Play Time

Happy Tuesday Everyone!  Today I am featuring Play Time, a celebration of having a full day of play with my papers, stamps, and die cuts.

I started by stamping one of Janie's Girls stamps from Hot Off the Press, and coloring in with Copic markers.  I then cut out the design very close to the edge, and set aside until I arranged my paper scraps  in a favorable arrangement. I also had some flowers stamped and colored in my embellishment folder, and the colors seemed to blend with the coloring on m hula-hoop girl.

I adhered a background stripe paper to the card front, and then attached a small dot print covered with vellum with foam tape for dimension.  I then place my cut outs, flowers and girl on the papers. I then stamped the word PLAY on a coordinating scrap using my Deadbeat Design Alphabet stamps. To finish off, I stamped the Poppy Flower center from Deadbeat Designs in various positions on the card to set off the background.

I am so thankful to have Play Time in my studio.  I love getting in there to create something fun to send to family and friends. Until next time . . . . . . 

Mindy

Taylor Made Tag . . . . . Take Time!

I'm still playing with my New Julie Nutting Doll Stamps by Prima. Today's tag/card uses the doll named "Taylor". I started by making a card from two tags, using the Julie Nutting Tag Pad. I adhered the tags together at the top of the tag, and then started to decorate them.  I adhered printed scrap book paper to the front, and then stamped flowers and clock faces over the front of the tag using Ranger Archival ink in Sepia. While the papers were drying, I stamped Taylor on the Julie Nutting "Buff" paper pad and colored in her clothes and hair with Copic markers.  After fussy cutting around the doll, I adhered her to the left side of the tag using foam tape for dimension.

On the right hand side of the tag I die cut some leaf shapes  from a Tim Holtz Alterations die, and shaded them with my Copic markers. I combined them with flowers and leaves from the Prima Cartographer Collection and some covered wire springs.  The flowers have a little glitter on them, so I added a piece of sparkly gold trim across the bottom of the tag, some Maya Road Ginger Twine tied around the tag, and a crinkly rust bow tied at the top of the tag/card.

To complete the tag, I stamped a few open circles from the Scenery: Big Bang Confetti clear stamp set from Winnie & Walter set, to fill in between elements.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and come to visit with me again soon.

New Sherrif in Town

Greetings Friends!  Or should I say, Howdy?  Here is another A2 size card using my "Howdy" die from Die-Versions. This time I lined it up on the folded edge of the card and punched through both layers of the card. (both front and back, see inside picture below) Here is how I made this card.

I placed the top edge of the letters of the die right off the edge of the fold, before running the die and card through the Cuttlebug machine. I then cut 1 1/4" off the front flap of the turquoise card.  I then cut a piece of floral scrap book paper 3 5/8"X 5 1/2" to cover the back of the card.  I also stamped "Becky" the cowgirl, one of Julie Nutting's new Doll Stamps from Prima on Neenah white card stock. I then colored her with my Copic markers and fussy cut around her.  The wood block and sentiment stamps are from My Favorite Things "Howdy" clear stamp set. I stamped the phrase first on a manila tag, masked it with a post-it note, and the over stamped the wood block stamp in Sepia brown Archival ink from Ranger. I trimmed around the stamping, and placed foam tape on the back to pop it up.  I also used foam tape to attach Becky to the front of the card.  You can't see it well, but I used several star stamps from the MFT Howdy set to stamp a background on the card flap, before attaching the doll and the sentiment block.

To complete this card, I stamped the sentiment "Yee Haw" on the printed paper inside, and used Dark Bark chalk ink to add a distressed edge to the letters "H*O*W*D*Y" on the outside of the card. Thanks for visiting my blog, and be sure to leave me a comment below. See you all again soon.

Mindy

To Be Fond of Dancing. . .

Happy Saturday! Today's post is another entry in the Classy Cards n' Such challenge #21- Vintage Hues, using three colors from their posted image, and the 6X6 Elementals Doily stencil available in their shop.

I started out by spritzing the doily stencil on a sheet of silver gray card stock using the Tattered Angels- Patina spritz.  I then fussy cut around the doily shape and adhered it to the card front using a permanent adhesive. I then attached a strip of sheer pink two-toned ribbon and a strip of lace ribbon vertically on the card front.  The sentiment label was pre-printed on a sheet of  12X12 scrapbook paper from the Dear Jane collection from Die Cuts With a View.

I popped up the sentiment label with foam tape to give the card dimension, then attached a piece of silk ribbon tied in a bow to the top of the label. A butterfly die from Hot Off the Press was then cut from metallic white Neenah card stock and a background of pink.  It was then attached to the sentiment label with pop dots.  I left the wings loose so they would wiggle in the breeze.

 I hope you all had a wonderful day. The weather was wonderful here in So. Texas. Spring is on it's way, but at least one more shot of winter is expected tomorrow.  Stay happy!
Mindy

A Few More Thelma Tags

I finished a few more tags with the "Thelma" stamp my friend Mark Jetton at Deadbeat Design Stamps sent me.  He also promoted my blog on his post yesterday, so I thought if someone came looking for his link I would have more than the one little tag I posted yesterday.  Thelma is so much fun to stamp, color, and even paper piece! 

I have been adding scraps of scrapbook paper to tags for backgrounds for several weeks now.  If you viewed my blog last year before Christmas, you saw the tags I made to decorate a Christmas tree for our church group.  This year I am doing something different with the church group, but we haven't quite decided yet what it will be.  I do, however, like to have some tags prepared for decorating, "just in case I need them!"  Since many of Mark's stamps are Texas themed, I thought I would use another themed set by Paper Wings Productions (also Texas based) for the Texas sayings. These were from the Texas Quotes set.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, preparing for Thanksgiving which is not too far away. These tags also make  wonderful place cards for your Thanksgiving table. So why not make up a batch to decorate your table, "and let your creative juices flow!"  See you soon.
Mindy

PRIMA DOLL STAMP BLOG HOP! -Week #1 -Spring

WOW! Have you seen the Prima Mixed Media Doll Stamps from artist Julie Nutting? The are adorable!

A few of us are having so much fun with them that we've decided to put together a 4-part Blog Hop, and the rules are very simple.

Each Tuesday throughout the month of August;  August 6, 2013  August 13, 2013  August 20, 2013 and August 27, 2013 we will be sharing creations made with a variety of these fabulous stamps to inspire you. This is going to be a 4-Seasons Blog Hop with each Tuesday's project featuring a season of the year. 

The theme of Tuesday, August 6, 2013 will be SPRING FEATURES!

The theme of Tuesday, August 13, 2013 will be SUMMER FEATURES!

The theme of Tuesday, August 20, 2013 will be FALL FEATURES! and

The theme of Tuesday, August 27, 2013 will be WINTER FEATURES!

All you will need to do is HOP to each of our blogs each Tuesday in August and leave us a comment. Be sure to include your email address, because on August 30th we will

 EACH be giving  away a prize!

Yes, each participant will be giving away a prize package, and these packages will be shown on each of our blogs during the Hop! REMEMBER. . . .you will need to comment each Tuesday to be eligible for the prize drawing.  AND. . . if you share our hop information on your blog, Facebook Page, or Twitter account, be sure to let us know and you will get a

SECOND chance at the prize drawing. WAIT THERE IS MORE!

If you become a follower/subscriber to our blog, you will get a THIRD chance!!!!

So, what do you say?  Ready for some FUN??????

Here are our participants, they are waiting for your visit!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dar's Crafty Creations 

Primitive Seasons

A Mermaids Crafts

Nellies Nest

Paper & Ink with Mulberry Mindy (you are HERE)

Scrap For Joy

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So, without further ado, here is my Spring Doll Feature: The Spring Doll Door Hanger!

My Spring Doll Door Hanger is made from "Olive", one of the newer doll stamp releases, and she is mounted on  a wooden unfinished triangular banner that I painted with Baby Pink acrylic paint. I then adhered a sheet of Rose Garden printed paper from First Edition papers.  Rubber stamp accents such as bees, peacock feathers, and border was stamped with Sepia brown Archival Ink from Ranger. Olive was also stamped with the brown Archival Ink on a Prima Tag Pad and then cut out and applied to the banner.

I colored her features with Copic markers, added a paper pieced skirt from the Rose Garden paper pad, and adhered her to the banner with 3-D glue dots.  I also added vellum daffodil stickers and dragonflies, along with a tag cut from the Rose Garden paper pad.  A cute printed grosgrain ribbon was tied in two bows, and then used as the hanger loop to hang from any door knob or on a bedroom wall.  I hand wrote the inspirational word "PLAY" to the door hanger to symbolize the child in all of us, using my Posca markers. To top it all off, I added some acrylic stones for bling on the dragonflies and necklace for the doll.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Don't forget to leave a comment on my blog to be eligible for my "BLOG CANDY" giveaway! Please check my sidebar on the right for a picture and list of my Blog Candy Prize!

AND DON'T FORGET TO CONTINUE ON HOPPING TO  JOYCE'S BLOG,

"SCRAP FOR JOY" to continue on the hop!

Here is another of my projects using my Prima Doll Stamps.

Thanks for stopping by, see you again soon!

Mindy

Card Full of Dreams

Today's card represents a "Card Full of Dreams".  A friend of mine has always dreamed of owning his own business. When I found this package of stickers that I had purchased back in my "scrapbooking days", I figured now was a good time to send him a little encouragement about his "field of Dreams."

To start with, I took a sheet of 12 X 12 scrap book paper from the PinkPaislee Portfolio line of papers, and cut a 4 1/2" X 11" strip of paper for my A2 (4 1/2X 5 1/2) size card background. After folding it in half, lengthwise, as I mentioned before, found this package of Vintage Peel & Stick Labels that I had purchased back in the days when I was making scrapbooks. The label was from the vintage Country Company Collection from Melissa Frances, and was a picture of a storefront named the Porter Bakery.  I hunted through my pages of printed vintage photos and came across a piece of a photo, a small boy standing in a doorway, that fit perfectly in the doorway of the bakery. After gluing the photo into the doorway, I cut out three numbers from a scrap of scrapbook paper and adhered them to the awning of the bakery.

To finish off the front of the card, I added a strip of polka dot ribbon with a scrap tied in a knot, and then added a key tag to the knot with the word  "Dream" punched out of paper and attached to the tag.

I hope you have enjoyed this very simple and quick card that can be used to remind a friend to "Follow their Dreams". Without dreams there would be nothing to look forward to in our lives. Have a Great Day!

Mindy

A Nice Day for A Wedding

 The sun is shining bright, not a cloud in the sky. The temperature is suitable and everyone looks their best.

What a Lovely Day for A Wedding!

This is a really special card, and I am so pleased to be sharing it with you today.  I just received the new set of Julie Nutting Doll Stamps from Prima, and this is the newest and largest one yet!  Everyone meet Lorenna!  When I saw this stamp, I immediately thought of a beautiful bride, walking down the aisle. 

 It also happened that Little Scrap Pieces- Fun Friday Challenge was A Nice Day for a White Wedding. So, I knew I had to make this card and submit it for the challenge. I also submitted it to the DL Art Thankful Thursday-June Linky Party Challenge "Anything Goes."

I started out by stamping Lorenna's image out on a piece of plain white card stock, twice. I then stamped her upper body on one of the tags from Prima's Large Tag Pad, also designed by Julie Nutting. Each tag has an antique look to it, with antique text lightly printed on each tag. I used this for her head, shoulders, and arms. Then just a light touch of Copic markers on her skin, and hair, and I was ready to design the dress.  I ran both stamped dresses through my Cuttlebug with the Damask Embossing folder from Sizzix. I then fussy cut one dress into strips, following the folds of the skirt. I popped every other one up on the thickest sticky Zots I could find, and glued the top of the fold down at the waist. I then went over the outlines with my white Posca paint marker. The folds are still slightly visible, giving the gown depth and dimension. To add a little bling, I added a small bouquet of Prima pink roses in her hand, and added a flowing bow to her hair containing three small rosebuds.

The card itself is a half-fold card  made from The Luxury Stack, pearlized and metallic card stock from Die Cuts With a View. The attached squares were cut from a sheet of handmade embossed paper from Creative Papers, and the sentiment was stamped on plain white card stock with Memento's Tuxedo Black ink.

I think it turned out well, and I hope you have enjoyed it also. Don't  forget to click on the link above from Little Scrap Pieces to check out more ideas and cards, celebrating A Nice Day for a White Wedding.

Mindy

You're the Best - #1 Dad

Today is a terrific Tuesday, and I hope everyone is having a great day!  Today's card is a masculine card that I am using for a masculine birthday, or it could also be used for Father's Day. (I know that was this past Sunday!) Anyway, this card is very masculine with lots of layers and texture, and here is how I made it.

First of all, I had this wonderful image stamp from B Line Designs, Button Card duo.  I stamped it out on Neenah white card stock in Memento Rich Cocoa ink. I then inked around the outside edges with Sepia Archival ink and shaded his shirt with a little lightest blue PanPastel chalk. (it's hard to see in the picture, sorry)  I then hit my button stash, and adhered some mother-of-pearl shirt buttons to the card. While this was drying, I started to build the layers of the card.

Using a base card of kraft colored stock, I cut an A2 size card  5 1/2" X 8 1/2", and scored it down the middle for a side opening card. I then found some Skeleton dried leaves in both rust and ivory, and picked out one of each that would fit on my card. I then picked an antique writing paper strip from the Engraver Collection of papers from Prima. I started layering first a background sheet of brown card stock, and then glued the ivory skeleton leaf to the left of the card using my Tombow Mono liquid glue. Next came the layer of patterned paper attached to the right side with double sided adhesive. The I attached the button card on top, and slightly to the left, overlapping the patterned paper and leaf.  Using the Mono glue again, I attached the other rust colored skeleton leaf on the top of the button card and to the right. 

For the messages, I stamped the #1 Dad stamp from Fiskars on white stock in the Sepia ink, and cut a remaining strip of the brown stock in a straight banner length and used rub-on letters, (style: "all mixed up" by Doodlebug Designs) to apply the phrase "You're the Best!"  I used a BoBunny Bodacious Brad to attach the banner to the front of the card.

 I will be entering this card in the DL Art Thankful Thursday Challenge #111 for Father's Day.

And there you have it! One masculine card, for one super-terrific guy! I hope you all have a great week. See you again soon.

Mindy

You Make Life Sweet, Happy Birthday!

I have been hungry all day! It is a rainy dreary day, and I have been trying to stay busy working on a mixed-media canvas, several birthday cards, and a scrapbook page, all to keep my mind off food.  Every time I glance over at the computer screen (I have it open to my Facebook news feed) someone is posting about food! Whether they are pinning beautiful party decorations, super supper casseroles, or uniquely decorated cupcakes, it all looks so good I want to go bake something. But I know I'd better not. Instead, I will decorate a cupcake theme birthday card.

I started with a piece of Basic Grey scrapbook paper and glued it to my card front.  Then I adhered a strip of sheer purple ribbon about 1/3 of the way down the card. The bottom half of the card is a coordinating print of paper from the same Basic Grey pad.  Using the "Hey Cupcake" clear stamps from Paper Wings Productions, I stamped the pedestal on a printed paper, and the cupcake on white cardstock. I colored in the cupcake with my Copic Markers and then glittered the frosting with pretty pink ultra-fine glitter.  I also stamped the fork, knife, & spoon from the Hey Cupcake set on white stock, and colored it in with my copics also. I adhered the fork to the back of the cupcake to make it look as if someone was eating it, and attached a large half-pearl on the top of the cupcake swirl.

I also took a strip of white cardstock and stamped the phrase,"you make life sweet! using the Whimsical Alphabet stamp set from Paper Wings Productions for the word "L I F E" and hand wrote the rest. Using double sided tape, I adhered the paper strip with the phrase directly under the purple ribbon and then attached the cupcake and pedestal on top of it using foam tape to make it POP!  I also adhered three smaller half-pearls below the strip for accent. I also stamped "Happy Birthday" inside the card, before I wrote my message..

After it was completed, I could stare at it sitting on my computer, instead of looking at all the yummy food on the computer screen.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Saturday, and look forward to a beautiful Sunday!  Happy crafting, or celebrating with Dad, whichever you happen to be doing on Sunday. Until next time-

Mindy

Happy Father's Day, Dad

Happy Wednesday fellow card makers!  This weekend we will be celebrating Father's Day!  A day to remember dear old Dad, and to tell him how much we love him. Some fathers complain about the socks, tie, or handkerchief they receive as a gift, but I don't know of one Father that doesn't like a nice card whether he would like to admit it or not!

The first card I made, was using bits and pieces left over from previous projects. I have a drawer that has bits of papers, and pictures, and ribbons and trims in it, that are left-overs from various projects throughout the year.  I also have a stack of "4 Bar cards" that are between an A2 quarter size card, and a note card in size.  I hardly ever use them because they are 3 1/2" X 5" and don't fit in the A2 size envelope correctly. Of course, they DO fit, just not like I think they should.

Anyway, I scrounged through my bin, until I found a scrap of printed scrapbook paper that looked rather antique-ish that fit on the front of the "4 Bar card."  I then glued the paper to the front of the card with my gluestick and edged around it with my burnt sienna brown chalk ink pad by ColorBox.  Next I found an old piece of scrapbook paper that had photo images on it that were sepia toned, and looked old. I found one of three children posed by the side of their house, just like a Mother would do before taking a picture. Of course, everyone was in their Sunday best, and hair combed, shoes polished. I trimmed out the picture, inked around it's edges and matched it to two other scraps found in my drawer. After adhering them to the front of my card, I typed out a sentiment on the computer that said "Happy Father's Day, Dad". I added it in banner form and glued three small antique lace flowers on the corner of the picture and added acrylic stones to the centers for a little bling. To finish off the card, and add a final bit of detail to it, I inked a little doo dad stamp from the Dandy Doodads Set from A Stamp in the Hand in rich cocoa Memento ink and dotted it across the front of my card.

The second card, was made with a set of silhouette stamps I have had many years. I don't have any record of where they came from or who made them, but they are still in great condition.  Again, I used one of the "4 Bar cards" and my June Nesting Component Kit from Paper Wings Productions to stamp out a Nature inspired card with weeds, and grasses, and berries using the Rich Cocoa brown Memento ink pad, and Cloud stamp set that came in the June Kit. The stamp set I found also included a flying bird that I stamped in Pear Tart Memento ink, and also used the ink to color a tiny wooden bird that came in the June Kit.  I tied the card with a bit of brown and white twine,(also in the kit) and knotted it at the top of the card. To finish this card, I stamped a phrase that was with the stamp set on a scrap of gingham cardstock and glued my tiny bright green bird to the top of the senitment banner. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and don't forget to remember your Father on this upcoming Father's Day.  Even if it's only with a card, that says, "I love you, DAD".

Mindy

Butterfly Happy Birthday!

Good Wednesday morning to my fellow cardmakers!  I had to get busy today and make a birthday card for my birthday buddie, Lisa Knight, who lives in Knox, PA. I have to get the card in the mail pretty soon, because it needs to get there by June 11. Here's what I did to get started!

First I took a sheet of Blu Raspberry card stock from My Favorite Things, and cut the front panel for an A2 size card. I then punched a 3" circle from Banana Split stock from MFT and got out my background stamp "Flowers, Lines, & Dots from Hero Arts Stamps, and inked it up with Cottage Ivy green Memento ink.  I centered my circle of yellow in the middle of the inked stamp then pressed down to transfer the design to the circle.  I then reinked the background stamp and stamped it on the blu raspberry stock. By doing so seperately, I could then position the circle right in the middle of the blu raspberry piece, matching the designs of both to look as if they were stamped at the same time. I then colored in some of the flowers in the design with my White Distressed Marker from Tim Holtz.

In the meantime, I cut two delicate butterfly designs from Rosemary & Thyme 6 X 6 paper pad from Paper Wishes.I used the Sm. Faerie Queen Butterfly Die to cut two butterflies and two background wings from coordinating prints. I then used my Mono Adhesive to glue the layers together, and put them aside to dry. I also punched a single butterfly out of dotted paper, and a banner stamped from the Banneriffic Clear set from Lawn Fawn.  The greeting, "Happy Birthday" was from the Birthday Elephant clear set from Inky Antics.  While all my parts were drying, I was gently placing them on the card base to see where exactly I wanted them.  As I arranged, and rearranged things, I decided that it needed something white amidst all that Blu Raspberry color.  I then decided to cut a border of white from my Nestabilites A2 Distressed Card Creator from Spellbinders. That gave it just the pop of white I needed to break the monotony of the blue.

Now it was time to adhere all the elements. Of course, the yellow circle was centered, so I used double stick tape to attach the white border around the circle. I then glued the butterflies down, just along their bodies with the Mono adhesive.  I then attached the birthday banner across the middle of the circle with foam dots, and added a few acrylic stones to the butterflies and to the background to give it all a little bling!  I left the wings of the butterflies unglued, so they would be able to stand up when the card was removed from the envelope. I then attached the whole unit to a white card base, and it was ready for me to write a personal message to my friend.

I'm glad you stopped by today, to view my most recently made card. I hope you enjoyed the process of how it was done, and was inspired to try some of the elements on a card you will make. Have a wonderful Wednesday, and I will see you again soon.

Mindy

A Special THANK YOU!



 A special "Thank You" goes out to all our servicemen and women who have fought and who are still actively fighting for the freedom of our country, on this Memorial Day 2013.

Of course, this Thank You card isn't very patriotic, it is a special thank you for a good friend who participated and won my First Annual Blog-aversary Give-Away, Joan Cornell. I enclosed this special card in her package that I sent out.  I had just received this new stamp set from Lawn Fawn, "Critters at the Dog Park", and I fell in love with all the little critters! I wanted to make sure she got the card before I shared it on my blog. So, today is a good time to share it with you all.

I started out by stamping the little "Weiner dog" on white card stock, and coloring in with my Copic Markers. I also stamped the tiny dog bone, that comes with the set.  The green striped scrapbook paper was already decorated with the stamped chair and bird, orange lace strip and No. 05 tag. I mounted the paper on a sheet of white card stock and tied a white satin ribbon into a bow and stretched it across the printed paper and white matting. I attached the ribbon edges securely to the back before attaching the whole unit to the orange card stock base card.
I then stamped the greeting, "thank you" on a scrap of  yellow polka dot paper, and punched a 1" circle out around the words. I then tied it to the bow with a piece of hemp twine.  To finish off the card, I attached the little pup with foam tape to the bottom of the card to give it more dimension, and glued the little dog bone in his mouth.  Can't you just imagine him running around the house with his new bone, saying "thank you, thank you"?

I hope you enjoy this card, and also your Memorial Day holiday. I hope you have a great day getting together with your family and friends, celebrating the memory of what makes this day so special!  See you soon.

Mindy

Charming Daisy Filigree

Happy Monday to one and all!

Today's card is a charming Daisy Filigree stamped card, that is also a die cut wonder. Here is how it was done.

1.  Stamped large daisy stamp from Fresh Cut stamp set from Hot Off the Press on Neenah white card stock.

2.  Colored in the daisy with my Copic Markers, shading lightly, then fussy cut around outside petals and set aside to dry.

3. Using my Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine, I cut a circle of printed paper with the Paper Artist Circle die from Hot Off the Press from their Rosemary and Thyme 6X6 paper pad.

4.  I then cut a little larger scalloped edge circle with the same die set from Hot Off the Press, using Limeade card stock from My Favorite Things.

5.  Then using a sheet of light green stock from Martha Stewart Crafts, I cut the large Filigree Delight background from Spellbinders Nestabilities Card Creator.

6.  The sentiment block was cut from the Spellbinders Nestabilities Card Creator set: Distressed Edges. I cut a thin strip from the light green stock and a word block from a sheet of Club Scrap's designer stock in royal blue.

7. From this same blue stock, I cut a square card base 51/2"X 11" and scored it in half, for a top fold card.

8.  To assemble the card I took the card base and adhered the filigree background directly to the base using Tombo Mono Adhesive.

9.  While the base was drying, I assembled the daisy unit. I adhered the daisy to the printed paper with foam adhesive dots, and then used double sided adhesive to adhere the printed paper to the scalloped circle. The entire unit was then anchored to the background with foam tape squares to give it depth and dimension. The sentiment block was attached below the daisy with double sided tape directly to the card stock base.

10.  To add the final touches, a little bling, to the card I added several clear acrylic stones to the center of the daisy, and the four corners of the background. Another gem stone was placed on the sentiment block and three thin lines of Dazzles were added to the sentiment block and card base. The two lower corners of both the background and the card were rounded with the 1/4" Corner Chomper tool.

This card was entered in the Little Scrap Pieces, Fun Friday Challenge- Shape Up.

I hope you enjoyed today's post, and that you will create something that makes you Happy today. Until next time, Have a Great Day!

Mindy

Tea Time Birthday Greetings

Greetings fellow stampers! I hope you are all having a wonderful day. The card for today is celebrating two of my favorite vices, tea time & flowers. Here's how it came together.


I started with a kraft colored card base and added a vintage background paper print. As I was collecting all my components for this card, I found a small piece of embroidered rick-rack whose colors matched my components. I adhered a scrap band of pink and yellow polka dot printed paper to the bottom of the background paper, and then adhered the rick-rack on top of where it came together. I then adhered the entire background to the card front with double sided tape.  I usually forget to pre-plan this last step, and end up just gluing the ribbon on top of the card.  It looks better if you adhere the ribbon or lace first, because that way the ends are adhered underneath and there is no way for them to come loose or ravel out.

I then went about constructing the image embellishment. I had the tea cup with daisies from Inky Antics Stamps, stamped on white card stock with tuxedo black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers. I fussy cut around the stamped image and adhered it to an oval cut from kraft colored stock, and matted with a bright pink stock.(Razzleberry pink from My Favorite Things) The oval unit was cut with my Spellbinders Nestabilities Card Creator Set titled A2 Filigree Delight. I adhered the tea cup to it with foam mounting tape to give it dimension.

To give the card a little bling, I attached beautiful hot pink pearls below the rick-rack  trim, and mini hot pink acrylic stones to the centers of the daisies. The pearls and stones were from an embellishment pack from Prima.  To finish off the card, I stamped the Happy Birthday greeting on the polka dotted paper strip with black Archival Ink. This ink is a heavier ink, and always stamps dark on printed paper.

I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday, and that you will join me again on Friday with a special post, that has been a long time in the making.  Take care, and see you again soon.

Mindy

Good Things Come in Little Packages

Happy Saturday, everyone! Today is such a beautiful day, that I just had to get outdoors and do a little spring planting.  I planted a few herbs to use in the kitchen, and a pot of flowers or two, to brighten up the yard.

After coming in to rest, I thought of this new stamp I just received from My Favorite Things, Pure Innocence Little Gardener.  She is so cute in her little overalls and holding her potted plant.  Looks a lot like me, (chuckle, chuckle) when I was younger. I used to help my Grandfather plant his garden, he had a small plot where he planted anything he could find seeds for. He grew beans, and squash, corn and okra, radishes and cucumbers, and lots of tomatoes. He loved tomatoes!

To start my card, I picked out a red base card and added a crackled green background of kraft core stock from Tim Holtz.  I also had a scrap of a printed paper that had pods and flowers on it. I stamped the Little Gardener on white card stock with tuxedo black Memento Ink and colored her in with my Copic Markers. I then fussy cut around her and used foam tape squares to pop her up on the right hand side of the card. I cut out a title strip die shape and then stamped the Memory Box sentiment, "good things come in tiny packages" on water color paper and shaded around the edges. I then used a twinkly pack of little critter bugs to rub on as accents to my card. Adding a brown checked ribbon and knot vertically completed my card.

I am entering this card in the Fun Friday "It's a Bug's Life Challenge".

This card could be used for celebrating Mother's Day, because everyone knows that little children and little packages always mean a lot to Mothers. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I will see you again next week. Take care!

Mindy

#1 Mom Tag

Happy Monday fellow bloggers.  Today's tag celebrates Mother's Day, or any other special occassion where you want to celebrate your #1 Mom!

I started with one of Prima's large tags from julie Nutting and added a piece of one of the Firefly papers from the 6 X 6 pad. I also stamped a piece of white card stock with a background ATC (artist trading card) size stamp from Invoke Art, and adhered it to the tag with the scrapbook paper.  I stamped the Doll stamp, Girl with pocket dress from Prima, and the Girl with strapless dress and crown (also from Prima) on white card stock with tuxedo black ink from Memento so I could color them in with my Copic Markers. I then cut out both dolls to use on my tag. The Doll with the strapless dress and crown was used in the cream colored resin frame embellishment from Websters Pages. I also added some color to the frame with my Copic markers, before adhering the unit to the tag with Ranger Glossy Accents.

The Doll with the pocket dress was adhered to the tag with foam tape to give it more dimension. I used Pan Pastels in violet to shade around the doll to make a shadow on the tag. I then stamped a tendril stem on to the tag and glued a dimensional Mini Daisy flower made from the Susan's Garden Collection of dies from Sizzix. I am a big fan of Susan Tierney-Cockburn who designed this line of flower making dies for Sizzix.  About 6+ years ago I took some classes from Susan when she was promoting paper punches she designed for the Punch Bunch, and I have been a been a big fan, and have taught several classes of flower making using those punches. I am so glad she decided to design the thin dies, because those punches get a little heavy when you lug them around to classes.

To finish off this tag, I stamped the #1 Mom stamp from Fiskars at the top of the tag and added another strip of the stamped paper to the top of the tag to cover the hole. You could now use this tag to decorate the cover of a long card that fits a #10 size long envelope, or just use the tag as is for your card. There is plenty of room on the back to write any message you like. Please visit me again this week for more ideas for Mother's Day cards, and don't forget to leave a comment on my blog to be eligible to win a chance at my Blog-aversary Prize Package to be given away May 12, 2013. See you again soon.

Let's RODEO, Texas Style!

HOWDY Pardner's! The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo is just around the corner, Feb.7, 2013 is when it starts, and if you enjoy a good old fashioned rodeo with buckin' bronco's, and barrel racers, and goat ropers, then this is the place you need to be. San Antonio has one of the top ranked rodeo's in the USA, and every year it gets bigger and better! (I should work for the Rodeo Association.)

Today's card is titled Let's Rodeo! and features many Texas themed stamps from our own Texas based company, Deadbeat Designs. This very dimensional card is made from kraft card stock, and stamped with tuxedo black Memento Ink and Versamark Sepia Ink.The background papers are from My Minds Eye, and  I am not sure where the design of the foldout card came from, but was shared by a friend.  I dug through all of my Texas stamps by Deadbeat, and picked out stamps that fit the panels of the card, and that pertained to the happenings at the rodeo.

This shows the card laid out flat, I laid it on my scanner bed to take this picture, and so you could see all of the designs and stamps I used. When it is folded up to put in the envelope to mail, it looks like the picture at the top left of the post. If you would like a basic cutting guide for this card, post a comment on this blog and your contact info, and I will get one to you as soon as possible.

Here is an image of the pop-out card that I took, to try and show the folds and layers, of how it looks when it is opened. I'm sorry it came out so blurry, but maybe you get the idea. I hope you all have a nice weekend, and create something beautiful with your Art!

Party Hearty . . . It's Your Birthday!

Greetings fellow stampers and paper artists!  The card for today is titled "Party Hearty" it's your birthday, and is a paper pieced card that is similar to one I saw on a Paper Wishes blog post. I am a huge Paper Wishes Fan, and love their projects and supplies. This card is made using one of their Design Template tools kit #2.

Background paper #1 purple with lt. blue polka dots is cut from "A Beautiful Life" 6 X 6 paper pad from My Mind's Eye with the Vintage Label Stencil.  Layer #2 floral print is also from "A Beautiful Life and the Vintage Sign stencil. Layer #3 is a chipboard tag covered in a yellow print from "Sunshine" 6 X 6 paper pad from My Mind's Eye, and has the sentiment "Party Hearty" stamped in Versacolor black ink from the Birthday Greetings clear stamp set from Hot Off the Press. Each end of the tag was punched with a small hole punch, and a crinkled purple ribbon was looped through the holes around the edge of the design stack of printed papers.

The stacked flower was made by punching several layers from the scraps of paper I used, and then arranged with foam tape between the layers to give the flower depth. A single bow was tied with the same ribbon used in the tag and placed behind the flower.  Finally, to add some bling to the card, I added pink Stickles to the outside edge of the tag, and small coordinating stones and pearls in among the stamped letters of the sentiment.

If you have any questions on how this card was done, or any questions or comments, please feel free to leave me a message. I would love to hear from you. See you again soon.

Bee Mine

Greetings friends,
I have another Valentine/Friendship card for you today.  The idea is from a video I saw on YouTube where the artist made the sleeve/pocket and then used it for a gift card holder or greeting card holder.

I didn't take down the measurements from the video, so I played around with my card stock until it came out right. I finally realized that it used an 81/2" X 11" piece of card stock cut in half lengthwise. (41/4" X 11") The pieces were then scored at 5 1/2" or in half cross-wise. The outer sleeve took one whole sheet of card stock. One piece made the left section, and the other half made the right section. After each section was scored, you cut the angle on the top flap only, and then overlapped the two to make the pocket.

For the card I inserted inside, I cut a piece of stock 4" X 5" and then used it to mat a piece of stiff watercolor paper. That helped to give the insert a little stability. To decorate the out side sleeve and the insert, I dug through some more of my stamping scraps and trimmings. This file consists of images I have stamped out and colored with various pencils, markers, and pens to try them out.  These roses were colored with Copic markers and stamped in tuxedo black Memento Ink. I used pop dots to pop out three roses on the sleeve, and glue dots to adhere three more to the insert.  I stamped "Bee Mine" and the bee, from the Bee Mine clear set from Lawn Fawn, and then tied a red sheer ribbon around the whole insert before placing it in the sleeve.

This made a very interesting card, something out of the ordinary. Those are the type of cards I really like! I really liked the weather today, too here in So. Texas. For the past week or so it has been cold, and cloudy, and dreary.  But today the sun was out when I awoke, and stayed out all day!  I even got outside to soak up some of the Vitamin D that was pouring from the sky! I hope you enjoyed your day, and could do a little stamping of your own. Until tomorrow, take care!