You've Got Mail!

My almost 4-year-old granddaughter loves to get mail from her Nanny. I’ve sent her a couple of cards recently which she keeps on display in her room.  BE STILL MY HEART!!!  So, when I was thinking of what to get ready to send her another card, I thought about these sweet Pure Innocence stamps sets from My Favorite Things Stamps.  So, I pulled them out and colored this one up with my Copic markers.  Isn’t she the cutest little mail delivery person ever???  Can you find where I used my red Copic marker?

·      Stamp set(s):  MFT - Pure Innocence You’ve Got Mail SS  

·      Ink(s):  Distress Oxide – Broken China; Versafine Claire - Nocturne

·      Paper:  PTI – Stamper’s Select White; MFT – Plaid Patterns 6x6 pad

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – To the Point Edgers and Skinny Mini Banners Dies; MFT – Up in the Air and Pure Innocence You’ve Got Mail Die-Namics

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Wink of Stella – Clear

I’m going to post this on PTI’s Win It Wednesday challenge for the week of February 20 – 27.  It’s about using stand-alone dies.  While the focal image isn’t a PTI product, I love the way that I can use PTI’s Skinny Mini Banners dies for all those little sentiments we all have in our stash.  I also used another stand-alone die to create the hillside behind our precious little mail carrier.  When we can use our products across all of our collection, it makes them an even better value!  I’ll also post this for the Daily Marker 30 Day challenge, Day 24!

Copic markers used on this project

Hoping you’re having an awesome Sunday.  The sum is actually out here in NC!  AND, we are supposed to see it all of this week!  Yippee!!!!  We’ve had a very wet 12+ months here and we are due some sunshine!  Have a great week everyone!  

Many Blessings,

Donna

PTI Favorite Cardstock Challenge

Win It Wednesdays with PTI

         I’m doing this kind of on the spur of the moment, but I did want to get my thoughts out here about my favorite colors of PTI’s cardstock.  Red is favorite color of all time, and Pure Poppy is a luscious red.  Bold and bright but not too overwhelming and pair it with Classic Kraft cardstock and both are winners in a big way.  The Heartfelt Creations Decorative Lace Border die which I cut out in Pure Poppy has been on my desk top for several weeks.  When I saw this WIW challenge, I knew I had to use it and pair it with the classic kraft cardstock.  I’ve always loved these two together anyway.  But what to put with it!?  I decided to use shades of blue flowers for a red, not-quite-white and blue look.

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Gran’s Garden SS, Sincerely Yours: Sending Joy SS

·      Ink(s):  Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, Enchanted Evening, New Leaf, Bright Buttercup, Pure Poppy

·      Paper:  PTI – Classic Kraft, Pure Poppy, Stamper’s Select white  

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  Heartfelt Creations – Decorative Lace Border Die; PTI – Gran’s Garden Dies & Skinny Mini Banners Die

I’m enjoying how this turned out.  It’s sort of a rustic look to red, white and blue. Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Many Blessings,

Donna

The Daily Marker 30 Day Geranium

It took a while due to a hectic schedule and a migraine, but here is the finished product in card form!  Water coloring definitely has a learning curve, and I’m right at the beginning of the curve! LOL  But I did enjoy the process and got better with my new Arteza Real Brush Markers as time went by!  Overall, I’m fairly pleased with the outcome.  I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to free hand watercolor as I still don’t draw really well.  My guess is the ability to do both goes hand in hand!  Just as long as I can color and mostly stay between the lines, I’ll be happy with water coloring.  The key to me is to enjoy the process and not get tied up in knots about being perfect. I knew that reds in Copic Markers are bleeders, and I’d say that that is true of red watercolors.  Just saying!  Even when I’d been careful to not wet across the line, that red ran away from home!  I do want to say, that the Power Poppy image was fun to color.  It’s beautifully drawn and digitized.  I might have had some better luck with the running of the reds if I’d been able to get my older printer to print out some of the heavier cardstock.  As it is, this is a fairly light water color paper from Archivers (now out of business for several years!  Should tell you something about my stash!).

·   Stamp set(s):  Power Poppy – Geranium digital stamp; PTI – Counting My Blessings SS (inside sentiment) 

·      Ink(s):  Versafine Clair - Nocturne

·      Paper:  Archivers – watercolor paper; PTI – Limeade Ice, True Black; Paper Studio – Black Glitter Paper

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Counting My Blessings Die; Spellbinders – Card Creator A-2 Matting Basics A 

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Arteza Real Brush Watercolor pens – A118, A101, A107, A140, A154, A126, A146; Pretty Pink Posh – 6mm Raspberry Sequins; 4mm Mossy Green Sequins

I liked these markers for me.  They’re very similar to my set of 24 Zig Real Brush Markers but they had the set of 48 on sale at 65% off.  So I took the plunge from an Instagam ad.  The red is really rich and intense which I didn’t really have in my Zigs. For a beginner in the watercolor arena these real brush pens were a good price point though I don’t know how much actual color is in each brush.  I think they are a good investment for me at the beginning of the learning curve!

Thank you for stopping by my blog!  I appreciate your visit!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Vintage Turn-about Birthday

            I had originally done this card for Color Throw Down #527 but didn’t get it made in time.  Due to the business of the last few weeks and doing all of my Valentine’s cards, I’m just now getting around to posting this card to my blog.  I really liked the way this one turned out and have it now in my stash of completed cards!  I chose the W Plus 9 stamp set because I’ve always loved these florals, and I wanted to experiment with using other stamps sets I already have with Gina K’s brilliant wreath builder stencils.  I like the way this card turned out!  It would be easy to make multiple cards at the same time with the stencil and any set in your collection that has smaller type of images.  I just wished that I had rounded the corners of the wreath image to mimic the roundness of the flowers!  Next Time!  Here is what I used but feel free to substitute the colors that you have in your craftroom! 

·      Stamp set(s):  W Plus 9 – Very Vintage Floral SS

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Dark Indigo, New Leaf, Weathervane

·      Paper:  Stampers Select White, New Leaf, Dark Indigo

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  Cottage Cutz – Happy Birthday Dies

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Gina K – Wreath Builder Stencil, 4”; Nuvo – Crystal Drops Gloss-Simply White; DMC – Color Infusions, Silver; Stash – Gray Button

I had finished the card but I still thought that it lacked a bit of oomph and dimension.  I pulled out my Nuvo drops and added some “white berries” to the gray sprigs.  That just seemed to do it.  A tip I learned here:  DO NOT try to dry these drops with your heat gun!  They blow up and pop with heat.  Be patient!  Patience pays off.  Thankfully, not many of them “exploded” on me.  I’m still able to use the card since the drops are fairly small!

Thank you for stopping by to take a look!  I’d love to hear from you if you’re so inclined!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Stitching Up a Garden of Thanks

I’m participating in Papertrey Ink’s inaugural Win It Wednesdays with Laurie’s Fabulous Favorites! This is a new feature for PTI since they announced some changes to their lineup on February 1^st! Laurie’s card with its black and white background caught my eye.  My favorites from PTI are their floral stamp sets and dies.  As my one of many favorites, I brought out Betsy Veldman’s Stitching Garden stamp set and dies.  These are lovely multi-step stamping images with lots of gorgeous detail!  I used Laurie’s card as an inspiration and new the Bold Borders: Diagonal Die which gave me that same graphic look as the black and white stripes on her card.  I spent an afternoon experimenting with ink colors and layering them on the flowers and leaves.  I chose my greens for a spring green effect!  This larger bloom was one of my favorite combinations – you might see the yellow version cropping up soon on another card!  It was stunning as well! I’m going to miss Betsy’s style and her designs on the PTI team!

·      Stamp set(s): PTI – Stitching Garden SS 

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Aqua Mist, Tropical Teal, Hawaiian Shores, Bright Buttercup, Green Parakeet, New Leaf

·      Paper:  PTI – True Black, Stampers’ Select White; Paper Studio – Black Glitter CS 

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Stitching Garden Dies, Bold Borders: Diagonal Stripe

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Verve – Sequin Mix

Although you can’t see it very well, I stacked a glitter die cut on top the True Black “Thanks” die cut to give my card front a little more “umph”!  The additional layer gives it a hint of sparkle that I love as well as some additional dimension.  I added a few sequins to help guide the eye across the card to complete the look.  Simple but classy is what I was going for, and I think I got that right on this card!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog.  Leave a comment if you feel so inclined.  I’d love to know that you visited me here!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Up In The Air Birthday for Wyatt!

My husband’s great nephew turns 3 this month and it’s a real occasion for little Wyatt.  We saw him in December when my husband walked his niece down the aisle when she got married.  It was a lovely wedding and we got to see a lot of Wyatt!  Such precious memories were made that day.  Wyatt is all boy; cute, active and wide open and curious. We needed a special card for the occasion and this stamp set fit the bill to a “T”!  I knew immediately that this set would be perfect.  In fact, I can see Wyatt going up in a hot air balloon. He’s going to be an adventurous little guy and young man!

I colored the images with Copic markers and sponged on the distress markers for the background.  I submitted this on Day 3 of the Daily Marker 30 Day coloring challenge running this month. The enablers list is below!

·      Stamp set(s):  Up in the Air SS & Big Birthday Sentiments SS  

·      Ink(s):  Memento – Tuxedo Black; Ranger – Distress Oxides: Peeled Paint & Broken China

·      Paper:  Copic X-Press It Blending Card; PTI – Bright Buttercup

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  MFT – Up in the Air Die-namics & Stitched Fish Tail Flags

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Copic Markers (see photo below); Wink of Stella Clear

     I love how this card turned out – inside and out.  The bright primary colors were just perfect to celebrate a third birthday for our great nephew!  Happy Birthday, Wyatt!  May the Lord bless you on your day and always!

Inside of card!

Copic Markers Used

             I do love the way this card turned out!  It's just so stinking cute with those lively little images and critters from MFT Stamps!  Thank you for stopping by and spending some time in my little piece of the world.  I'd love to hear what you think about my card!

Many Blessings,

Donna