colorwhimsy

Happy Bird-day!

I thought it would be fun to make a card that would work well for a spring birthday card.  I have five birthday cards I need to make in March, so I guess it is on my mind a bit!

For today's card, I used patterned paper from the Gossamer pack as well as some Cotton Candy and Vanilla Bean cardstock.  I inked the Orchard Bird Combo stamp (D1342) with Dark Brown Colorbox Chalk and Memento Bamboo Leaves before stamping it onto some pink paper.  I then added the flowers from the side of the stamp using Colorbox Chalk Berrylicious ink.  To finish the bird, I cut it out with a Marvy Mega Oval punch and layered it onto a Marvy Giga Scalloped Oval piece I cut from brown paper.  Finally, I added my saying (Happy Bird-Day Dashed B1007) using the same brown ink.

Finishing up my Valentines

I am finishing up all my valentines and getting them ready to mail.  I am just hoping that there will be mail delivery tomorrow to pick them up!  We are supposed to have another blizzard tomorrow.  Did everyone else make valentines this year?

For this card, I used several pieces of paper from the Gossamer 6" x 6" pack.  I have used the Gossamer pack a lot for Valentine's Day, but the truth is the pack works well for Spring in general.  In addition to the papers, I edged my punched heart with pink pigment ink, added some kraft colored twine, and stamped Happy Valentine's Day in Olympia Green Versafine ink.

Paper Hearts

Today I wanted to post another card that shows a great way to use up your paper scraps.  All of the hearts on this card were cut from the same 6" x 6" pack of Gossamer paper using the heart Whale of a Punch by EK Success.  I cut out all of my hearts, arranged them in a pattern I liked, and popped them up onto a cream Soiree notecard using foam tape.  For the bottom right-hand heart, I added a button, some twine, and the Love Tag (A372) that I stamped in brown ink.  Does anyone else have some great ideas for using up scraps?  I would love to know!

Easy Jewelry

Have you ever had something in one of your craft drawers for years and years and never used it?  I came across this blank pendant from Renaissance Art and decided it was time to finally use it.  I have been on a "show off my decorative paper" kick lately and thought that embedding some of the new Gossamer paper into a blank pendant would make a nice (and easy) piece of jewelry.  I don't know if you can tell from the picture but the pendant has a glass dome over it so that it took something simple, such as a piece of paper, and made it look quite elegant.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Deer Friend

Did you get the Deer Friends image (D1290) as part of the last What's in the Box release?  I used it to make Christmas cards, but it is a great stamp to use for Valentine's Day. 

For this card, I decided to break away from traditional red and pink Valentine colors.  Instead, I paired some of the the Gossamer 6" x 6" paper with some brown cardstock and a green notecard.  To color the deer, I used a variety of watercolor pencils and a Dove blender pen.

It is never a bad idea to tell your friends how much they mean to you!

Love Birds- Take 2

I made a blog post a while back that I called "Love Birds" that used the same Nesting Birds (D1315) as the card above.  It used a similar color scheme, but the cards have quite a different look to them.  The original can be found here.

For this card, I decided I wanted to use a heart punch to cut out around the birds.  When I did that, I thought it was rather difficult to see the branch underneath.  To make the branch more noticeable, I stamped the Tendril Branch (F1037) instead since it is a little bit longer.  To color the birds, I added a smidge of pink and brown watercolor pencil to the edges and soften the look with a blender pen.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Birthday Treat Box

Today is my birthday, and I felt like celebrating with a birthday blog post.  I have been using the new Gossamer papers for Valentines, but really, they work for all occasions.  Okay, perhaps not a boy birthday, but can't you see this paper for a bridal shower, Mothers' Day, or any spring event?  It is hard to tell from the first picture, but I made a little treat box featuring the Cupcake Bear (C984).  Here is a side view of the finished project:

I am lucky enough to have a local stamp store and access to an Accucut machine to cut the box.  If you don't have a box template or die cut machine, I found a link to a box template online.  You can find it here.

To make the box, I stamped the bear onto white cardstock using black Memories ink and colored him with Prismacolor pencils.  I then cut him out with a marvy blue circle punch and added some Raspberry cardstock behind the bear as an accent.  Finally, I attached him to a box I cut from some 12" x 12" Flitter paper.

Scripted Bird

It has been a while since I broke out my watercolor paints, so I thought it was time to give them some attention.  For this card, I stamped the Scripted Bird (E1309) onto 90lb watercolor paper using Vintage Sepia VersaFine ink.  I then added some splotches of pink and brown paint around the bird to create a background and added more pink paint to the bird breast that would match the background paper.  To finish the card, I added some Cotton Candy and Mocha Cardstock as well as some patterned paper from the Gossamer collection. 

On a separate note, have you checked out the new Memory Box Design Team blog?  It is loaded with great ideas and is written by a group of women who will be teaching Memory Box classes around the country.  If you haven't seen it yet, you can view it here.

Have a very happy New Year everyone!

Heart Tree

I am feeling a sense of Christmas accomplishment today.  Cards are in the mail.  Packages have been sent.  Latest Valentine is made.  :)

For today's card, I stamped the Tree of Love (D1312) onto white cardstock using brown Versafine ink.  I used the little hearts on the side of the stamp as well as some VersaColor Opera Pink and Crimson Versafine ink to add the "leaves" to the tree.  I cut out the tree with a Marvy Mega oval punch and layered it onto Azalea cardstock that was cut with a Marvy Giga scalloped oval punch.  To finish the card, I added squares of Goassamer paper onto a cotton candy notecard and stamped Valentine Greetings (B1175) onto the bottom of the card.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  We are expecting a lot of snow, and I am already pouting.  How many days till spring?

Butterfly Bookmark

Still need some gifts for Christmas?  Why not make some bookmarks.  It is a great way to use up some of your scrap papers and embellishments.  They are inexpensive, and you can customize them to suit the recipients.

For my bookmark, I used some of the new Gossamer paper as the base and cut circles from the same paper line as accents.  I then added some petal soiree paper for shimmer and stamped the Periwinkle butterfly (B1181) onto more of the petal paper with black Memories ink.  I stamped the butterflies onto my bookmark using the same black ink and then cut out the pink butterfly wings to piece onto my bookmark.  I will do anything to avoid cutting out antennae!  I then added some petal pink jewels for extra bling.  Here is a close up of the bookmark:

To keep my bookmark nice, I placed in into a bookmark sleeve by Sunday International.

Have a great day!