggle when I look at the dogs in the back of the truck! (I really have no idea why!) It just must be the end of a very long, hot day! We have finally reached some lovely temperatures here. For those of you who don't know, I live on Vancouver Island and we are considered a rain forest (not, by any means a tropical one though!!!) It has been a rainy spring for us so far and it was really nice that Mr. Sun decided to come out and play :) Enough babble and onto the goods...

This card turned out so sparkly, but without looking too overdone. A wonderful little tip that I learned recently from Faith's blog (Delightful Inspiration) was to ink up the edges of your card stock with versa mark and then add iridescent ice embossing powder. When you heat emboss it, it adds such a lovely matting to any card. Faith has a little "how to" tutorial on her blog.

This card ended up being a little more earthy from what I intended because I coloured my main image before picking out coordinating designer paper. I added some stamped flowers with jeweled brads to put a little femininity into it - the flowers were stamped on designer paper so there wasn't any colouring needed. The truck and hub caps have been heat embossed with clear powder to add an automobile paint shine to it :)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Loads of Love and Accessories, Delight in Life, Fabulous Flowers, Baroque Motifs
Paper: Basic Gray, River Rock, So Saffron, Watercolour, Basic Grey DP, Papertrey White
Ink: SU Markers, Basic Black, Versa Mark, Always Artichoke, Sage Shadow, So Saffron
Accessories: Jeweled Brads, Embossing Powder, Aqua Painter, Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Stam-a-majig, Dimensionals

Back to the Beginning...

I often get asked how I learned to make such beautiful cards (what a huge complient that is!). Usually, I don't quite know what to say in return, other than lots of trial and error as well as practice! I have always been interested in practically anything home made as I grew up in a family where there was not many crafters.

It all started by being introduced to Stampin' Up! at a home party that I was tagging along to. I had alot of fun doing the make and takes and I only purchased a catalogue mostly to see more of why people were so fascinated by rubber stamping. The next party I was invited to, I ended up purchasing card stock to make my best friend's bridal shower invitations (I was hesitant to purchase any stamps because I would also have to buy inks and everything else in which I didn't have any money to do so at the time) When I got my card stock home, I went to work on making the bridal shower invites by doing most of the designing on the computer and printing out pre-fabricated clip art for the flowers on the project that I was making. The bridal invites turned out really cute, but it probably took me 3 times longer to make them using technology!

Below is one of the cards that started this new hobby! My, my, how times have changed!!! This card used some Stampin' Up! card stock, Ribbon and DP from Micheals and a computer scrapbooking program that I received as a gift. Every time I look at this card it gives me a good chuckle and reminds me that everybody starts somewhere!



It was probably 2 or three parties later that I finally convinced myself to throw a party and buy some stamps! That was November of 2006 and I haven't looked back! For the last 2 years I have been buying different colouring tools, and accessories from the back of the catalogue to make my crafting easier and to give me more options. I seem to be the type of person that requires everything out there so that it should take me less time to make a card. Problem is that it just gives me more options and then it takes me longer to decided on how to make my card!!! Go figure! lol

To make a long story short, I have become very addicted to stamping and making my creations as it really serves as therapy for me. It is a little escape from all of the craziness of child rearing 2 busy little kids and it gives me some instant (or relatively anyway) gratification more so than any of my other crafts (tole painting, stained glass, embroidery, cross stitch & quilting) I became an Stampin' Up! Demonstrator to afford my craft supplies and to be able to learn more...I'm a bit of sponge and love to absorb all the crafting info that I can! I started researching projects on Splitcoast Stampers and following along with some of the tutorials that they have. It has become my paper crafting bible!

So there you have it! My humble beginnings in paper crafting and hopefully a good laugh at my first handmade card :) Oh, and before I forget... I must also acknowledge my biggest enabler and the friend that started it all...Angela (jellybean74 on SCS) - My husband still curses her for introducing my to all of this!!!! LOL Poor guy - he didn't even see it coming :)

Bessie and Her Funny Farm!

I purchased this set last year and really haven't had any inspiration to make a card with it. I decided to surf the net and found my inspiration piece in a children's downloadable colouring page.
I started with this picture for the direction of my card. I coloured the barn and silo with my markers and blended it well with my aqua painters. I then heat embossed with clear powder to make the silo look glossy (In my mind it was supposed to resemble metal...oh well!)



The many background layers have been run through my cuttlebug, adhered with double sided tape and then quilted with my sewing machine. I have sponged the various layers with their co-ordinating inks to add some more depth. The sun is embossed with clear embossing powder and then heated with my heat gun.


Now onto the fun stuff! Meet Bessie and Baa. Bessie, the lovable cow has been watercoloured and then flocked so that she is fuzzy and warm. Baa, the sheep has been covered with fluffy goodness with my liquid applique ;)


This card is so much fun to run your fingers over with all the raised embossed backgrounds full of bumps, fuzz and fluff! I thought that this card would make a cute belated birthday card with the phrase "It's pasture birthday......Hope ewe had a mooo-valas one!"
It's cheezy I know, but I thinks that it fits the card! lol

Card Recipe:

Stamps: On the Farm, Scenery
Paper: Basic Black, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Wild Wasabi, Watercolour, K&Co. DP
Ink: Basic Black, Versa Mark, SU Markers, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Soft Sky, Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Sewing Machine, Markers, Aqua Painter, Dimensionals, Flocking, Heat Tool, Embossing Powder, Liquid Applique, Sponges

A Lovely Pot of Hydrangeas

I had so much fun making this card! When I first purchased this stamp set, I was a little imimidated by this one image. I stamped it out a couples of different times and tried to colour it. I was not impressed at how it was turning out so I just put the stamp aside and carried on using the rest of this set (Bloomin' Beautiful by Stampin' Up!)

When I finally figured out that if I let my controling nature go, then the image would magically turn out the way I wanted it to! It is much easier to watercolour a large image then it is a smaller one and these flowers were posing a BIG problem for me!



I started this time by colouring the hydrangea with my amethyst marker. I then smoothed over the colouring with an aqua painter. After I let that dry then I quickly dabbed the center of the flowers with pale plum and let that dry. I did that once again using elegant eggplant ink and then before it dryed I went over all the flowers with the aqua painter to get the "pooling" of colour in between the embossed petals. To finish off the flowers I dotted the center of the flowers with my signo gel pen and then added some stickles :)


I cut out some flower clusters and skewed them slightly to make a more full looking bouquet. The flower pot was watercoloured and then scribbled over with my versa marker and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. This really added alot to the image as the pot now looks like it is a real ceramic pot! I also added some shading around the pot to add a little more dimension.

The designer paper has been stamped with the flourish from Baroque Motifs and then heat embossed with Irridecent Ice - oh so very sparkely!! This picks up on the Stickles in the flower centers and the jewelled brads in the corners. I really like how feminine this card turned out!

Tip: The panel beneath the main images is a piece of Perfect Plum cardstock with Vellum adheared to the backside of it. I then ran this through my cuttlebug to create a softer, more muted tone of purple. This works especially well if you need a particular colour on your card but only have bright card stock on hand. I allows you to mute the brightness while using the colour that you need. This technique also helps the vellum to stay in place without having adhesive showing through - all with the added bonus of adding some texture to your card!

To put the rest of the card togther, all I did was sew the the edges and add the punched photo corners with some dimensionals.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Bloomin' Beautiful, Baroque Motifs
Paper: Papertrey White, Old Olive, Almost Amethyst, Watercolour, Designer Paper, Vellum, Perfect Plum
Inks: Basic Black, Pumkin Pie, Old Olive, Almost Amethyst, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Sahara Sand, Creamy Caramel, Soft Sky, Barely Banana
Accessories: Heat Gun, Markers, Aqau Painter, Stickles, Signo Gel Pen, Taffeta Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Nesabilities, Brads, Photo Corner Punch, Sponges, Dimensionals

A Fuzzy Rubber Ducky?

I love this little stamp by Stampendous (nursery set). It's darling and he reminds me of the song "Rubber Ducky" all the time. Guess what I was singing when I was making this card? lol

My sewing machine has certainly been getting a workout lately! I started by creating waves in the background by using two different shades of cardstock (Night of Navy and Not Quite Navy). I added texture by running each colour through my cuttlebug using 2 different embossing folders, then sponged Night of Navy on the edges. I stacked the waves to add some visual dimension and then quilted it with my sewing machine.















For the background colour I used Soft Sky and sponged with with Bashful Blue and Boardering Blue inks. Most of the layers on this card are popped up on dimensionals once again! Apparently I am all about dimension these days!
















The main image is coloured with my markers and then blended with an aqua painter.The little ducks beak and waves have been heat embossed using a Versa Marker and Clear Embossing Powder. This adds a really lovely glossiness (is that even a word) and makes the image a little bit realistic :) I was intending to make this card a little less nautical looking and hoping it to be and a little more babyish... but we all know how these things can take on lives of their own! Maybe this card would make a nice baby's first birthday card!

Tip: No matter what the card base colour is, I always add a card insert. I always stamp a co-ordinating image on the inside of the card as well as the same image on the envelope to match. A well made card pays attention to detail and it is always appreciated by the receiver. It is guarunteed to get lots of ooh's and aah's! - Even from tho postmaster!!!


















Card Recipe:

Stamps: Stampendous Nursery, Local King Rubber Stamps
Paper: Real Red, Papertrey White, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Soft Sky
Inks: Basic Black, Versa Mark and Marker, Bashful Blue, Boardering Blue, Night of Navy, SU Markers
Others: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Dimensionals, Aqua Painter, Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Markers, Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch

Trying to fix a big mistake!

Ever have one of those days where you get all of the elements together for your card and then have the monumental thought..." I just need to add one more thing and then it will be perfect"....?

Well, today was that day for me, and I just finished spending the afternoon trying to salvage the main image for this card! I thought that I would make a really sweet baby girl card and then that pesky sparkle question came to the foreground...yep, I did it. I added sparkles! Perfect right?

Nnnnooooo! After adding a solid coat of Iridescent Ice to my bunny image, I held it up to admire my work and low and behold....you almost couldn't even see my bunny! Oh, the horror of it all ;P I then thought to myself "I'll just heat it a little more to mute the sparkles..." - You know where this is going! Now I have created the dreaded dull and shiny spots on an even coat of Iridescent Ice and burnt my fingers! :(

At this point, I think I may have cursed...but I don't want to say for sure.....lol
After burning my fingers, I was not going to let this card get the better of me! I sat there and tediously scraped away the layer of Iridescent Ice to reveal a somewhat funky texture to the main image. It's hard to tell in the photo, but it almost has a quasi fish scale look to it! I heated the embossing powder some more to make sure that it soaked into the paper and then finished up the card. - Some missed stitches, added some crooked layering and one fish scaled bunny later, voila! My master piece was finished (go with me on this one! lol) All in all the card doesn't' look as awful as my experience was in making it. But then, that's what makes a homemade card so nice...all the little imperfections add character. You will soon learn that I say this about all my creations that I am not 100% happy with! In some twisted way it makes me feel better!!!! I hope that your card making today went better than mine!!!! lol

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Somebunny New (SU)
Paper: Papertrey White, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Rose Red Vellum, Watercolour and K&Co. Designer Paper
Inks: Stazon, Versa Mark, Pale Plum, SU Markers
Accessories: Iridescent Ice, Heat Gun, Sewing Machine, Aqua Painter, Markers, Sponges, Dimensionals, Brads, Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Nestabilites

To Sparkle, or not to sparkle?...that is the Question.

I love sparkles. In fact, I collect them...on my craft table, on my clothing, stuck to my face, lol - well you get it! Once you open the bottle, be prepared to wear it for at least a couple of days!

I recently created this card and I can't help but think that it needs a little something extra to make it really special. I have been debating whether to add some glitter, but my problem is where? Do I coat the flowers or just out line a couple of bits? This question has been haunting me for 2 days! I will probably add some glitter to the card later today, because a little glitter never hurts does it? :)

I just got this beautiful Birds of Paradise stamp in the mail from a Canadian company called Local King Rubber Stamps. I purchased it off of ebay and I am in love with the quality of them! This stamp was so easy to colour and the thicker outlines made it easier to cut out to make it 3-D.

Just a tip...when I cut out anything to pop it up, I always outline the cut edges of the paper with a black marker so that it appears to blend seamlessly.

This stamp has been heat embossed with black embossing powder to create a lovely shine and a little bit of texture to the card. All of the layers have been sponged with a co-ordinating ink and the blues layer has also been stamped with a Bamboo stamp (also by Local King Rubber Stamps)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Local King Rubber Stamps - Birds of Paradise and Bamboo
Paper: Papertrey White, Basic Black, Unknown DP and K&Co. Designer Paper
Inks: Stazon, Versa Mark, Boardering Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, SU Markers
Accessories: Black Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Sewing Machine, Aqua Painter, Markers, Sponges, Dimensionals

Off to a start at a turtle's pace.....

LOL! Well, let me explain. I started creating this blog in December of 2007. I found myself working crazy hours through Christmas, babysitting 5 kids in the earlier part of this year and now starting my blog up again now that I am back to being a stay at home mom! I am breathless just thinking about all the craziness! Wheeew, glad it's over with and now with my first actual post....drum roll please...

Tah dah!

















I think that I am in love with this card! I have a new appreciation for colouring since learning how to watercolour with my Stampin' Up! Markers - they are well worth the $$ in my books! I actually do most of my colouring of stamped images while my two little ones are napping, and then actually assemble the card after they go to bed in the evening (when I should be sleeping) I tell you...there just isn't enough hours in a day for me!
Anyway, back to my card. I used the Stampin' Up! set Bloomin' Beautiful with my markers. I started out with colouring the first layer and then adding some dimension by adding additional layers with the petals and the leaves. Almost every layer on this card is popped up with dimensionals!
I also did the same with the bumble bee, but added some stickles to the wings to create the iridescent sheen that most insects have. You will notice that I have done a little bit of shading to really make the images pop.







































Before I had assembled this card, I ran it through my sewing machine...which was really quite interesting in itself! It has been forever since I used it last! I am a quilter, but I have tossed that aside for now as my mood really puts me in the more "instant gratification" craft of stamping. Quilting is such a long process, but now I can have the best of both worlds but on a smaller scale :)

This is the recipe for this card:

Stamps - Bloomin' Beautiful
Paper - Basic Black, Papertrey White, Watercolour, Really Rust, K&Co. DP
Inks - Stazon, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories - Markers, Aqua Painter, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Sewing Machine, Brads, Dimensionals, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8". 1 1/4" and 1" Circle Punches, Mat Pack, Piercing Tool and Sponges

There you have it! I am a firm believer in 3 things that set a home made card apart from a store bought one - Dimension, Texture and Imagination :) Please stay tuned for more senseless ramblings from me while on my quest for sanity! Stamping therapy is the best ;)