Spring Has Sprung!

It's hard to believe Spring 2014 is already here!  Here are the three cards that we'll be making on April 16th at Ultimate Hobbies in Orange, CA.  The first class will be from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m., and the second from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

The first card features the Chochitlan Wreath, the Dianna Border and the Woodland Fawn (fell in love with this little fawn!)  The Small Hydrangea Blooms die was used for the larger flowers, and the smaller ones are punched from a 1/4" circle punch and shaped with a stylus.  The background is from a the Tim Holtz brick embossing folder. 

The second card uses two of the new (January release) Memory Box stencils, Texture Flourish and Butterfly Drifting.  The dies used are Samirah Butterfly and Delaney Butterfly, and the small butterflies are from the Memory Box Dancing Butterflies die. 

Finally, the new Massa Leaf Frame and the Brighton Flower Border dies were used, along with spring favorites, Chocolate Bunny and the cute little Fluffy Bunny.  The background was done with the Memory Box Disperse stencil.

You can find all of these dies and stencils at Ultimate Hobbies.  If you'd like to take this class, please contact Ultimate Hobbies, (714) 538-3111, and reserve a spot.  If you live in the area, I sure hope you'll join us.  

I'll be back soon with some Penny Black cards.  In the meantime, have a wonderful week!

Poppystamps Blog Blitz!

Just a quick note to let you know about the Poppystamps Blog Blitz going on right now.  Just click on the icon over to the right, and you'll land on the Poppystamps Blog where you'll see great new creations from our Design Team using the latest release of Poppystamps dies.  You're going to love them!  The blitz will go through March 28th, and you have until April 3rd to leave your comments, for a chance to win one of these fun dies!  There'll be a winner for each day of the blitz with a different die being given each day, and the names of the winners will be announced on April 7th.

Later this week I will be posting the three cards for my next class at Ultimate Hobbies on April 16th, using the new Poppystamps dies. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Love is in the air!

Valentine's Day is fast approaching!  Here are two cards featuring two of the dies from the new Memory Box 2014 release, Queen of Hearts and Sweet Heart, as well as the Love Script which is from the 2012 Memory Box release.

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Both cards were super quick and easy to construct.  For both cards, I snipped off the bottom part of the flourish from the Queen of Hearts die in order to leave plenty of room for the sentiment.  

For the first card, I die cut the Sweet Heart from pink patterned paper, and since it is just a tiny bit larger than the heart that is cut from the Queen of Hearts die, it is easy to adhere it behind the heart opening.  On the above card, I used a glue pen to apply glue all around the flourish and sprinkled it with glitter, and then covered the "Love" word with Wink of Stella clear glitter brush before adhering it to the card.  I tied a key charm with some cream twine and used a glue dot to attach it as shown.  Before I glued the top panel to the card, I added a strip of red card stock just for fun.  

On the card below, I die cut the Sweet Heart and the "Love" word from double sided sticky paper.  I removed the liner from the Sweet Heart and adhered it behind the opening.  I then removed the top lining and sprinkled red Glitter Ritz on the heart. For the "Love" word, I removed the lining behind the word and attached it to the card, then removed the top lining and glittered the word with the same red Glitter Ritz.  I finished it off by adding a silver heart charm to the opening at the bottom of the Queen of Hearts die cut as shown. 

I think each card could also be done as a wedding card or an anniversary card ... lots of possibilities!  If you're like me, I'm usually making a card as I'm racing out the door for the party, so quick and easy is good!  Thanks again for stopping by!

Happy Caterpillar!

Here is a card from the new Poppystamps release featuring the Cute Caterpillar and Beverly Vine dies, and the wonderful Memory Box Flourish stencil for the background.  I also posted this card on the Poppystamps blog, which you can visit by clicking on the Poppystamps badge on the right.  By the way, all of the new Poppystamps and Memory Box dies and stencils (and so much more!) can be found at Ultimate Hobbies in Orange.  Trust me, you'll be glad you dropped in!

I first lightly sponged pink distress ink through the stencil onto cream colored cardstock for a soft background. I trimmed the sides and adhered this to a green card base.  I cut the Beverly Vine from green, cream and pink cardstock.  I added some depth to the pink and cream flowers using a pink watercolor pencil, then used a wet brush to blend the color out.  I snipped off the pink and white flowers and glued them over the corresponding flowers on the green die cut, sprinkling each of them with a little glitter and then adhered the entire vine to the stenciled background.  I die cut caterpillars from black and tan cardstock, snipped off the legs and the feelers from the tan caterpillar parts, and lightly distressed one side of each of the pieces for dimension.  I drew a little face on the head, added a little pink for the cheeks, and glued all the pieces to the black caterpillar.  I then positioned the caterpillar to happily crawl along the stem, finishing the card with a “thanks” rub-on word.   

I have to admit this card was a bit labor intensive, but I just had to go the extra mile, and I was happy with the end result! Hope you are too!  Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Tag Hop!!

Today's the day!  Our Poppystamps design team will be posting some wonderful ideas on each of their blogs, so it's time to start hopping! If you are following along the blog hop, you should have reached me from Sherry Eckblad.  You can get all the details, including what candy we're giving away by clicking on the following link: Poppystamps Blog


I created a two-part tag just for fun.

I have to apologize for the lighting on these pictures which, in spite of many tries, did not pick up the sparkle.  You'll have to trust me, there's lots of sparkle!  I embossed the Clarissa Ornament Background die and added the bling.  I had a pretty piece of Memory Box paper, and used it to layer a strip onto dark green cardstock, then added that to the tag base.  I cut apart the Breezy Wreath to make the leafy accent and added a Berry Sprig.  I love the Merry script and it fit perfectly across the bottom.  I cut three of the scallops from the Petit Four Border and added that at the very bottom.  I used the same paper for the inside tag, and again used a couple of the Berry Sprigs and the Petit Four Border to tie it all together. Did I mention there is sparkle?!  Here are links to the dies used:

[932] DIES- Clarissa Ornament Background	[967] DIES- Cursive Merry	Petit Four Border (959)	[824] DIES- Breezy Wreath
[977] DIES- Berry Sprig

This is the last stop on the hop.  Hopefully you've left comments on each of the blogs for your chance to win one of three prizes.  As mentioned in my previous post, you have until December 8th to leave a comment, and winners will be posted on the Poppystamps blog on December 9th.  For your convenience, here's a list of all the designers with projects today:  

Poppystamps Blog

Yvonne Dunlop

Chunyuan Wu

Diane Barney

Ira Huberts

Jean Manis

Jeanne Jachna

Kimberly Coleman

Lezlye Lauterbach

Mary McMillan

Michele Henderson

Patty Tanuz

Rudlis / Irena Kowalczyk

Sherry Eckblad 

Sherry Hester  

Thanks for stopping by and happy hopping!!

Poinsettia Thank You

I absolutely love the Small Blooming Poinsettia die and I’ve used it once again … well really, six times again … on this Thank You card.

The Diamond background was cut using the same cardstock as the base card to give it an embossed look.  I used a strip of ivory burlap behind the Lovely Tendril pieces, and arranged the gold and ivory poinsettias in a cascade fashion, then added a pearl to each of the centers.  I also used a glitter pen on the ivory petals to give it a little shine. Hope you like this one!!

Here's more news:  Poppystamps will be having a Holiday Tag Hop on Monday, December 2nd. Just click on the Poppystamps logo on the top right to begin! Be sure to hop to all of the blogs and leave a comment as there are three prizes to be given away and they're hidden amongst our blogs. You will have until December 8th to leave a comment for your chance to win.  Winners will be posted on the Poppystamps blog on December 9th. 

In the meantime, I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn Greetings

Honestly, I didn't take another vacation!  Life has simply been a little nuts.  I'm posting a couple of fall cards that were featured in my classes at Ultimate Hobbies last month, and I thought it would be a good idea to post them on my blog for visitors who haven't yet seen them.

This card features the Leaves Die Set and the Wheat set from Obsession Impression, along with the Grove Branch from Memory Box.  The "Thanks" is an Elizabeth Craft Designs die that fit just perfectly.  I sponged various Distress Inks in fall colors onto the leaves and blended them together to create the turning colors.  I die cut one leaf and the "Thanks" from gold cardstock, and finished it with a bow of gold thread and a red button.  I love how the wheat stalks and the added branch balanced everything out for a clean, simple look.

This next card uses the Pumpkin Set of dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs, and I couldn't resist once again using the Wheat set from Obsession Impression.  The "With Gratitude" words are from a great set of stamps from Paper Smooches called "Many Thanks".

I used a Swiss Dots embossing folder to create the background, and mounted that onto the card base.  I stamped the background of the white pumpkin using the Birch Branch stamp from Memory Box, and cut the leaves from dark green and dark orange cardstock.  I like the way the two layers of the pumpkin pieces fit together to give them texture and definition. 

I have to share one of those "happy accidents" that happen once in a while.  I'm a big fan of the Zig Wink of Stella glitter pens, and I discovered that if you squiggle the brush onto an acrylic block or a craft sheet and pick up the ink with a sponge, you can dab it onto the surface of your die cuts to give them a very subtle mist of glitter.  It's a little difficult to see on these cards, but give it a try and see if you like the look of it! 

Thanks for stopping by!!