Wishing

One of my very favorite ribbon styles is the beautiful wrinkled ribbon from May Arts. The Really Reasonable Ribbon Store has so many gorgeous colors. It's so easy to work with and to add embellishments. My card today uses the beautiful White Wrinkled Ribbon:

I watercolored my main panel background using the Wrinkle Free Distress technique (funny, since my ribbon also has wrinkle in the name!), and added a die cut word from Simon Says Stamp. I tied a simple bow with the White ribbon and added some Gold Metallic Baker's Twine for added interest and to match the gold in my background paper. 

In the center I added a delicate and spring-y Apple Blossom from the Mixed Assortment. A few sequins for shine and I have a mixture of contemporary and traditional styles. I love how it turned out! All of my layers are held together with 3/8" Scor-Tape.

Dragonfly Journeys #86 – Bodacious Bows  
613 Avenue Create #194 – Anything Goes  
Word Art Wednesday #270/271 – Anything Goes  
TTCRD – Anything Goes  
Tuesday Throwndown #331 – Favorite Embellishment (ribbon and twine)  
Artistic Inspirations #173 – Anything Goes   
Glitter n Sparkle - W, F - #228 Anything Goes

Celebrating Ba-Bees!

Happy Weekend Cardmakers! Have you seen the new Challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbon? It's all about Celebrations. Today I am celebrating the birth of a new niece last week with a non-traditional ba-bee (baby) card - submitted as my sample for our Challenge!

I stamped five bees in a row on Heavyweight White CS (Hobby Lobby), using the two-step stamping technique. I stamped the gold bodies first, then the overlay of black detail and wings. I used a stencil and lightly (and randomly) sponged over the bees in different directions with a brighter yellow ink. The fifth bee I cut out using the matching die (Dragonfly Dreams from Stampin' Up!) and layered it on my second bee above. You can see a little shadow underneath from being popped up using 3D Foam Tabs.
I adhered all my panels using Scor-Tape (I like the 1/4" and 3/8") and then stamped my sentiment. It is three separate words from a retired stamp set by The Alley Way Stamps. I love the play on words with "bee." I then wrapped my Metallic Gold Baker's Twine several times around the left side (this card opens like a book), added a heart charm (that matches the bees' gold), and tied a simple bow.

And it's ready to mail!

Be sure to join in the Challenge and play along. It's so fun to see what everyone makes, and what wonderful ideas you all have!

Hello Love

Welcome to the February Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop! If you arrived here from Ginny's blog, you are in the right place! If you just happened along, be sure to start at the beginning at the RRR Blog (I am the third stop, so you don't have far back to go!) so you don't miss out on the awesome projects, fun news, and a prize from Really Reasonable Ribbon! Our hop goes live at 6:30 AM Central.

I am continuing, for a bit longer, my stamping goal to make and work on cards that are CAS (Clean and Simple) and/or flat and mailable. I tend to use a lot of embellishments and layers and make it so expensive to mail cards. And that is the other part of the goal -- to actually mail them!
So with that in mind, I present you a slightly, almost flat, CAS design for the hop today!

Each 13th of the month it's the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog hop where we highlight the Ribbon Club! My favorite color is pink, so I was thrilled with the choices in the February Pink & Green Mix ribbon club package. If you really love ribbon and would like to have a wonderful assortment of ribbons sent to you automatically each month, just join the Really Reasonable Ribbon Club! Monthly ribbon club assortments are selected and pre-packed to reflect a specific theme, color, or holiday season.

For this month's card, I used three of the ribbons in the assortment and made my design using the Iris Twist (Iris Folding) Technique. An old technique, but one that recipients always love. All of my layers are held together with Scor-Tape.

You can find many patterns and instructions if you Google "Iris Folding Patterns". Pinterest also has oodles! I used this pattern for my card:

I used Archival Black ink (SU!) for my sentiment (Sealed With Love by Stampin' Up!) and Hobby Lobby's Heavyweight White CS. The back panel is Glitter Green cardstock from DCWV. I added a few Doodlebug sequins for my simple embellishments.

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays - chocolate and handmade cards! What could be better?
 
Now off to Cheryl's blog, where you will have a feast for the eyes!

I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies - and more added each week!

Here is the link!

CHALLENGES:

The Ribbon Girl – February Card Challenge
Allsorts Wk 402 – Hearts and/or Flowers
Brown Sugar #237 – Rhinestones and/or Ribbon
Crafting with Friends #36 – Anything Goes
Simply Papercraft #43 – Anything Goes
Crafting with an Attitude #24 – Anything Goes
Crafty Girls Creations #33 – Anything Goes
Creative Moments #111 – Anything Goes
As You Like it Challenge – Do you prefer ribbon or lace?  I love lace! It gives such a feminine, shabby chic touch to everything!

Happy For You

Today I want to share some of the details of the card I made for our Really Reasonable Ribbon Pink/Red Challenge last month. 

I chose White Crochet Lace, Ivory Burlap String, and Pearl Pink Chevron Ribbon for my trims. 

My bird (SU!) was stamped in Archival Black Ink (SU!) and watercolored with Kuretake Paints. I dry embossed my main panel, using the Falling Hearts embossing folder from Stampin' Up!, and stamped my sentiment with Archival Black. 

I added the banner with crochet lace attached, and pleated my Chevron Ribbon across the middle, and off the end. I wrapped it with Burlap String to hold the pleats down.

After I adhered the circle and bird, I added some embellishments: a string bow, with a corrugated heart and Resin Flower. I think it turned out so cute! What do you think?

Tiny Treats!

Today I want to share a cute little treat bag that can be decorated with all sorts of posy trims and ribbons. I am making twelve of these little bags to deliver as Valentine surprises to some friends. 

The little bag is from a kit (January 2017 Paper Pumpkin from Stampin' Up!), but is easily made. It's a tiny treat bag -- just big enough to hold 3 or 4 Ghirardelli or Dove chocolates! I think it's the perfect size to just let someone know you are thinking of them! I always love fun little treats!

I gathered my supplies, and wanted to make a little bit of of a sweet "bouquet" to dress up the arrow. The bag and banner are adhered with Scor-Tape, and the little heart sentiment with foam tabs.

I chose several trims from Really Reasonable Ribbon to dress it up: Light Pink Organza (3/8"), Ivory Burlap String, and a sweet pink Resin Flower, and added three Baby Pink Gypsophila for the flowers. I made a three loop bow with the organza, then tied the string around it and made a single bow. 

I used a wood scallop circle (Stampin' Up!) to thread my flowers through, and then added the Resin Flower on top. I hot glued the arrow to the front of the bag, and then my bow trims to the arrow.

It's now ready to fill with some sweet tiny treats! I also tried a different look, and instead of the shredded fill, used a mini clothespin to close the bag. I think I like the white shred better. What do you think?

Come join our "Pink or Red with Ribbon" Challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbon! You have until February 1 to play along!

Challenges: 

• Imagine That! Creative Playground - Anything Goes
• Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
• Crafting-With-Friends - Anything Goes
• Morgan's Art World - Add Ribbon  
• Craft Rocket - Add a bow 
• Word Art Wednesday - Anything goes

Otter Love

I'm playing along in several challenges with this little guy. My otter is sending sunshine and love to cheer up a friend! I am working on flat and mailable for January, which is not my usual style, as I like lots of embellishments and layers!
I LOVE HAMBO STAMPS and yes, they are still in business! If you aren't familiar with their artwork, you need to go check it out. Cutest ever. I used Otter (4521) and It's An Otter (4509). It's super (almost eerily) foggy here today, so I am bringing some warmth to our skies with my little smiley guy.

I stamped him in Archival Black (SU!) and then used my Kuretake paints to color. I did a fast watercolor for my coloring. I die cut the edge using a new Pretty Posh stitched die, added some corrugated hearts and a little wood heart. Still pretty flat and mailable!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a sunny day!

 

Crafty Gals Corner - Add a heart  

Tuesday Throwdown - Your Favorite Medium 

Dream Valley Challenges - Something New

Bit More Time to Craft - Always Anything Goes

January Hop With Really Reasonable Ribbon!

Welcome to the January Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop! If you arrived here from Ginny's blog, you are in the right place! If you just happened along, be sure to start at the beginning at the RRR Blog (I am the fourth stop, so you don't have far back to go!) so you don't miss out on the awesome projects, fun news, and a prize from Really Reasonable Ribbon! Our hop goes live at 6:30 AM Central.

My stamping goal this month is to make and work on cards that are CAS (Clean and Simple) and/or flat and mailable. I tend to use a lot of embellishments and layers and make it so expensive to mail cards. And that is the other part of the goal -- to actually mail them!
So with that in mind, I present you a slightly, almost flat, with a beautiful bow, CAS design for the hop today!

I inked up a brand new Stampin' Up! set called Sealed With Love and used one of the Love Notes Framelits to die cut the edge. I love the teeny tiny "sent with love" sentiment!

Each 13th of the month it's the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog hop where we highlight the Ribbon Club! I LOVE Bonnie's choices for the January Sweetheart Mix ribbon club package. The cheery combination of red and white are perfect for Valentine cards. If you really love ribbon and would like to have a wonderful assortment of ribbons sent to you automatically each month, just join the Really Reasonable Ribbon Club! Monthly ribbon club assortments are selected and pre-packed to reflect a specific theme, color, or holiday season.

I am a sucker for lace. So for this month's card, I chose the pretty Crochet Lace in the assortment. I tied a length around my card, and tied a simple bow. To the knot I added a resin flower. All of my layers are held together with Scor-Tape.

The inside of the card is finished with coordinating patterned paper (also SU!) and the same little heart and sentiment.

I used Archival Black ink (SU!) and Red Hot ink (Poptone), and Hobby Lobby's Heavyweight White CS.

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays - chocolate and handmade cards! What could be better?
 
Now off to Cheryl's blog, where you will have a feast for the eyes!

I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies - and more added each week!

Here is the link!

 

You're A Good Egg!

I took a little diversion from pink (hard to believe ~ ha!) after a week of pink, and played for the first time with this adorable chicken set from Stampin' Up! It's part of the SAB sale this year, and is so cute!

I stamped the images and sentiment with Archival Black (SU!), and then used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints to color the little scene. The egg has a light wash of gray on it to give it some depth. When I was all done, I thought I would add some black speckles, flicking my aqua brush (which has worked every day forever.....but NO! I ended up with huge blobs of black everywhere -- and right on my chicken's face! Thank goodness that watercolor paper (using TH here) is so forgiving! I ran and got a Kleenex and starting dabbing it all off, and then used the (clean) Aqua Brush to blend it. Sheesh! The sky ended up a little funky because of that, but I think it saved pretty well!

The zig zag die (MFT) was a gift from my sister for Christmas. I had planned to tie some gingham ribbon around the bottom, but spied the houndstooth washi tape, and chose that and another instead of ribbon. Still flat and mailable! My goal this month! The card base is from a package from my local printer -- $2 for 50 sheets of 90 lb. What a deal!

I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies!

Here is the link!

Challenges:
Color Throwdown #425

You're On My Mind

So I have been working on making my cards EASIER to mail -- as in FLAT. Ha! I am not used to that, as I love layers and bumpy embellishments and ribbons and flowers. But here is a super cute image from Unity's PENGUIN PALS:

I stamped my image and sentiment with Archival Black Ink from Stampin' Up! on Hobby Lobby's Heavyweight White CS. I have been finding that this holds up pretty well to a quick watercolor background! Then I made a watercolor wash using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints, and added splatters with each color. A border die from Pretty Posh and some patterned paper with cute hearts -- all done! Flat and mailable!

I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies!

Here is the link!

Challenges:
Color Throwdown #425

GIANT SALE!

I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies!

Here is the link!

Caffeinated Love

Pink and coffee.....and watercolor! I think that says it all!

My image is from Unity Stamp Co.'s LOVE TO GO Kit. The inside says "Caffeinated Love." Isn't that cute?

I stamped with Archival Black Ink (SU!), and then watercolored a background using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints (love them!). The border is a die cut by Pretty Posh. The paper I used on this is Hobby Lobby's Heavyweight White CS. I was surprised at how well it took the paint, and kept a nice finish. The card base is Crumb Cake (SU!).

Hope you are staying warm today! After days and days of below 20 highs, we are going to be in the low 40's today -- maybe! I am off to warm my coffee!

I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies!

Here is the link!

Challenges: 
Crafty Sentiment Designs - Anything Goes 
Crafting from the Heart - Always Anything Goes 
Get Creative Challenges - Anything Goes 
Sunny Day Crafting - Anything Goes

New Year, New Stamps!

What a whirlwind December! I haven't posted in awhile, because December always seems to spin away so quickly! We finished our Community Theatre production of "A Child's Christmas in Wales" on the 18th, and my sister arrived for two weeks on the 22nd. My son, his wife, and my sweet granddaughter arrived Christmas Day, and we celebrated on the 26th. Lots of fun with my family, making gingerbread houses, opening gifts, going to the Zoo, and then everyone back to reality!

I didn't do a lot of stamping in that time, but last week got to work with some of my uninked, new (in November ha!) stamps from Unity. Here is one - using a video by Heather Hoffman as inspiration:

The kit is called Penguin Pals, and is super cute! I stamped my image and sentiment with VersaFine Onyx Black, and then painted a watercolor wash when it was dry. I used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints. The border was then cut with a die from Pretty Posh. I added some patterned paper, and adhered it all to a white card base. Super fun and simple! AND flat and mailable! More to come later this week!

Challenges:
CAS on Sunday - Black and white, with one color of your choice
Come and Get It - Something New 
Glitter n Sparkle - Anything Goes 
Catch The Bug - Anything Goes 
Crafty Calendar - January - Something New 
Sweet Stampin - Something New

I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies!

Here is the link!

Hopping With Really Reasonable Ribbon!

Welcome to the December Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop! If you arrived here from Ginny's blog, you are in the right place! If you just happened along, be sure to start at the beginning at the RRR Blog (I am the fourth stop, so you don't have far back to go!) so you don't miss out on the awesome projects, fun news, and a prize from Really Reasonable Ribbon! Our hop goes live at 6:30 AM Central.

I just adore this little snowman from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps'  Warm Hello. He is so sweet and has all the perfect "snowman elements": hat, carrot nose, buttons, and twig arms! Plus a cute scarf to color or paper-piece. I used one of the sentiments from another snowman set, Snowy Hello.

I added some different "white" sequins (Doodlebug) and a snowflake die cut (Mambi) for my embellishments. The designer paper is from the Jack Frost Collection by American Crafts. This guy is all decked out and ready to greet Christmas with a smile!

Each 13th of the month it's the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog hop where we highlight the Ribbon Club! I LOVE Bonnie's choices for the December ribbon club package. The beautiful combination of silvers and blues, are perfect for those chilly winter cards. If you really love ribbon and would like to have a wonderful assortment of ribbons sent to you automatically each month, just join the Really Reasonable Ribbon Club! Monthly ribbon club assortments are selected and pre-packed to reflect a specific theme, color, or holiday season.

For this month's card I chose the gorgeous Off White Shimmer Satin (on the left above). This ribbon has a beautiful shine to it, and is so easy to work with. I made half bows under my snowflake, and added a Wild Orchid Silver Spiral Stamen for added interest. All of my layers are held together with Scor-Tape.

Now off to Cheryl's blog, where you will have a feast for the eyes!

Challenges:
613 Avenue Create #192 – Anything Goes  
Word Art Wednesday #260/261 – Anything Goes 
Christmas with the Cuties - Anything Cute and Christmassy Goes
Dragonfly Journeys #81 – Snow Day
Glitter n Sparkle #218 – Anything Goes
Cutie Pie Challenge - Cute + A Day in the Snow
Die Cut Divas – Layer It
A Bit More Time to Craft #33 – Anything Goes
Connie Can Crop #53 – Baby it’s Cold Outside
Crafty Purple Frog – Winter Blues
Not Just Cards #39 – Anything Goes
Brown Sugar #228 – Anything Goes
PDE Linky Party #150 – All Cards
C.R.A.F.T. #393 – Winter