Belli Challenge #88 - Spring Cleaning

This week's Belli Challenge is to use a color spray on your card or project. What's a color spray? That could be anything such as Glimmer Mists/Radiant Rain, walnut ink sprays, a mister filled with water and a drop of reinker, or even airbrushing with a copic marker. If it has color and you can spray it, go for it! :-)

The Stamping Boutique is our generous sponsor today, and I chose to use this sweet Audrey Spring Cleaning image for my card. Look closely and you can see all the dust Miss Audrey has been stirring up. Hee hee! That is my color spray - a mini mister filled with water and some walnut ink crystals. The crystals dissolve in the water and you simply shake it up and start spraying. I used Mercy's sketch again (MTSC66) - I'm just in love with this sketch as it works beautifully with so many of my stamps.

Check out what the other Belli Girls created over on the Belli Challenge Blog, then pull out your crafting supplies and join us in this fun challenge. Add your link to the Mr. Linky widget at the bottom of the Belli Challenge Blog post HERE.


Stamps:
Audrey Spring Cleaning from The Stamping Boutique

Ink: none (printed from my laser printer)

Paper:
Orchid Opulence
Whisper White
Sweet designer paper (retired SU)

Other:
Copic markers
flowers
light purple skittles
yellow ribbon (Darice)
mini mister with water and Walnut Ink Crystals

Hibiscus Inchies

The new Emerging Dragonfly-Dream set from Cornish Heritage Farms is a gorgeous set with a dragonfly and a small hibiscus flower as well as a couple of sentiments. The little hibiscus flower stamp is perfect for inchies, and I put three of them in a row on this card. They are all going in different directions to provide a little more interest and dimension to this card, and the top of the card where the white cardstock was peeking out is distressed just a little bit to give the card some texture. The sentiment is from a sweet set called Friendly Kritters Scriptures, which can be found HERE at Cornish Heritage Farms.

There are more samples in the CHF gallery here. You can also see all the gorgeous samples made with the new Emerging Dolphin set here. Aren't these two new stamp sets just gorgeous?



Stamps:
Emerging Dragonfly-Dream (Sara England) from Cornish Heritage Farms
Friendly Kritters Scriptures (Mona Lisa Moments) from Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
Watermelon Adirondack dye (Ranger)

Paper:
Simply Smooth White from Cornish Heritage Farms
Simply Heavy Black from Cornish Heritage Farms
Caribbean Breeze (Bazzill Smoothies)
Urban Prairie designer paper (Basic Grey)

Other:
ribbon (May Arts)
pearls (Reflections)
Embossed Curve edge punch (EK Success)
square and scallop square dies (Spellbinders Nestabilities)

Cowboy Up!

Have you seen this adorable little Western Bear over at Cornish Heritage Farms? This is the Stamp of the Month for March, which means you can get this at 20% off. But you only have a few more days left to get this at a discount, so you better hurry up. You can find this stamp HERE (it is also available wood mounted HERE). See that sample next to the stamp? Yours truly created that, and you will get that picture and detailed instructions on how to create that card when you buy this stamp. Remember, you only have til the end of this month, so go shopping now. :-)


Stamps:
Western Bear from Cornish Heritage Farms
Burlap Backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms
The Ranch (Scene It) from Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
Espresso Adirondack dye (Ranger)
Walnut Stain distress (Ranger)
Antique Linen distress (Ranger)

Paper:
Simply Smooth White from Cornish Heritage Farms
Pinecone (Bazzill Canvas Textured)

Other:
sponge
1/16" hole punch
distress tool
twine for lasso (May Arts)
aged copper brads (Making Memories)
SM and LG Oval dies (Spellbinders Nestabilities)
SM and LG Petite Oval dies (Spellbinders Nestabilities)
Copic Markers

Country Girl Easter

I've been itching to play with my Sarah Kay stamps, and the challenge on the Stampavie blog is to make an Easter card. Since I don't have any of the new stamps yet (they are in the mail from Stampers Dream!!), I pulled out this Country Girl stamp to play with. It has cute little chicks on this stamp, and chicks are Easter-ish, right?

The image is stamped on watercolor paper and I used various dye inks to color in the image with an aquapainter. The flowers are from sprigs of fake flowers at Walmart and the sentiment is from Stampin Up. I used this week's sketch from Mercy's blog to put this all together. It was so nice to sit and watercolor and just have fun today.

Thank goodness it is Friday! I hope you have a great weekend!


Stamps:
Country Girl (Stampavie)
A Good Egg (Stampin Up)

Paper:
Kraft
watercolor paper
Whisper White
Brocade Blue
blue gingham paper (something I bought from Tuesday Morning a long time ago)

Ink:
Black Stazon
Pretty in Pink
Orange
Real Red
YoYo Yellow
Blush Blossom
Bashful Blue
Brocade Blue
Celery
Cocoa
Caramel
Summer Sun

Other:
sponge
oval punch
scallop oval punch
ribbon - May Arts
buttons - Rusty Pickle
linen thread
flowers - Walmart
aquapainter

Blossom Tin project

Are you ready for Spring??? It is gorgeous here in Texas with 75 degree weather this week, ahhhhhhhh......... My thoughts always turn to flowers and butterflies and gardens when I think of spring, and I created this Blossom Tin project to usher in the gorgeous spring weather.











I used the Rectangle Mini Album Tin Set from Creative Cuts and More to start this project. I chose to use smooth cardstock because I wanted to stamp on these. The brown accordian layer (called Album on the website) is Carob Cream Bazzill Smoothies cardstock, and the little panels (called Mats on the website) are White Bazzill Smoothies cardstock. The metal tin comes with this album and they fit together beautifully. The Killer Red Tacky Tape is the only adhesive that keeps the cardstock on the metal tin. Everything else just popped right off, but the cardstock is NOT moving since I used the Killer Red Tacky Tape.

All the stamps used here are from Verve. I just pulled out all of my Verve stamps and had a blast picking and choosing which stamps to use. I laid out all of the cardstock pieces and set the stamps next to them to get a feel for how this project would flow. I love the way it turned out!

Die Cuts from Creative Cuts and More:

Rectangle Mini Album and Tin Set
---- Album (brown accordian paper) in Carob Cream Bazzill Smoothies cardstock
---- Mats (white rectangles with flowers and sentiments) in White Bazzill Smoothies cardstock

Stamps: all from Verve
Fairy Tales
Feel the Sun
Beautiful You
Love's Flower
Let it Shine
Believe
Miracles Blossom


Ink:
Regal Rose (Stampin Up)
Summer Sun (Stampin Up)
Celery (Stampin Up)
Pretty in Pink (Stampin Up)
Timber Brown Stazon

Paper :
Regal Rose designer paper (Stampin Up)- (used to paper piece some of the flowers)
Celery designer paper (punched leaves)
white (punched butterflies and various flowers)

Other:
Spica Atyou glitter pens
pearls (Basic Grey)
Star Dust and Yellow Stickles
sponges
butterfly punch (Martha Stewart)

Spring Blog Carnival!

I've been featured on Craft Critique's Spring Blog Carnival today! Whoo hoo! You will find the link to my Spring Bees card listed in the post. Here is what it says:

"Holly's Spring Bees card has lots of details of spring."


There are lots of other links to Spring projects on the Craft Critique blog. If you haven't seen my bee card, go check it out. For those of you shivering in the snow, this will be a sweet reminder of the days to come. :-)

In the past 36 hours, I have created 10 cards, but I can't share them with you yet. I have 5 more cards to make today, so I'm hoping to get those done before I have to go back to work tomorrow. I'm getting inky!!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Peacock Masterpiece

Cornish Heritage Farms is releasing this new Peacock Scene backgrounder today, and I wanted to show you one of the cards I created with this gorgeous stamp. For this card, I decided to go soft and lovely with some pastel ink colors. Basically I just smooshed some inks onto my craft pad, rubbed the stamp around in the ink, and then stamped it on white cardstock. No two cards are alike as the ink would change each time I inked it up.

Go check out what the Design Team gals have done with this Peacock Scene backgrounder over in the gallery. The other card I created is the opposite of this - bright and bold and shimmery. :-) Enjoy the eye candy today on this gorgeous spring day.

Polka Dot Birthday Card

Here's a quick birthday card for you today. I had a leftover strip from my experiment with Dabbed Shimmers, and I put it to use on this card. This technique is from the Technique Junkies newsletter and my card is all nice and shimmery.

This color combo is fun and different - dark brown, kraft, and soft pink. I used white pigment ink for the large polka dots, and I only stamped the lower half of the card. I didn't want polka dots over the entire card, and I thought it would be more fun to just have a little bit on there. That way they don't overwhelm the card, and you can see the extra bow loops that I created with the brown dotted ribbon.

The sentiment is from the newly released Thomas Kinkade Birthday Expressions set. You can't go wrong with any of the sentiments in this set. Check out the other samples in the gallery HERE. There are some beautiful cards in there to inspire you.


Stamps:
Thomas Kinkade Birthday Expressions (Mona Lisa Moments) from Cornish Heritage Farms
Beautiful (Rummage Bin) from Cornish Heritage Farms
Large Polka Dot backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms


Ink:
Worn Lipstick distress (Ranger)
Espresso Adirondack (Ranger)
Snow Cap pigment Adirondack (Ranger)


Paper:
Simply Smooth White from Cornish Heritage Farms
Kraft
Bazzill Bling (dark brown - nonshimmery side)


Other:
sponge
Irridescent Medium (Winsor & Newton)
Bow Easy
ribbon (Offray)
scallop punch (EK Success)
circle and scallop circle dies (Spellbinders Nestabilities)


Technique:
Dabbed Shimmers (Technique Junkies Feb 2010)

Belli Challenge #87 - Clips and a surprise!

For today's Belli Challenge, we have a new feature to surprise ya with. We have our very first sketch challenge combined with the belli challenge!!! The actual belli challenge is to use clips - swirly clips, paper clips, library clips, whatever you have in your stamping room that is clip-like. Here is our Belli Sketch #1:



Don't you just love that? Our very own Steph Zerbe created this sketch, and I can't wait to see more sketches from this talented gal!

I turned this sketch so that it is vertical, and I went Asian for my Belli card:



See the silver swirls on the ribbon? I threaded the ribbon through some silver swirly clips. Something a little different, ya know? I hope this inspires you to create your own card using the Belli Sketch and clips. Link your card up with the Mr. Linky widget over on the Belli Blog so we can all see what you've created! :-)


Stamps:
Asian Portraits (Saturday Evening Post) from Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
Sweet Plum Memento (Tsukineko) from Cornish Heritage Farms store

Paper:
Bazzill Smoothies
Eva (Basic Grey)

Other:
ribbon (May Arts)
swirl clips (Making Memories)

Stamps and Big Shot Dies for sale

I am running out of room in this studio, so it's time to say farewell to some beloved stamps and Big Shot dies. I'd love to see these go to someone who will use them, as I simply haven't had as much time to play with all these stamps as I would like. Prices do not include shipping. I will combine shipping costs for multiple purchases. :-) Please email me at holly stamper at g mail dot com with your questions and purchase list.



Big Shot Dies:

Big Scallop Envelope (used maybe 5 times) - page 198 - $20
Bigz XL Baskets and Blooms (never used, new in package) - page 200 - $40
Movers and Shapers Curly Label (never used, new in package) - page 201 - $40
Movers and Shapers Punch Windows (never used, new in package) - page 201 - $30


(From current Stampin Up catalog and most recent mini catalogs)

Autumn Days $22
Blooming with Love $25
Boho Backgrounds $18
Branch Out $24
Bugs and Kisses $25
A Cardinal Christmas $24
Christmas Punch $25
Cold and Cuddly $30
Four the Holidays $14
Good Cheer $22
A Good Egg $24
Grateful Greetings $35
Eastern Blooms $20
Embrace Life $25
Friends 24-7 $25
Happy Heart Day $24
Harvest Home $22
Heard from the Heart $22
Home for Christmas $20
Just Buzzing By $28
The More the Merrier $30
Pick a Petal $28
Polka Dot background $16 --- unmounted
Scene in a Garden $22
Scenic Season $25
Seeing Spots $15
Short and Sweet $15
Simple Friendship $25
Simply Said $25
Stem Sayings $20
Sweet Centers $30
Trendy Trees $18


(Retired Stampin Up sets – some rare)

All I Have Seen $10
Alphadot Numbers $15
Alphadots $20
Alphaheart Numbers $15 – unmounted and rare
Always on my Mind $25
Amazing to Zany $40
Background Basics $10
Beautiful Borders $25
Best Blossoms $10
Best Blossoms $10 - unmounted
Best Yet $15
Big Birdhouse (DD) $20 – very rare (1998)
Big Flowers $32
Birthday Whimsy $10
Blossoms & Blooms $4 (wheel)
Bold and Bright $12 – rare (2000)
Bunny Hugs $15
Delicate Dandelions $18
Delight in Life $15
Doodle Alphabet $25
Doodle Numbers $15
Doodle That $15
Doodle This $25
Easy Elegance $20
Echoes of Kindness $25
Echoes of Kindness $25 ---- unmounted
Euphoria $20 – mini alphabet and numbers set
Everyday Flexible Phrases $40
Expressive Flexible Phrases $40
Feathered Friends $25 – SOLD
Fishy Friends $25
Flowers of Gratitude $10 - unmounted
For Father $25
Friendship Blooms $15
God’s Beauty $16 ----unmounted
Good Times $20
Great Shapes $15
Holidays and Wishes $16
Hugs and Wishes $16
I Like Your Style $18
In the Spotlight $25
Itty Bitty Buds $25
Kind Thoughts $25
Love Matters $30---- SOLD
Love Notes $15
Merci $10 - unmounted
Merry and Bright $12
Mini Messages $12
Musical Manuscript $20
Nature Prints $20
Nature’s Seasonal Borders $16 – rare (1998)
Nature’s Secret $30
O Tannenbaum $18
Perfect Presentation $25
Polka Dots & Paisley $15
Provencal $15 - unmounted
Punches Three $10
Quilts Give Comfort $25 – very rare---- SOLD
Sleigh Bells Ring $15
Snow Flurries $10
Snow Swirled $25
Stipple Shells $20 – unmounted and rare
Straight Up $20 – mini alphabet and numbers set
Summer by the Sea $30 – rare
Sweet and Simple $16
Tags so Much $10
Think Big $30
Three for You $10 – unmounted, part of a punch box set (punch not included)
Touch of Nature $27
Well-Worn Words $15
Wildlife Reserve $30----SOLD
Window Dressing $30
Wings of Friendship $25----SOLD
Winter Patches $12 – very rare (1997)-----SOLD
Wishing you the Best $10
Wonderful Weaves $15
Word by Word bkgd $15
Year after Year $30
Year-Round Fun $25
You Make me Happy $20
Yummy $15

Distressed Layered Flowers tutorial

This is just a quick little note to let y'all know that I have my first tutorial up on the Cornish Heritage Farms blog. If you'd like to see how to make the distressed layered flower on the card above, head over to the CHF blog and check out the tutorial. Pay attention at the end - you could win a free stamp! :-)

Hello Honey - MTSC64

I thought this week's sketch on Mercy's blog was a fun and easy one to try, so I went wild cutting papers and bees and behives for this card. Never in a million years would I have thought I would use orange, black, yellow, and red together but here it is! LOL These colors are way outside my comfort zone but I truly had fun just throwing it together. Sometimes you just have to let loose and throw caution to the wind. You can end up surprising yourself. :-)

There's nothing tricky about this card. I simply cut the designer papers to size, used a scallop punch for the little orange scallop border, and then stamped the images (bees, beehive, sentiment) with Stazon Jet Black ink onto white cardstock. I always like to wait 5 to 10 minutes to let the ink dry completely before I color anything. After I colored the bees, I applied Stardust Stickles (my FAVE!) to the wings and let them dry for a couple of hours. Then I cut all the images out and arranged them on the card. Fun!!

Tomorrow is Friday!!!!!! Can you tell it's been a LONG week for me?? :-)


Stamps:
The Birds and the Bees (Kim Hughes) from Cornish Heritage Farms
The Landing Pad (Kim Hughes) from Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
Jet Black Stazon (Tsukineko)
Memento Markers - Campfire set from Cornish Heritage Farms

Paper:
Simply Smooth White from Cornish Heritage Farms
Bazzill Smoothies
Sugar Rush (Basic Grey)

Other:
buttons (Rusty Pickle)
scallop punch (EK Success)
Star Dust Stickles (Ranger)

Plaid Easter Eggs

I recently ordered a Slash Folder with Tag #05 Set from Creative Cuts and More, and started playing around with it over the weekend. It's actually more like a pocket card but the pocket doesn't fold down. Rather, it is on an angle and you put the tag inside. It's an unexpected and fun little tag pocket.








I cut out some eggs from plaid designer paper, stamped the butterflies and sentiment, and threaded some ribbon through the hole in the tag. After playing around with different ways to display the eggs on the front of the slash folder, I decided I needed some grass for the eggs to sit on. So I pulled out some green cardstock, cut it in a wavy freeform, and sponged the edges with some green ink.

The pocket is so easy to put together - just fold the scored tabs, apply some Killer Red Tacky Tape to the tabs, and press together. Just remember not to adhere the top of the slash - that's where the tag goes in. LOL


Die Cuts:
Slash Folder with Tag #05 Set

Slash Folder - Plum Delight Bazzill Smoothies cardstock
Tag - White Bazzill Smoothies cardstock
Layer - Apple Crush Bazzill Smoothies cardstock


Stamps:
Egg Hunt (PaperTrey Ink)

Ink:
Celery (Stampin Up)
Pink Petunia Versamagic (Tsukineko)
Purple Hydrangea Versamagic (Tsukineko)

Paper:
Apple Crush Bazzill Smoothies (for the grass - available at CC&M)
plaid patterned paper (DCWV)

Other:
sponge
hole punch
ribbon (Martha Stewart)
egg die (PaperTrey Ink)
Killer Red Tacky Tape

Spring Bees

The forecast for tomorrow shows that the high will be 77 degrees! *gasp* I dare say spring might actually be here!! Springtime in Texas is usually a very short season - sometimes only a few weeks, longer if we are lucky. We gotta enjoy it while we can before that sticky heat settles in for the long hot summer.

In honor of spring, I created this cute little bee card. The sketch on the Technostamper blog this week is perfect for these little images. I actually cut out the little white squares first, and then stamped the bees, flowers, and spring sentiment with black Stazon ink. The yellow card base was stamped with the Distressed Circles Scrapblock - doesn't that remind you of honeycombs? The images are colored with Memento markers (from the CHF store) and then sponged very lightly around the edges. The finishing touch is some Star Dust Stickles on the bee wings and the centers of the flowers.

Give this sketch a whirl and enter your link into the Mr. Linky widget. Mary Jo is always looking for more players for her sketches. :-) This sketch is easy - it took me less than an hour to create this card. That is a miracle, as it usually takes me days to put a card together. LOL


EDITED TO ADD: This post is part of Craft Critique's Spring Blog Carnival!! Go check out all the other wonderful Spring crafts listed in the Spring Blog Carnival! :-)

Stamps:
The Birds and the Bees (Kim Hughes) from Cornish Heritage Farms
Sweet Spring (Kim Hughes) from Cornish Heritage Farms
Distressed Circles Scrapblock from Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
Jet Black Stazon (Tsukineko)
Mustard Seed distress (Ranger)
Summer Sky Memento (Tsukineko)

Markers: from Cornish Heritage Farms
Girls Night
Campfire
Greenhouse

Paper:
Simply Smooth White from Cornish Heritage Farms
Simply Heavy Black from Cornish Heritage Farms
Bazzill Smoothies

Other:
sponges
Star Dust Stickles
square dies (Spellbinders Nestabilities)

Celebrating Women Blog Hop

Welcome to the next stop in the Celebrating Women Blog Hop from Creative Cuts and More!

Weren't Carly-Ann's projects great? If you didn't arrive here from Carly-Ann's blog, you don't want to miss what our designers have in store for you! The CC&M Celebrating Women Blog Hop starts at http://die-cut-diva.blogspot.com/.

If for some reason one of the links is broken along the Hop do not worry, HOP back over to Die Cut Diva where the complete list will be. I also have this list down toward the bottom of this posting.

I chose to create a purse and matching shoe for this blog hop. I was going for a sort of a vintage feel and I made these distressed layered flowers to accessorize the purse and shoe.



See the faint text on the Shoe Card? I stamped the front of the shoe card with a large 6x6 Scrapblock stamp called Vintage Text directly on the shoe. The flowers are also stamped with this Vintage Text and then sponged with some Old Paper distress ink.



This Mini Purse Bag was originally a cream colored cardstock, so I smooshed a red inkpad all over it to make it the same color as the shoe. I let it dry completely before I adhered the distressed flower to the front. This Mini Purse Bag is so easy to put together with just a little bit of the Killer Red Tacky Tape on the ends.




Here is the order of the blog hop in case you have missed one of the stops. If you have come to my blog first, please go to the Die Cut Diva blog and hop along to see all the wonderful eye candy. This is your last stop on the hop today, and I hope you have enjoyed looking at my creations Celebrating Women today. Visit Creative Cuts and More to order your own die cut purses and shoes and boxes and cards. If you hurry, you can get an extra 15% off your order - use coupon code woman0310. This is good until March 15, so don't delay. There is no limit to what you can create with all these wonderful die cuts. :-)


Die Cut Diva
Noelle Reese
Kayla Dupont
Jennifer Hansen - Guest Designer
Chris Dickinson
Stephany Zerbe
Carly-Ann Stubbs - Guest Designer
Holly Brown - YOU ARE HERE



Die Cuts:

Shoe Card in Pomegranate Splash Bazzill Smoothies cardstock from Creative Cuts and More

Mini Purse Bag in Vanilla Bazzill Canvas cardstock from Creative Cuts and More

Stamps:
Vintage Text Scrapblock from Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
Cranberry Adirondack dye (Ranger)
Old Paper distress (Ranger)

Other:
sponge
Blossoms Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
large aged copper brads (Making Memories)

March CC&M Blog Hop Invitation

Just a quick little post to invite y'all to the March blog hop from Creative Cuts & More on Monday, March 8. We are celebrating National Women's Month, so you will see all kinds of wonderful feminine projects. Come on back on Monday and start with the Die Cut Diva blog to hop your way through some great eye candy. :-)