Love this...

This weekend The Angel Company is having a blog hop featuring something you "love"...a technique, a product, a project...whatever you fancy!! I love the look of layered images and shading within a Nestabilities frame. And, since manly cards are often tough to do - I think it works well together here. Oh yes, I LOVE texture too!!



Retiring stamps: Good Timber and Be Still...both are on sale until June 27th!

psst! More things are being slashed from the catalog and this is your chance to save 25% on accessories, while supplies last! For a peek at those items, please visit here.

Other Challenges:

Alphabet Challenge
Blog

Delicous Doodles
Challenge Blog

Fussy and Fancy Friday
Challenge

Polka Doodles blog

Simply Create blog

The Stamp Man

Yellow!

This week I combined the sketch challenge from The Angel Company with the color challenge over at some other blogs...I hope you like the results. First up is my "plain jane" version.



But after looking at it for a day or two, it just seemed boring. I'm not sure I take 2 is so much better...but perhaps the versamark stamping and rounded corners make it a bit more interesting?!? Well, one can only hope!



Card Materials: Blossoms and Blessings and the retiring Be Still (on sale!)
cardstock: Soar with it Collection (bazzill)
all papers and stamps from The Angel Company

Sorry for the terrible pictures! I have been battling random thunderstorms and 3 days of cloudy, overcast weather...this was my final and sadly best attempt to snap a photo.

Anyone else having problems with blogger? I'm about ready to cry...I can no longer access it from my desktop computer but luckily I can still get on via my laptop. Any ideas?

Hope you are having a great Wednesday ... don't forget to try and play along for some great prizes!!

Other challenges:
Copic Creations - yellow
Stamping Vacation - start with a yellow flower
Paper Pretties Blog - flower

Wrapping it up

It's been a fun two weeks visiting all the paricipants in the Embellish color challenge that I sponsored. I appreciate all of the visitors to my blog during that time - both the old faithful visitors and new friends alike! I hope I don't disappoint!

Congratulations to Sharon Corn for winning my blog candy...I'll send you a note and get your address!

Random Sequence Generator
Here is your sequence:

40

Timestamp: 2010-08-13 07:44:29 UTC

I couldn't wait for this stamp to arrive once I first spotted it in the catalog...but once it was time to ink it up, I was a bit intimidated as how to color it. I ended up sponging on some green ink and painting a little walnut stain across it. I wanted to keep the color scheme of the Embellish challenge and ended up sponging on some pink ink to the little bird. I saw a lot of pink birds on the submissions so that inspired me! That tone ended up not quite right so I watercolored a pink from my Tombow markers...whoa! Now the tone was way too dark, especially when I took a photo. So, I restamped the image, and found the perfect pink Tombow marker on my third try - colored, cut out and popped up the bird. (Everything else had already been glued down - including that stick which I picked up from one of the moms in the challenge who sent her 3 year old out for sticks - I loved that story!! I just wrapped mine in green paper because I needed more of a pop of green on my card). Once I took the picture, I realized how glaringly bright pink that bird now was so I grabbed my New Canvas palette ink and just dragged and dabbed at the bird until it was just right - 4th time is the charm!

Card Materials: all stamps from The Angel Company

Stamps: Be Still, Peace Be Still, Background Soup

Accesories: More Mimi Soar with it Collection (TAC), kraft cardstock, buttons, scrappers floss, lace, Versamark Dazzle ink, Burnt Umber Palette ink

Thanks for coming by...I hope you have a super weekend!

Hemingway...another favorite

I have some more Amberley Grace papers to share today and also, Hemingway! ah...now that is one glorious paper!

Recognize this sketch by now? Here I did some embossing and again used a tag that comes in the Soar with it Collections. The grass flourish is now retired and was from the Artsy Elements set.




Card Materials:
Stamps: Artsy Elements, Take Pride
Accessories: Hemingway Soar with it Collection and cardstock, antique hardware, ribbon (TAC)

This simple style is reminiscent of Dina Kowal's work and I know I got the scored edge idea from her!



Card Materials:
Stamps: Be Still
Accessories: Amberley Grace Soar with it Collection, cardstock and ribbon, scor pal

Did you know that I'm having a raffle for anyone who places a $30 order with me during July? You'll have a chance to win a free copy of the Fall Magalogue (coming out 1 Sept!) and a $10 gift certificate.

Amberley Grace

I think The Angel Company has some of the prettiest papers (and names of papers!) around...while making some catalog samples for the Design Call, I really enjoyed using Amberley Grace.

Card Materials:

Stamps: Love and Laughter, Be Still

Accessories: Amberley Grace Soar with it Collection, cardstock and ribbon, Spiral clip

Card Matericals:

Stamps: Aged Ornaments, Be Still

Accessories: Scor pal, gold Brilliance pad (rubbed over scoring), Amberley Grace Soar with it Collection, cardstock, ribbon and hardware

You may not be familiar with this but all of our Soar with it Collections feature a matching Bazzill cardstock package, ribbon and hardware package that you can buy with the main collection.

CAS. Clean and Simple

Oh how I love that term. It just sounds so much fancier than "here's my easy-peasy" card. What made them so simple is that I stuck to just two colors. Many of you can match designer paper with no troubles at all but I struggle to achieve the right balance - of colors, patterns and solids.

In each of these cards though I did try and add a little something extra to make it "pop".



I added gel pen (shiny dots) to the scallop and then covered the ladybug (just colored with a tombow marker) in Crystal Lacquer.



Card Materials:
Stamps: Squiggle Ladybug
Papers: DCVW and Lilly Anna Soar with it Collection, Scallop punch, Tombow markers, gel pen, crystal lacquer

Pearls seem all the rage these days and I found some little ones at Michaels. The lighter butterfly is just a second generation of the first (ie. I didn't re ink my stamp after stamping the first butterfly so that I got a lighter one in the same palette).



Card Materials:
Stamps: Be Still, Butterfly Bits
Materials: Pink Bazzill paper, palette ink

All the supplies listed here can be found on my online shopping site but be sure to contact me if you ever want to order! The Angel Company has free stamps as a Gift with Purchase but I must place your order for you.

PSST! I'm still looking for Orna A. who won my last blog candy. Please contact me before 31 May or I'll have to send it to the runner up. Thanks!!

Mind if I share?

I was tickled last week to find that Mischelle, the owner of The Angel Company had featured two of my cards on her blog...check it out here! It made me giggle too how she talked about my doilies in the photo. I don't usually set a "scene" per se when I take a photo of my cards - I'm more about finding a spot of sun where I can. Now that spring/summer is here the path of the sun has changed on me and I may be looking for a new spot - but during the winter this is where I've been taking my photos. The little angels are a gift from my first boyfriend (high school era), the bird is a carving from when we were stationed in Panama, the aloe vera plant is perfect for when I burn myself on the oven and the table/lamp are from my in laws. Just like my plants in my garden, everything has a memory attached to it. Oh, and the doilie is from a grandmother! :)

And now for an actual card! I've been playing some more with my Victorian Elements! It took me about 2 months to cut into them but now that I've started playing with them, I just can't stop. For this card I made a background paper with them by first clear embossing them on a cream cardstock. I then stippled haystack and raw sienna palette inks all over the paper. Wiped away the extra ink and then removed the embossing with a hot iron because I wanted to stamp on the paper. This card came together quickly and worked perfectly for the CPS 115 challenge this week!

Card Materials:

Stamps: Victorian Elements, Be Still

Materials: Bazzill Monochromatic pack (blue), In Bloom and Sophia Blossoms and Buttons, palette inks

I love cream and blue together, how about you?!