Happy Valentine's Day to ME

I won!  I won!!  I won!!!

Imagine my surprise at being chosen a Mojo Monday winner for this card!

I've already send my request for the stamp set I want.  It was released August 2011, so I've had my eye on it for a LONG time.  So excited.

Thanks Verve!
Becca

Clean and Simple Card Making 2: Wrap Up

Hooray for me, I'm actually getting a card done on the day of the class.  But I'm also making this Clean & Simple card stretch to cover these challenges, too:  Heart2Heart: Love is in the Air and as a second entry in Color My Heart: Cranberry & Blush.

See...LOVE actually goes up into the air.

The Blush heart and sentiment (which includes "you" in the cut...I just didn't use it) were cut with CTMH's Artiste Cricut cartridge.  I cut the sentiment from both white and Cranberry then carefully snipped the edges of the Cranberry "Love" and mounted it off center onto the white one. The mask for the hearts on the banner were created by using three different sized heart punches.  I sponged the banner and doilie heart with CTMH White Daisy pigment ink.  The picture doesn't show it well, but I added a little white pigment sponging to the inside of the Blush doilie heart to give it extra dimension. The sparkles are also from CTMH but you can get them from your local craft store, too.  The "YOU" stamp is from CTMH "Mad About You" (2011 Stamp of the Month special).

Upon reflection, I realize the "I Love" is not angled enough.  Or it's not straight enough.  It's in the awkward what-exactly-were-you-thinking position.  I was thinking angled.  At least I think that's what I was thinking.

Since I am set for Valentine's Day cards for the year, I'll put this in my stash of cards for Operation Write Home.  I'll keep it here, though, until the call for Valentine's cards comes in November. 

Until next time,
Becca

Clean & Simple Card Making 2, Day 1

For those of you who are participating in the Clean & Simple class, you know I'm way out of order on my days.  And I'm not even sure if this qualifies because it doesn't look CAS.  What do you think?

The music background stamp is from Peddler's Pack and was embossed with white detail powder over Versamark.  The saying is from PSX and was stamped in white detail over black and in black detail over cream.

I'm also not real sure about that orange button.

Hmmmm.

Until next time,
Becca

Clean & Simple Class 2

I love Clean and Simple (CAS) cards, but I'm not always sure how to make them.  I joined the class over at Online Card Classes today and am trying to catch up on the classes.  Day 8, which was a few days ago, featured salted watercolor.  Day 9 featured glitter and ombre coloring.  So here's my entry into both days:

 This second picture shows the glitter on the vellum banner a little better. I used Polysparkle embossing powder.

The glitter dots are just a puddle of Liquid Glass covered in Prisma Glitter which I let sit for about 15 minutes before shaking off the excess.  I was trying to find a way to add a pop of color, but everything looked a little too festive for a sympathy card.

 

If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I'll answer.

 

Until next time,

Becca





Color My Heart Blush & Cranberry

I knew two things when I got this week's Color My Heart dare colors, I wanted to use the Burlap Ribbon and I wanted to combine the Blush and Cranberry colors with another challenge.  Here's what I came up with:

The layout is based off of Mojo Monday Sketch #279.

I also thought it would be nice to limit my stamps to one set.  Although I own a bazillion stamp sets (yes, bazillion with a "B") and can combine to my heart's delight, I think we sometimes do an injustice to people who might have fewer sets.  This card uses Love Life. The only finagling I did was with "Love..."  The actual stamp says, "Live. Laugh. Love."  I inked just "Love.", cleaned it, then very carefully inked the "." and stamped it two more times. 

Can you see the pattern on the paper strip of Cranberry? That's tone on tone using one of the texture stamps.  The only non-CTMH thing on this card is the white satin-edged ribbon. It came from Hobby Lobby. The Blush paper is from an old B&T set.  If you wanted to achieve this same effect, you could lightly sandpaper cardstock to expose a hint of the white core.

And that swirl, well...let me tell you what happened there.  I got the card done without it and thought, "I need to create a triangle of Cranberry for the sake of symmetry." Mind you, the card is now done. Sewed, mounted, stuck down, done. And there are scissors, ink pads, daubers, and other bits of stuff littering my desk.  I decide to add the swirl but forget to clean off a space on my desk. I peel back the ribbon, stamp the swirl, and...oops.  The image isn't complete because the edge of my acrylic block is resting on a pair of scissors.

Yeah.

But even though I had to do a second stamping and it didn't line up perfectly, I wasn't so unhappy with it that I decided to redo the entire card.  However, if you plan to stamplift this card, I suggest clearing a space and stamping the swirl before you sew the blush piece or secure the burlap ribbon.  But it's only a suggestion.

Until next time,
Becca

P.S.  When I showed this card to my husband, he said, "Does it say 'obey' on the inside?" It doesn't, so he thinks the card isn't finished.  I'm not sure if I will dissuade him from that thinking or not.  I find it's better to let him live with his illusions sometimes.

OWH Critter Winner

I recruited my husband to draw the winner of the card from the OWH Blog Hop.  The lucky lady is Nancy Boatwright, but I don't have an e-mail.  So...Nancy, if you're out there, leave me an e-mail address so I can send you a set of cards.

Thanks everyone!
Becca

OWH Critter Blog Hop

I have an entire file for cards featuring cute critters, so when Operation Write Home requested us to sign up for a critter blog hop, I got on board immediately.

You should have come from JoAnn Ross's blog.  If you are starting here, don't worry, just keep going and you will eventually get back to me.

 

 

This adorable stamp is from Penny Black.  I colored with Copics, but you'll notice I was not worried about blending on the hair.  I just flicked color from three different brown markers to give it dimension.

 

The ladybug was supposed to have white space left when I finished coloring, but it all sort of blended together, so I went back in with a white gel pen to add the white highlights.  The shiny shell was created with Liquid Glass.

 

The sentiment tag is actually a ticket (cut with CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge) which I tucked under the main panel.  I'm not sure where the "hello..." sentiment is from.

 

Brown ribbon from CTMH and background embossing folder from Stampin' Up.

 

Now you're off to Patricia's blog.  Remember to keep going until you come full circle so you don't miss a single cute critter.

 

If you would like to win this card (and just maybe a couple others featured recently), please become a follower and leave me a comment below that you either became a follower or already are one.  I will draw a winner at random on February 6th.  If you don't think you'll remember to come back and check, please leave your e-mail in your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

 

Until next time,

Becca