I “Heart” You Unicorn

          On Friday, (April 26^th) I had the opportunity to take a class with Gina K from Gina K Designs of Wisconsin.  We made 3 cards using her groundbreaking Wreath Builder Stencils and had a blast!  She is a great demonstrator of technique and had everything for us on an overhead projector. The two-hour class just flew by. Time for a shout out to the fabulous ladies of the Paper/Crafting Studio on Randleman Road in Greensboro, NC for getting Gina K to come to us in North Carolina for some fun and laughter.  At the end of the class, everyone was given a brand new release stamp set – the one I used here – the Heart Stamp Set with matching die!  What a treat

         All this to say, that I’m using this card for an entry into Papertrey Ink’s Win It Wednesday with Laurie’s Fabulous Favorites.  This week was to make a shaped card using your favorite shape.  To be truthful, I don’t make very many shaped cards, but I do have this precious little granddaughter who just happens to love unicorns so when this die set was released, it was a must have!  These Potbellies are designed by Betsy Veldman who has since left PTI and has started her own company called The Greetery!  Go check her out!  Her first release happened this past Friday, and it was a huge success!

·      Stamp set(s):  Gina K Designs – Heart Stamp Set  

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Harvest Gold

·      Paper:  PTI – Stamper’s Select White, Harvest Gold, Harvest Gold Gingham, True Black, Saffron Spice, Soft Stone, Raspberry Fizz

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Potbellies Unicorn Die; Gina K Designs – Heart Die

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Stash – Glitter; Paper Studio – Black Gemstones; Pretty Pink Posh – 6mm Lemon Meringue Sequins; Wink of Stella - clear

For the card, I cut out the pieces to make my unicorn, assembled it,  and then glued it to a Harvest Gold die cut as the card base using the unicorn die.  I added some glitter to her hoofs and some Wink of Stella elsewhere to make her glow.  I die cut the Heart word die from the Gina K set three times to stack it for some dimension to my little unicorn.  Such a cute little thing, don’t you think?  While Malin can’t read her cards I send her, when she’s older she will be able to look back and see that her Nanny was thinking about her a lot from the cards I’ve made and sent her way!  I just love her so much!  I love being her Nanny!

That’s it for now!  I thank you for stopping by to visit my blog today!  I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit and have gotten some inspiration from my inklings about this project.  Check back with me soon to see what else I’m up to before the move to SC!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Vintage Beauties for Win It Wednesday

          I’m back with another entry for WIW and Laurie’s Fabulous Favorites over at the Papertrey Ink Blog.  This time the challenge was to make a card using your favorite coloring medium.  Other than stamping and layered images, my go to for a long time has been my Copic Sketch markers.  I just love the depth you can get with shading.  The set I chose is not one that I would usually choose for coloring with Copics but I’m not sure why.  It is a set that I really love and comes with its own fill-in stamp to color the flower. I didn’t really pay too much attention to my light source but did end up with most of the deeper colors on the lower left of the petals.  Go figure! I’m pleased with the outcome.  I had chosen these colors to use with some new Nuvo Embellishment Mousse in Pacific Teal but had some trouble get the colors to match up on a cloudy day without the sunlight.  They look fine on this pretty summer day today.  I’ll make a card with the leftover blooms for a later time!  I do think the card turned out great!  Below you’ll find all the details!

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Vintage Linens Stamp Set    

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Aqua Mist; Memento – Tuxedo Black; Copic – BG13, BG15, BG18

·      Paper:  PTI – Stamper’s Select White, Aqua Mist Gingham

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Vintage Linens Die, To the Point Edgers 2 Die

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Wink of Stella – Clear; Pretty Pink Posh – 6mm Sparkling Clear Sequins

I used the Wink of Stella pen on the center of the flowers to give them some sparkle and shine.  The sequins add another touch of shine and are the perfect touch for this simple layered floral.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week and Happy Monday.  FYI, I just started packing for a move from NC to Greenville, SC at the end of next month.  I might not be as visible around my blog after I get Mother’s Day cards out of the way.  It’s going to be a challenge to decide what goes into storage and what stays with me from my craftroom while we live in an apartment for a few months while our home in High Point sells, and we find the perfect home to buy in Greenville.  I’m just looking forward to it all being over! 

Many Blessings,

Donna

Dogwood Birthdays

           

           I’ve always loved dogwoods.  We had some in the yard where I grew up.  They are glorious in the spring against the new green leaves of other trees.  I always associate them with April and with Easter.  So for some adult family birthdays for this month, I chose to use Papertrey Ink’s Warm Regards that feature this lovely bloom. Since one is for my sister-in-law and one is for my husband, I went with green sentiments for one and brown for my husband.  I’m also putting this one in for Win It Wednesdays with Laurie over on the PTI blog for this month.  Wanda Cullen over at Cullen-ary Creations was able to verbalize my style – Clean Layers with florals as the usual focal point.  Hats off to you Wanda for putting our style into words.  It's nice to have my style verbalized so that I am not be envious of those beautiful creations of others that just don't seem to work for me.  I have a style, and it's gorgeous as well in its own way!

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Warm Regards & Inspired: Hope Stamp Sets  

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Ripe Avocado & Cocoa Bean Die Inks; Fresh Snow Hybrid Ink

·      Paper:  PTI – Classis Kraft & Cocoa Bean or Ripe Avocado, Classic Kraft Gingham

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Warm Regards Die, Scallop Stackers: Medium Die, Say It Simply: Lovely Birthday Die; MFT – Happy Birthday Die

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Faber-Castell – Polychromos Dark Red Pencil; Pretty Pink Posh – 6mm Espresso Sequins; Wink of Stella – Clear Pen; Hampton Art – Glitter Glue

As I look back on the cards that I do, this style with clean layers and florals is one I often use for my cards.  My next blog post features two cards I’m sending to my daughters.  Very similar style this time using feathers instead of flowers, but still with those layers.  I think I like the layers because you can tuck the florals in and around the sentiment being used.  There are variations to how this looks depending on how you place the floral or other small layering elements.  So that’s my story for today.  What do you think?  Has Wanda named a new style moniker?

I've added the inside sentiment and what I've decided to do for all the cards I make and send or sell.  I am putting words of encouragement - often featuring scripture - on the back of my cards as an encouragement for those who receive these cards.  One of two top spiritual gifts is the gift of encouragement so this just makes complete sense to me; not to mention it points others towards Jesus!

         Thank you for stopping by my little place here on the web!  I enjoyed having you.  See you soon with more paper goodness!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Keeping Christmas All Year Long

           Today is the 25^thof the month!  Some posts on my Instagram feed – dloates2005 – inspired me to combine two challenges today.  The first is from this week’s Win It Wednesday Laurie’s Fabulous Favorites over at the Papertrey Ink blog. The second is the Keeping Christmas 2019 blog hop that happens on the 25^thof the month.  I thought it would be fun to combine the two.  One of my favorite color combos for Christmas is Classic Kraft and Pinefeather for the holidays.  I just used those to make my husband’s anniversary card last week which is my previous blog post.  I love pine greens and pinecones around the house.  We use it in our home décor around here!  So, it just made sense that I would combine the two colors for this challenge.  Here are the details of my card! 

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Sentiment Staples: Merry Christmas SS & Holiday Greens Borders SS 

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Pinefeather; Versamark – Watermark Pad

·      Paper:  PTI – Classic Kraft

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Holiday Greens Borders Die   

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  PTI – Gold Filigree Detail Embossing Powder; Tonic – Nuvo Glitter Drops

I like the way my card turned out.  It’s simple but effective.  I wish it had been sunny when I took the photo, but stormy weather is on the way for us here in the piedmont of NC.  The gold embossing looks so pretty in person.  The red glitter dots are my ornaments on the pine boughs. I love red as well especially for the Christmas season!

Have a great week!  Thanks for stopping by to see me!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Balloon Birthday Bash

Over on the Papertrey Ink blog yesterday, Laurie’s Fabulous Favorites was all about a favorite sentiment.  I’ve always thought that PTI did flowers and sentiments very well – you should see my stash!  It was hard to pin down a favorite for me, so I took my need for a birthday card for my son-in-law to the next level with one of my favorite designer’s birthday die. I love Dawn McVey’s Say It Simply series, and the Lovely Birthday die is a favorite of mine.  So, I did this card for both Joshua and for the Win It Wednesday challenge and contest.  I used some masculine type colors (I checked with my daughter about his favorite colors other than Duke blue!) and added a bright yellow birthday balloon to pop off of the mellower tones of blue and green balloons.  I liked how my card turned out.  I just couldn’t resist a bit of bling on this great sentiment die though. Sorry Joshua!  Your mama-in-law loves her bling!

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Birthday Balloons Stamp Set, Birthday Strings Stamp Set (inside)    

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Fresh Snow, Lemon Tart, Bright Buttercup, Stormy Sea, Pinefeather, Aqua Mist, Tropical Teal, Weathervane

·      Paper:  PTI – Rustic White; Paper Studio – Aqua glitter paper

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Say It Simply:  Lovely Birthday Die, Birthday Balloon Die

Thank you for stopping by my blog and taking a look. I do so enjoy making cards for my family and friends.  I have an anniversary card to do for my husband – we share our anniversary with our son-in-law’s birthday.  I’ll also be doing a birthday card for my granddaughter.  She is turning 4 years old next month.  I’ve gotta do a special one for her.  So be on the look out for some more eye candy coming your way! 

Inside Sentiemtn

Many Blessings,

Donna