Happy Poppy Fields

Poppies are one of my favorite flowers, and according to Wikipedia poppy flowers are a symbol of remembrance. Hello, friends, Mindy here to share with you a special card of remembrance and thoughts of you from Classy Cards 'n Such.

One of the New Stacy Stamps Poppies has a single flower stamp, and a cluster of flowers corner edge stamp in the same package. Here where I live in So. Texas the bright red poppies are one of our wildflowers that start to bloom in late April in fields and along the roadways.  I stamped the single flower on a sheet of Neenah white card stock, and using my Copic markers, colored in the flower and leaves.  I fussy cut around the image, and highlighted the edges with a Wink of Stella Gold glitter marker.

To prepare the background, I stamped the Wood Texture Cover-a-Card Stamp on a sheet of white card stock using Antique Linen Distress Ink. I then took the frame die, Claudette Frame from Poppy Stamps and ran the die and stamped paper through my Cuttlebug machine to get my wood look frame.  I adhered it to the card front with double stick tape, and used Joy! Foam Pads Large to add dimension to the poppy flower.

I the tied a strip of twine around the card twice, and tied the ends in a square knot. Then using one of the Spellbinder's Matting Basics die I stamped the Thinking of You sentiment in the strip and colored it in with the Wink of Stella Gold glitter pen. I added some of the black Pearl Pen from Viva in the center of the flower, and Baby Pearls-white around the frame and sentiment strip for a little more bling.

Why not remember a friend by making them a hand-stamped card and sending it today.  They will really appreciate the thought. Thanks for visiting.

Tiny Gift Tags

I came across a collection of stamps that I used to collect years ago when I worked at the local rubber stamp store.  They are from a company, Amuse Artstamps.  They had the cutest little images and sayings to match that I have found anywhere. They are still in business, but I believe they do the "party scene" now with teachers and advisors running the shows.  I got out my Amuse stamps and stamped out a set of tiny gift cards for a "Thinking of You"  gift for a friend. I hope you will enjoy seeing them!

The actual size of these gift cards is 2" X 2 1/2" and have a folded card base, so you can write a message inside if you like. I also added a twine hanger from Maya Road twine to match each one. This tag set could be as many as you like, but 8 or so make for a nice assortment. I want to make a little gift box to put them in, and will work on that this weekend. It is supposed to be rainy and dreary here over the holiday weekend, so I will have plenty of time to craft.

I hope you have enjoyed my little tag collection, and will leave me a little comment on my blog, if you would like to see more of my paper arts projects. (besides greeting cards) Hope you are having a great weekend, we will share again soon.
Mindy

Let Your Dreams Take Flight

Happy Saturday Friends!  Today is one of those chilly and cloudy days that make you feel like staying in bed and pulling the covers up over your head! The card stamping process is hard to do when your fingers are cold, and don't want to work correctly. I am dreaming of spring today, with the birds singing and chirping outside my window. I am therefore creating this card, to celebrate springtime and all the lovely birds that come out to SING!

I started with a side-fold A2 size card and stamped the large feathers radiating from the left corner using my London Fog Memento ink pad.  Then using the solid style feather stamp again, inked it up with the London Fog, and then touched the edges with Tumbled Glass Distressed ink before stamping it on a sheet of Neenah white card stock. I also stamped my left facing Funky Bird stamp in Tuxedo black ink, and colored it in with my Copic marker and Souffle pink ink pen.  I then fussy cut the feather and bird out, and mounted them to the card front with foam tape, to give texture and dimension to the card.  The sentiment was stamped in Tuxedo black ink and stars and dots with the London Fog ink.  I then took some Light Blue corrugated paper, and cut two strips for along the length and base of the card. This gives more texture and dimension to the card, along with a pleasing element that draws the eye to the little bird in the left corner of the card.

I used the other sentiment stamp from the set, inside the card, along with a tiny flourish stamp. The inside sentiment states, "Don't let life ruffle your feathers!"  These are the supplies I used for this card:

cardstock:  Smooth white- My Favorite Things and Neenah white for embellishments

stamps:  Feathers Clear Stamp Set from Hot Off the Press, Funky Bird-left from Deadbeat Designs

inks: London Fog and Tuxedo Black from Memento Ink, Tumbled Glass Distressed from Ranger/Tim Holtz

According to the weather maps on TV, the Polar Vortex is covering most of the US with winter-like conditions.  Stay warm and safe this weekend, and enjoy time with your crafting or your families.

See you again soon.

Mindy

Wishing You the Happiest. . . .Merry Christmas

Happy Monday before Christmas!  The big day is only hours away, and I want to take this opportunity to wish you the happiest Christmas ever!

This last minute card uses a family photo and a special memento to decorate it's cover.  The background paper is from the Graphics 45 -12 Days of Christmas paper pack, and is centered on an A2 size red card stock base. The scanned photo is matted with a large tag from the Prima Co. then highlighted around the edges with Wild Honey Distress Ink from Tim Holtz and Ranger.  After mounting the photo onto the background, I cut a thin slit in the fold of the card and ran a 3/8" sheer organza ribbon around the front of the card, and tied it in a lovely bow.  To complete the card, I added an embellishment of a Toys for Tots medal from the United States Marine Corps, backed with a punched scalloped circle. The greeting, "wishing you the happiest. . . " is from a My Favorite Things clear stamp set, along with the "Merry Christmas" stamp used inside.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

Savor the Flavors of Life

Hello everyone! Hope you had a wonderful weekend. and savored the flavors of life.  I have really enjoyed this new stamp set I ordered from Flourishes titled, "Italian Garden".  The set has 11 pieces in it, and I have only used four, so far.  I love the Italian lifestyle, foods, scenery, and I hope to visit Italy one day.  Several of my friends are in Italy right now on a Tim Holtz cruise, and as they send back photos to their Facebook pages, I fall more and more in love with the country and it's surroundings. Here is how I created this card!

First of all, I stamped the ingredients cluster stamp which consisted of the olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and parmesan.  I then added the pot of oregano, along with the saying, and the word "Enjoy!"  Using my Cuttlebug and Romantic Rectangles Die, I diecut the border from a piece of yellow printed paper.  Then using the die itself as a border, I traced inside the design around my stamping, and cut along the pencil line for the "label look". I highlighted the edge of the label with my gold PanPastel chalk to blend with the yellow patterned paper. Before mounting the label, I colored the image with my Copic markers, shading and highlighting where indicated by the stamp.

I attached the background die to the card front with double stick adhesive, and then used foam tape to attach the image label on top of the die. To add even more dimension, I added a small cat die from Impression Obsession, highlighted with Brushed Corduroy Distressed ink, and used another layer of foam tape to give the card depth.  To finish off the card, I used my clear Wink of Stella marker to add clear sparkle to the oregano pot and the glass of water with the basil sprig in it.

This card reminded me so of the laid back and relaxed lifestyle of Italy. I hope you had a relaxing and comfortable weekend, and are ready for a kooky, spooky, week filled with Halloween cheer. Stay safe and have a great week!
Mindy

Black-Eyed Susan Clean and Simple Card

This is a very simple card that can be as clean and simple as you want it to be.  First off, I stamped the Black-Eyed Susan Wildflower Stamp from Paper Wings Productions on a sheet of watercolor paper. Then using my water-based markers, I colored them in and used a water brush to blend the colors together.

I then stamped the poem, from the Flower Quotes Cling Stamp Set from Paper Wings Productions, and then stippled around the background with Pear Leaf Memento Ink. I trimmed the watercolor paper to 4 1/2" square, and inked around the edge with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink from Ranger and Tim Holtz. I also used my Clear Glitter Gelly Roll pen to accent the vein lines and centers of the flowers.  I then cut a cardstock card base 5 1/2" square and  a piece of coordinating  printed scrapbook paper 5 1/8" square. I rounded all the corners with my corner chomper and adhered them with a double stick tape runner and foam tape.

I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with sunshine and happiness. Please visit with me again soon.
Mindy

Just Buzzin' By. . . . .

Just Buzzin' by to say Hi, fellow stampers and Card Makers.

Today's card creation uses the Doodle Garden Sweet as Can Be stamp set from My Favorite Things. I started off using a black card stock base card and rounded off the corners with my 1/4" Corner Chomper, and then chomped the corners off my background paper, "Sunshine" from My Mind's Eye.  I then stamped the little bee girl and the sayings on white Blending card stock with Tuxedo Black ink from Memento before coloring in with my Copic markers.  After coloring the image and shading with my Copics, I used the matching Spica Glitter pen to add sparkle to her wings. Then I fussy cut around the image, and added foam tape to the back to make her pop off the card.
I used my ink applicator tool and Wild Honey Distress Ink to shade around the white background where the sayings were, and just barely touched the edges with Rusty Hinge to darken the edges. the "just buzzin' by" saying is part of the MFT stamp set, and the BZZZZZZ! is part of a different set. I can't remember right off who makes that set, but if you will drop me a line, I will look it up for you.

To assemble the card, I used double sided adhesive to adhere the dotted background to the base card, then adhered the sayings with double sided tape. Next, I had a scrap strip of the yellow dotted background paper that I attached just below the edge of the white square, and then attached my little "Bee" to that strip, along with a pretty yellow button.(also from MFT)
At the top left hand corner I attached a BZZZZ! phrase with foam tape also, to give dimension.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend, wherever you are. Stay safe and bee-happy and I will see you again soon.

Mindy

You're A Doll!

Happy Spring Friends!  Today's tag's are using my Doll  stamp from Julie Nutting, and Prima Flowers. The stamp name is Doll with Peasant Dress, and it is one of my favorites right at the moment. It is about 71/4" tall and fits on the 81/2" Prima Tag beautifully. I also can't wait to use her in my Art Journal, as she will be just the right size for the pages.

The large Prima tags are pre-stamped with a light stamping of words, but they are very light and hard to read. I inked around the edges with my Tim Holtz Distress ink in Salty Ocean and then stamped the doll stamp with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I paper pieced her dress with a piece of printed scrap book paper and colored her hair and skin and shoes with my Copic markers.  I also made a faux paper casting of flowers for down the left side of the tag, using my Australian flowers Bolilio stamp from Judikins.  The bunny cut-out is from the Folk Art Fiesta cartridge from Cricut. To finish off the tag, I stamped colored dots from my Smash Inks from K & Company behind the doll and tied a length of ribbon at the top of the tag.

My second tag uses the Doll with Peasant Dress stamp also, but I hand cut a different style of Peasant Dress for her. When you paper piece a design such as this, you can easily change the clothing with just a few stamping modifications. I just masked off the bottom flounce of the dress when I stamped the image, and then put the paper pieced long dress over the body parts. After base coloring with my copic markers, I used foam tape to adhere the dress. The background of this tag is another large Prima Tag highlighted with Crushed Olive distress ink and several stampings of a daisy stamp and polka dots. My embellishments for this tag were a stamped

piece of card stock with the Damask Background stamp from Paper Wings Productions with another faux paper casting piece off a button card stamp.  On the blog  from Paper Wings Productions (click here), you can search the archives for March 5, 2013, and Dana did a tutorial on the Faux Paper Casting Technique. It is very easy to do, and turns out really great in less than half the time and less than half the expense of regular paper casting.. I also used foam tape to pop up a punched out heart which I adorned with Hydrangea Liquid Pearls.(I also drew on a little necklace with the liquid pearls.)

To complete the embellishments, I added a piece of sparkly trim at the bottom of the tag, and a piece of braid tied at the top for a hanger loop.

There are six variations of the Julie Nutting Doll stamps by Prima that have been really popular. Most of the suppliers are already out of stock, so I am on several waiting lists for the stamps when they come in.
I read somewhere that there may be more coming out in July along with a book by Julie.  I have really enjoyed her designs so far, and am looking forward to seeing more from this designer.

Which leads me to mention that my "One Year Blogaversary" is coming up on May 9, 2013. Beginning about the middle of April, I will be promoting a Give-Away that will be held during my Blogaversary. I will have a prize package to give away, and you can place your name in the drawing just by visiting and leaving a comment on my blog during the contest period. More information to come soon!
I really do appreciate the visitors that leave comments on my blog, and this will give me an opportunity to Thank you in another way.  I hope you will tell your friends about my blog, and anyone that is interested in stamping, or mixed media art. Until I visit with you again, have a great week, and keep on "Stampin".

I Heart Texas!

Boy, where does time go when you are busy with other projects?  I started in January posting on a rather frequent basis, but somewhere in February I went terribly wrong. Of course, sickness will do that to you sometimes. Well, now I am feeling much better, and hopefully back in the groove of blogging!

Today's post is a card I have been working on for celebrating Texas Independence Day, which is March 2, 2013.  I decided to make a business size card or #10, therefore having lots of space to decorate about my home state!  I started with a piece of 12"X12" scrapbook paper that I cut down to 8"X9" to fit inside the business size envelope. I then scored it in half width wise, and used a circle template to round off the left side to make the front of the card.  Using stamps from Deadbeat Designs, I stamped the barbed wire, Republic of Texas post mark, and the open star, on the beige background with Pumice Stone Distressed ink. I also stamped the Texas Forever Star, and the pick-up truck on white card stock before coloring the star in with prismacolor pencils, and the pick-up with copic markers. I cut around the Texas Forever star and mounted it on a scrap of the Country Heritage stripe scrapbook paper, and mounted the pick-up truck with foam adhesive to make it stand out from the card. I then went to work with my Cricut machine, and the Going Places cartridge.

For the inside of the card, I cut a half circle of card stock to display activities one may partake of to celebrate the holiday. Along with more background stamping, I cut out a tent, a fisherman with his boat, a camper,  a hiker, a young couple (for inside the pick-up) and the words "ENJOY" for the card front, and  "INDEPENDENCE DAY" with two stars for inside the card. The small lettering was from a Cricut cartridge called Word Collage.

After adhering the blank card inside for a handwritten message, I closed the card and glued the tiny Independence Day letters so they would be visible from the front of the card. I am entering this in the following challenge:
           
                +Deadbeat Designs- Texas Independence Day Card Challenge

I even decorated the envelope, which was not required, but every little bit helps! Right?

I hope you all have a wonderful day, and take a little time to enjoy the place where you live!

Winter Wonderland Card

Happy Wintertime fellow stampers!
Today was another one of those dreary days here in So. Texas where I live. The only good things about this dreary weather is that we really do need the rain that we get, plus it gives me lots to time to work on cards.

Today's card is another winter themed card with papers from the Graphic 45 line," A Place in Time." The colors for the January embellishments and papers are in shades of teal, so I used some strips of the teal printed pages attached to the card base as my background. I punched a 3 1/2" circle from white card stock and used a new metal stencil I got with  club kit I belong to. Paper Wishes/Hot off the Press has a monthly club kit that features metal stencils. Each month you get a kit with 2 metal stencils and a newsletter with lots of ideas for using the stencils, on cards, tags, scrapbook pages and the like.  They also discuss how to use different techniques and products with the stencils to help you with your projects.  When I used to work at Stamp Antonio Arts, here in San Antonio, we sold a lot of the metal stencils. I just never learned how to use them, and never seemed to have the time to take any of the classes offered.

With this stencil of the ice skates, I first traced around the inside of the stencil with a Pigma Micron .005 fine tip permanent marker. I then removed the stencil, and went over the laces and shoestrings with a heavier tip .08 fine tip permanent black marker.I also traced around the boot and heel with the larger tipped marker. The next step was to color the boot, and I used my Copic markers in Aqua shades to color them. Finally, I colored the bow with streamers and the metal blades of the skates with Ice Blue Stickles. The instructions suggested Silver Stickles, but I thought the light blue would bring the card together, especially since I was using so much of the teal blue. To complete the card I cut a tag and stamped "Winter Wonderland" on it, and shaded the edges with Ocean Water Distressed Ink and tied some Caribbean blue twine around the whole card vertically and knotted it.

This time of the year when so many people are feeling depressed and blue, I like to suggest trying something new like stamping or card making to help lift your spirits. Just trying one thing new each day will help you boost your self esteem and help you feel like you really have accomplished something. So get out there and try a new technique, or even use new colors in your stamping that you have never used before. Then share it with a friend, and make someone else HAPPY!  See you soon.

Tags on Tuesday!

Hello friends,
Three more tags for the Holiday Tree we are decorating.  I really am enjoying making these tags. I can try new techniques, and use a lot of my copic colored images that I have stamped out and colored. I have a whole booklet of images I have stamped and colored while learning to use the copic markers. I save them, and then when I need a small image to use in one of my art pieces, I can just add it in without a problem. Many of the images I color in different color schemes, that way I have a variety to choose from in my booklet.  As you can probably see, I love coloring roses of all shapes and sizes.
I love to practice the shading on the petals, and trying color combinations that might occur in real life gardens. The rose stamp on the first tag on the left, is my favorite rose stamp, and I don't know how many times I have stamped it out to color.

This is a great project to use my sample snippets on, I can combine several on a tag. I don't have too many Christmas samples in my book, but guess I will have to start stamping out a few so some of my tags will have a Christmas holiday theme.
There is not too much technique in putting together these tags, but if you have any questions, feel free to comment on this post, and I will get back to you as soon as possible with the answers.

Have a good week, and keep on stamping!

Let Your Dreams FLY!

Happy Friday Everyone!
Today's card is the last in the series of Melange Women that I made on World Card Making Day last weekend. This is Cassandra.

Cassandra is one of four Melange Women cling mounted rubber stamps from Paper Wings Productions. To check out these and other wonderful stamps, click here.

I started the background for this card as a 4" X6" piece of watercolor paper. I then edged the paper with grape and peach Gelato pigment sticks from Faber Castell. These Gelatos are so much fun to work with, they are like an oil pastel stick in a chap-stick tube, that are water-based instead of oil-based. You just draw with them like a crayon and then either blend them with your fingers, a baby wipe, or a water brush like watercolors. I just scribbled through the middle of the watercolor paper, and then blended it together somewhat. When it was dry, I used purple Smooch ink to swirl over the top and make more swirls and squiggles. I then put the background aside to completely dry before moving on.

Next I stamped Cassandra in Wild Honey Distressed Ink and colored her with my Copic markers. I had a saying in my computer about "catching a star that lets your dreams fly" so I printed it out and trimmed around its edges. Before putting the card together, I assembled a felt flower with three layers and adhered a pearl embellishment in it's center.

I trimmed the background to fit an A2 size card blank and adhered all the layers to the card front. Cassandra was adhered with foam tape to give the card dimension. The felt flower is very soft, so it will smash down when mailing the card.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I am attending a Halloween Card Making class, given by a friend of mine, and we will be using stamps from the House Mouse line of stamps. I think they are one of my favorite categories of stamps.  So, have a stampin' good time this weekend, I know I will be.

June's Artist Trading Cards

Hello everyone!  This is my first post after our Artist Trading Card meeting for June. The group I meet with, gathers the first Tuesday evening of the month from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Stamp Antonio Arts, in San Antonio, Texas. The first picture is my cards for the trade.  Our themes were; "Zentangle/Doodling/ Flat", one layer cards, or  "With One Stamp" and the stamp chosen was the Umbrella Man from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous. I chose to do both themes.

At the meeting, I asked the other members of the group if I could post their cards for the trade on my blog and they all agreed.  These are the cards I got for the theme "Wth One Stamp"!

As you can see from the picture, there are several sizes of the Umbrella Man stamp used. Everyone does his or her own thing, and you can see how different they all look. That is what makes a group like this so much fun. You really never know what you are going to get, like Forest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates... . . . ."

Our group theme for next month is "Cupcakes" & "Water".  If you think you might be interested in participating in something like this, our group is always looking for new members. Comment on this blog, stating you want more information, and I will get in touch with you, and provide you with the procedure to follow to enter the group. I would love to hear from you!

So until next time, take care, and "Be Creative" it will help you feel so good!

Happy Mother's Day to Mothers everywhere!

Here is a card I submitted to a challenge on the Paper Wings Productions blog.paper-wings-productions.blogspot.com/ It was for their Flight Plan Challenge 002.

Using large chipboard letters, I traced around the letters; M-O-M and then using my x-acto knife cut out the excess paper to leave just the letters as the front flap of the card. I then inked around each letter with an Old Paper Distressed Ink Pad and blending tool from Tim Holtz. Then using one of Post Script Press' framer stamp sets from Paper Wings, I stamped out several frames from card stock and cut each one out. 

 The interior of the card, I covered in a scrap of printed scrapbook paper and added several strips of decorative ribbon, knowing it would show through between the letters. I then picked out photos to go behind the frames, and labeled the frames with "me", "you", and "us", "2012".  The small word stamps are included in the sets with the frame. I situated the frames on the outside of the card, covering my "Happy Mother's Day" message inside. To top it off I tied a simple bow on the top of the first "M".

When you make this card for other occasions, you have to concentrate completely when tracing your letters on the reverse side of the front flap. You have to remember to mirror image your letters in reverse order or your word may not come out correctly. "Mom" is easy because it is spelled correctly front-to back, and back-to-front. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers out there!