Mixed Media Card Challenge - Trees

It is officially the end of winter!! Welp, meteorological winter anyhow... I wish Mother Nature would get on board because yesterday it was -18 degrees here in North Dakota. Sigh*

But at least I can pretend everything is green and delightful, right?! If I can't grow trees and green things in my back yard, at least I can color them on a card! Wooo! 

That's because over at the Mixed Media Card Challenge our theme o' the month is TREES with the option of birds. 

I started out thinking I'd make this a bright, happy summery card... and you may have noticed that didn't work out so well for me. 

It's still bright and happy, mind you, but as soon as I scribbled on some Gelatos, I thought it looked more like night time than a summery day. And so, a plan was born! 

In addition to the Mixed Media Card Challenge, I wanted to play along with Ms. Darnell-the-Fantastic's NBUS (Never-Been-Used-Schtuff) challenge. 

I have used these adorable houses from Shirley Bampton's Bee's Knees - Houses stamp set before, but I'd purchased the accessory pack with cute trees and mailboxes and roads and they've just been sitting about unused for months! Thanks for the impetus, Darnell!

Once I'd blended the gelatos with my fingers, I used the Big Bang Sci-Fi Screening (stencil) from Winnie and Walter along with a baby wipe to pick up some of the gelatos.  

When I was satisfied, I repositioned the stencil and added some texture paste to give my night sky some texture. I also changed the house color to be more purpley because I wasn't totally in love with how the pink was meshing with my colors.

Then I added some finishing touches - graphic washi tape and a stripey chipboard sentiment - which makes it perfect for the Allsorts challenge of "Sentiment in Focus".

Et voila! This little number is going to go to a friend who is buying a house tomorrow. Awww! :) 

New Coffee Stamps + Gorgeous Gelato Sunflower Card

Hello Friendly friends! I've got two cards to share with you today and I'm so excited because I love them both so much! 

The first card I'm going to share is one for the current STAMPlorations sketch & theme challenge and was made by blending all sorts of of gelatos together. 

I stamped sunflowers from The Birds and The Blooms stamp set and the Happy Sunflower - Large set and then I added multiple shades of gelatos and blended, blended, blended. 

Next, I masked off the sunflowers and used a scripty stamp from the Mixed Media Elements set. 

I used the sketch the theme to complete my look. 

I finished it all off with twine, some Distress Inks around the edges, and a handwritten sentiment.

I'm sending this card along over to play with the following challenges: 

Craft Stamper Take it Make it - Text Me

Through the Craftroom Door - Anything Goes 

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My second card showcases a BRAND NEW stamp set! You all know how much of a coffee fanatic I am, so this set is perfect for me. It's called Coffee Happy and is available for the first week for 10% off! 

For my card, I  stamped some of my favorite images from the set and shaded around with gelatos to highlight the stack of cups. 

I added a doily and a frilly bow. All of the layers were inspired by the current challenge at Tuesday Throwdown - Layer it Up. The color scheme inspired by the current challenge image at The Challenge: 

Psssst - make sure you stop by the STAMPlorations blog because they are giving away one of the new Coffee Happy sets. 

For even more chances to win prizes, participate in our challenges! 

New Stamp Set Release by Yours Truly!

Ever since Shery from STAMPlorations asked me to design stamps for her I've been having a blast drawing all sorts of fun characters. I never considered myself a drawing person artist lady, but I'm starting to rethink this! :)

This new set I created was all about having fun and making as many corny jokes about dinosaurs as I possibly could. I'm proud to say: Mission accomplished. Check it!

This is T-Rex the Terrible... and it turns out he's not really terrible - he's just adorable! Shhhh! Don't tell him that because his ego would be hurt. He's a big part of my new set Dino Things.

I'm going to send T-Rex over to play along in:
Cardz 4 Guyz - Love or Valentine theme
Creative Card Crew - Love 
Dream Valley Challenges - Valentine's Day

GIVEAWAY ALERT:

 

The STAMPlorations blog has a giveway going on over at their place and you can win Dino Things all for your very own. Just go leave a comment on their blog and make sure to check out the other awwwww-dorable designs made by the STAMP Design Team.

DINO THINGS is now available in the shop and for one week only (until February 17), it's 10% off!

Mixed Media Floral Love Card - STAMPlorations Challenge

I've been on such a mixed media, shabby chic card kick lately and I'm totally loving it! It seems like I switch back and forth between genres and stay on that for awhile. 

Since I love working in mixed media, I'm always happy when my brain decides to let me play around with textures again. Clean and simple cards make me smile when I'm done, but I don't quite find the same creative release. What's your favorite/most relaxing genre of card to make? I'd love to know!

This card was inspired by dual challenges. The first is the new STAMPlorations challenge. For this challenge, you can either use the sketch OR the theme OR both. And there's tons of prizes. And you can use whatever stamps/products you want. So why  not?

 

The second challenge was the Frilly and Funkie challenge Enjoy your Embossing. 

I started this card by using a gorgeous vintage inspired paper from Bo Bunny and then I used the Foiled ARTplorations stencil. 

Next, I added a frame and some flowers. I aged the flowers by using some gelatos on the edges and wetting it with water. 

I saw a really cool embossing technique over at the oh-so-talented Shirley Bampton's blog and I knew I wanted to give it a go. 

Here's how it goes: Sprinkle on some embossing powder - you don't have to use embossing ink. 

 

And then, instead of applying heat to the top, heat it from the backside.

Oooooo! Shiiiny! 

 It gives AMAZING texture. Maybe I'm the only one on earth who didn't know this was a thing, but I thought it was SO cool. Thanks Shirley! 

I also embossed three of the butterflies from the Trendy Butterflies set, fussy cut them, and interspersed them amongst the flowers. 

Lastly, I stamped a sentiment from The Birds and The Blooms set. 

Love, love, love how this one turned out! So shabby chic, and I'm obsessed with those burlap leaves! 

I'm also going to send this over to:
Aud Sentiments - use a love sentiment
Time Out - Inspired by Words - Love is a flower you've got to let grow


Thanks for popping by and make sure you go check out what the rest of the design team has whipped up. I would love to see you play along! 

Making Some Happy Mail Envelopes

You all know how much I love to make tutorials and today, I'm sharing my very first one that I wrote for the Spotlight Blog Posts up at STAMPlorations.

I'm talking about how to decorate cute happy mail envelopes, so go check out the other designs I made and show me your very own envelopes!

Deepti's Popped Hop!

Many of you might know the lovely and oh-so-kind Deepti Malik of Dee's Art Utopia. Well good news! She's had a precious little boy - her very first child! The girls at STAMPlorations decided to have a surprise card "shower" for her. 

Since Dee is a watercolor wizard, I decided to go with that! 

I actually got this stamp set when I was 14 years old. It was my very first stamp I ever owned. I walked into a scrapbooking store with my grandma, and for some reason I fell in love with this big ol' sentiment. My grandma, who lived on a fixed income, saw how much I loved it and bought it for me. I was soooo happy when she gave it to me. Such good memories and I'm glad they are being put into a card for Deepti. 

Very clean and simple, but I think impactful and pretty! 

I'm going to link it up to:

AAA Cards - Love me like you do (I know this isn't the typical valentine that they will get, but I think it fits the theme just perfectly)

If you want to join in the celebration, you can link up your baby card for Dee over on the STAMPlorations blog! 

Mixed Media Card Challenge - Red and Hearts

Have you ever just sat at your desk, staring at miniature piles of crafty embellishments, twine, and miscellany, wondering how in the heck you're ever going to make a card?

Well, not today, sisters! I've had something of a dry spell of mojo lately... but this weekend I took those mini heaps and made magic! Woooo! Look at all these textures:

I think it helps because I was making a card for the most recent Mixed Media Card Challenge, whose theme is Red with the option of having hearts. 

I love working in mixed media, and I adooooore Valentine's Day cards, so it was a win, win, win all around and my mojo came surging right back! 

Many of you have been wondering what I would do with my gel medium resist background, and I'm sorry to have kept you in suspense. I'll remedy that immediately by showing you the card!

For my heart, I had this wooden piece that I altered. I smeared texture paste all over it, then added red micro beads. 

 
I pressed some larger red rhinestones into it, and then drizzled the whole thing with White Picket Distress Spray Stains. In the end, it kind of looked like a sprinkled cookie, which was unintentionally cool. 

Here's the end product:

I used corkboard sticker letters, added a glittery red feather and some baker's twine to complete the look. I just LOOooooove how this baby turned out and I know it will make someone's Valentine's Day extra special! 

I'm also going to play along with
Mixed Media Mojo - Hearts with option of paper piecing 
Mixed Media Monthly - Glitter! Check!  
Frilly and Funkie - Enjoy Embossing (emboss resist background)