Paper Amour

Twizzle Tree

Oh, how I love a tree stamp!

I've written before about how versatile they can be. And this Twizzle Tree is no exception:

It could be made into any kind of tree, depending on the inks and papers you chose to make it with.

I wanted to use papers from the new Twilight 6 x 6 set for my first card...

I pulled several papers from the pack and stamped the Twizzle Tree numerous times with Versacolor gold ink.

(click on any photo to make it larger)

Then I took the tree stamped on one of the more solid black prints and matted it with a grey-ish print, then adhered those layers to a Jack O' Lantern notecard I trimmed down into a square.

 

Now it was time to start cutting all those fun circles from the prints I'd already stamped the tree onto...

 

I kept adding circles until the tree was full...

When I got to this point, I really didn't like the way the tree seemed to be floating... so I decided to add something to the bottom of the card to ground it.

Enter an old book page...

I really wanted somthing to tie the book page ground to the rest of the design, so I cut a tiny crescent moon and added it to the corner...

 

And there you have the first of what I know will be many Twizzle Tree cards... this is one FUN stamp to play with!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Okay. So it's July. And it's HOT here in Spokane.

But in my studio, everything is cool and Christmassy!

I got a whole BUNCH of lovelies from Dave recently, including these yummy Christmas sets...

So I pulled out some papers and got to work. I wanted to go with some non-traditional colors, just for fun. My Christmas decor is pretty standard red and green, so when I can play with other colors just for the heck of it, I'm all over that!

I began by stamping the lovely script/snowflake background on the right side of a Lagoon note card. Then I grabbed a white scrap of paper and stamped the lovely "Christmas" word. LOVE this font. (I used Brilliance Platinum Planet for the script and Pearlescent Orchid for "Christmas.")

Then I randomly stamped some snowflakes around the rest of the note card front... notice how some of the flakes extend off the edges... very important to do this when you do a random pattern. It adds credibility to the randomness. (Not that I know anything, but I sure think it looks better!) I used both ink colors for the snowflakes.

Now it's time to mat "Christmas" with some beautiful Memory Box Soiree paper in Peony. Gorgeous!

Then it's time to stick it all down and add some bling! You may notice that I decided to cut down the Lagoon notecard front and mount it onto a Peony notecard. I just felt like I needed that border of pink to pull it all together.

Make note also - I added three of the Snowflake Jewels. Three is a good number. Just like extending the stamped snowflakes off the edge, three sparkly snowflakes just looks better. Odd numbers are our friends.

So there you have it. My first Christmas card of 2009. But certainly, not my last. I'm WAY too inspired by the new stuff to stop now!!!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend!

 

Faux Weave Cards

As promised, here are some cards I made with the faux weave technique. I love how easy these are to throw together and how those little squares really fool the eye...

 

Next time you get your hands on some of Memory Box's delicious stripes, try the faux weave. It makes the most fabulous backgrounds and couldn't be any easier!

Have you peeked at all the new Memory Box releases??? Go look now and then watch for posts starting Saturday with samples using the new stuff!!!

Faux Weave Scrapbook page

I love a stripe. When I used to help choose papers for the store I worked at, I would always encourage the owner to buy whatever coordinating stripe came with a paper line. I just think they work so well at pulling all the colors of a particular paper line together... and there are so many fun things you can do with striped papers...

One of my favorite techniques with stripes is this faux weave...

I wanted to use this technique on a 12 x 12 page, so I figured out how many 2" squares I would need and started cutting... I used four sheets of 6 x 6 stripe from a Memory Box set... Sweet Bay... I believe this particular set is discontinued - but any stripe will work with this technique.

I cut the four 6 x 6 squares into 2" squares - nine from each square for a total of 36 squares.

Then I began laying the squares out on a sheet of 12 x 12 paper. I use the filler paper that comes with albums sometimes for this... it's usually a really poor quality paper that works great as a backing for what becomes my background page. I start by putting a solid line of adhesive along each edge, then begin adhering the striped squares, alternating the direction of the stripe on every other square.

After I complete a row, I move down to the next row and then just continue down the page until the whole background is covered.

 

I love how it looks as though there are actually woven strips on the page - but how much easier it is to simply adhere squares next to each other! You get the look of a perfectly tight weave without the hassle!

Now it's time to build the page.

I layered my photo onto three coordinating Memory Box solids to make a photo mat.

 

Then I created my journaling box on some ledger paper matted with another Memory Box solid...

 

Added a title and some embellishment...

 

And here you have the completed page.

 

(Click on any photo to enlarge...)

Next week I'll show you some samples of cards made with the faux weave technique... and watch soon for samples with the new Fall and Winter releases! I've got a nice little stack of new papers and stamps I'm just dying to show you!!! Dave's done it again - you won't be disappointed!

I'm back!

After a week and a half of taking care of a very sick dog, I'm happy to report that Gracie is finally eating again and is almost completely returned to her normal exuberant, tail-wagging self. I'm playing catch up now from a week of feeling like I couldn't even leave her for a minute... amazing how life has a way of taking over when something like that happens. I was a self proclaimed "not a dog lover" when we got her - and in less than four years, she's wormed her way into my heart in a way I never could have imagined.

Thanks for all your well-wishes... and now, back to business!

I wanted to show you the final card put together with my stamped mushrooms from the Poppy Stamps sneak peek...

I layered several coordinating solids to mat the mushrooms and added a teeny bit of bling with a few Memory Box diamond jewels on the center mushroom...

Love how well it would work for a guy - I send a card a week to my Dad and am always looking for designs he'll enjoy.

Next time you're flipping through a magazine or a catalog and you see a pattern or a photo that would work for this kind of application, pull it out! I keep a file of pretty images just waiting to be stamped on. It's so fun to see how different pictures work with various stamps!

Have a lovely Wednesday!

Life...

So sorry to not have gotten my 'mushroom project' post up today.

Our family dog has been in and out of the vet this past week - she spent 30 hours in the pet ER over the weekend, had surgery on Wednesday and had to go back in today because of complications.

I'll be back as soon as I get her healthy and feel like I can leave her alone long enough to get some work done in my studio.

Until then, if you think of us, say a prayer or think good thoughts for Gracie, our boxer.

Thanks.

Reusing magazines and catalogs... Poppy Stamp Mushroom

Have you taken a peek at Dave's new company, Poppy Stamps?

A sweeter set of images, I'd challenge you to find! Such cute little munchkins...

I got a little sneak peek at some new Poppy Stamp things in a recent box of goodies I got from Dave and immediately wanted to use a sweet little mushroom clear stamp... it's a little peek of good things to come from this exciting new company!

I decided to stamp the mushroom onto an assortment of magazine images. I like to re-use magazines and catalogs because so often the photographs are just so beautiful... it seems a waste to not take advantage of them. My favorite ones to re-purpose this way are Martha Stewart Living, and Pottery Barn and Ballard Design catalogs.

Here are a few of the pages I pulled out to stamp on...

 

Stick with me, people... that dog's hair looks SO mushroomy... trust me!

 

And here are some of the mushrooms I stamped, all detail cut and waiting to go on my project.

(I can never believe how messy my work desk is... I really need to take a minute one of these days to scrape off all the dried adhesive and paint on there... but it's a WORK desk, so obviously, I'm not too worried about it!  Forgive my messy background here...)

Come back Friday to see what I did with these little cuties.

(And check out the middle mushroom in the top row there - that was stamped on the dog's leg. See???)

And now, go look at your magazines and catalogs and see which images you might be able to use for stamping. I guarantee, you'll start looking at them with new eyes once you begin exploring the possibilities!

Happy Day - mini wall hanging

I love to create little wall hangings.

They're small enough to pop into an envelope and send through the mail - but I think they're a little more exciting and interesting than a card - pushing your thoughfulness beyond a simple sentiment and bumping it up a notch to the actual 'gift' category - all with no more effort!

For today's project, I started with a die cut label punched out of standard chipboard.

I covered the chipboard on one side with Key Lime Biscotti. I always use Beacon's 3 in 1 glue for adhering paper to chipboard - it doesn't buckle or warp the paper at all and gives smooth even coverage with little mess. LOVE this stuff.

After adhering, I trimmed around the chipboard with an exacto.

Next, I stamped the Tweet Bird image onto some Memory Box Sugar Plum and colored it with Prismacolor pencils in Pink and Pink Rose.

Then I stamped the Vine Branch with Marvy Jungle Green, creating a branch for my bird to sit on... I felt it would look more balanced if I added some branches to the right side, so I stamped the Vine Branch there as well. 

I cut out my little birdie, then adhered it to the chipboard along with some beaded trim from my stash that I've been hoarding for years. LOVE how it adds some dimension and sparkle to the project!

Lastly, I adhered some Memory Box Lagoon paper to the back of the chipboard, hand cutting a mat from it, then used my Cropadile to punch holes in the top of the chipboard. I tied on a ribbon, added my "Happy Day" sentiment, and called it finished!

I would indeed consider it a happy day if this were to come in my mailbox! Wouldn't you?