cheese-y anniversary

Inspired by "Inspired By #90" I was. Again. For an anniversary card this time.

I stamped the bridal couple from STAMPlorations The Bee's Knees Newlyweds. And then framed them with a photo frame die cut from PTI. Thus making them look like any ol' couple and not just a bride and groom!

I found two PPs (Studio Calico Print Shop) which support the "photo" and "a couple's love" theme - one large and one small print for contrast - and then added my heat embossed sentiment from Winnie and Walter's The Big, Bold and Happy. BTW, see the word "cheese" to the left of the couple?!?

I'm predicting trends for 2015 (more to come during the STAMPlorations spotlight week if you're interested) and one biggie is (still) "handwritten". It's not going anywhere. Have you seen the newest ads for the golden arches restaurant? Adios bold sans serif font. Hello handwritten.

Thanks for looking. TGIF!

hello from the rooftops

Hello. Can you say fun? How fun are the cute little houses from The Bee's Knees: Houses set? So how much "funner" would a whole village of them be?!?

I love the - I'm calling it a trend - "illustrated" (or sometimes "looks like it was done by a child") style that's popular these days. Super easy to achieve with these houses. And some masking.

And I've been wanting to join the Little Tangles Challenge #52 ("HI" to the wonderful new DT over there) at Neat and Tangled so I used some NT stamps for my sentiment. Stamped the circle hello from Everyday Circles in neon yellow pigment ink and heat embossed it. Stamped the sentiment from Winter Wishes in black and heat embossed it. I love the look of that font with the illustrated houses! Even sneaked a little Avery Elle birdie into the scene. See him? (kinda like a Richard Scarry book, eh? "Where's Goldbug?")

Since there was some serious stamping happening here, I'm also joining the fun at Craft Stamper, Take it Make it where it's Anything Goes as long as you use a stamp.

Hope you enjoyed. Have a good one.

time out for a loving heart

Howdy folks. How many days 'til Valentine's Day? There's a fun challenge over at Time Out being sponsored by STAMPlorations and I've made a masculine card following the Valentine's Day theme with the optional twist of Heart.

I added a set of watercolors (you know the tube kind, like Dawn W. uses) to my last amazon order and this was my first time using them. I usually use a set I picked up at Hobby Lobby. Very different but very saturated color. Must try them on watercolor paper next.

The love sentiment is from Sentiment Builders: Love and the heart is vintage Hero Arts. As in, it says 1998 on it. Whoa! No idea where I got it but I thought it looked masculine and "right" in the puddle of watercolor!

Check out some of the great LOVE cards my teamies created here. And create a card for the Time Out challenge. You could win a STAMPlorations GC or stencil pack.

This card is also going to the Have a Heart Challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

casual wedding

Inspired by "Inspired By #90" I was.

I think that is the coolest inspiration photo. Conjures up all kinds of images - Paris, fog, rain, togetherness, love. Well I followed the "romantic" vibe and made a wedding card with my STAMPlorations The Bee's Knees Newlyweds Extras set.

Do you recognize inspiration from Danielle F.'s MIM a few weeks back? I found the idea of cluster stamping a corner and barely-there stamping the rest of the card very appealing. I used SSS dye ink in Fog for the churches and Memento Luxe pigment ink in Morocco for the bouquets. That dot cluster is from Winnie and Walter's Big Bang Confetti and I stamped it with a darker red pigment ink.

The wonky sentiment treatment? That was pure Maria ;)

ETA: Also joining the great party over at Craft Stamper, Take It Make It Challenge. They've revamped their challenges and have a great prize up for grabs. Check it out.

Stop by on Friday for a cheesy anniversary card inspired by the same photo. And next week I'll be spotlighting the latest release from STAMPlorations. There's a rainbow-colors-and-white-space-loving-french-fry-fanatic card genius joining us too, so don't miss it.

STAMPlorations sketch #26

There's a new neighbor in my parents' hood. Actually the daughter of the original builder/owner has decided to make it her retirement home. So happy for her and her hubby. And for my folks. Now there is someone else living along the beach year round.

And there's a new sketch up at STAMPlorations.

So I grabbed my cute little houses from Shirley's The Bees Knees: Houses and created a hood.

Know how I made the grass? With the roof of one of the house stamps (one I didn't stamp on the card)! Got some new Memento Luxe and Radiant Neon inks to play with (on sale for around €3 at Scrapmalin for any of you on this side of the pond) and voila!

For my sentiment I hung a vellum banner with alpha stickers and a PC-generated secondary sentiment with some stitching. Put a strip of cheery washi along the bottom of the inside of the card (a la Kate). Easy peasy, as they say! And a great idea for using up some of your washi stash. I'm hooking up at Challenge up your Life #6.

And since my world consists of life here in Germany and life back in Michigan, I'm hooking up to Addicted to CAS #50.

This is a great sketch, even rotated :) Won't you join us for the challenge? Check out the cards from the DT and our guest designer, Maria, at the STAMPlorations blog.

grab it

Just quick to share a card I made for the Cure for the Monday Blues challenge over at birthday girl Taheerah's. And to thank Shelly K. for the "sweet greeting" she sent me - a Teresa Collins paper pad with great neutral patterns. Here's what I did with it.

I was looking at the place setting, thinking knives and forks, when I noticed the fish net type pattern of the dinner plate. So I heat embossed it gold.

The rest happened while perusing the paper pad. I like the love idea and how the little tickets in the PP mimic the place card. And also support the love theme.

Thanks for looking. Off for more Mardi Gras stress!

welcome new baby

Here's another mixed media card I've made following the "New" theme of the challenge #7 at The Mixed Media Card Challenge. Babies are definitely new. And life changing :)

Used pink ink and Aha Arts Border and Pattern to stamp my cardbase before adding a layer of the "optional challenge element", crumpled pink tissue paper (using a thin layer of Multi Matte Medium). Smushed pink ink onto my craft sheet, added a dollop of metallic embossing paste, mixed and stencilled a few random hearts onto my card. Die cut a balloon from PP and softened it down a bit by generational stamping white pigment ink circles onto it using SSS Lots of Dots.

Then I stamped "welcome" with a tiny alpha set and a bit of one of the borders from the Aha Arts set to draw a bit more attention to the "welcome". Added the stacked "baby" die cut and some gold thread and voila! Now we just need a baby girl in the 'hood!

The challenge is open thru the 25th. Remember, TEXTURE, DIMENSION, and TECHNIQUE make for a mixed media card. Join us, wont't you?

I'm joining the Happy Anniversary party over at The Card Concept #26. With my baby card. Go figure. But those soft pinks of the bouquet scream baby girl! I'm hanging out in the mixed media corner with the new DT members ;) Congrats to all on a successful year.