Fuzzy Blossoms

I had a blast playing with a bunch of the Cheery Lynn Designs dies and these fun spring-like colors. The following products from Classy Cards 'n Such have been used on this card:

Birthday Sentiments (JustRite)
Olive Branches (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Fanciful Flourish (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Medium Rose (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Miniature Rose (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Country Girl Border (Cheery Lynn Designs)

I stamped the sentiment with a darker blue ink directly onto a pale blue card base (5.5" x 4.25"). I added two strips of designer paper to the bottom half of the card. I die cut the Country Girl border, wove some yellow tafetta ribbon in through the holes, and then adhered this to the strip of orange designer paper. I also die cut the Fanciful Flourish, Olive Branches, and roses and adhered them to the upper part of the card. I've used the Distressed Fuzz technique from Technique Junkies for the fuzzy centers of the flowers.

I've fallen in love with this Country Girl border die cut! One little tip regarding ribbon - you want to use a rather narrow ribbon with this die cut. This ribbon is 3/8" wide, and it's a perfect fit with the holes. You could also use a 1/4" wide ribbon, but I wouldn't go any wider than 1/2". Of course, you don't "have" to use any ribbon in this die cut, but it's a fun little embellishment to make your cards special. :-)

I'm entering this into two challenges today:

Ribbon Carousel Challenge #46 - Anything Goes
Lili's Little Fairies - Anything Goes

If you'd like to go shopping at Classy Cards 'n Such, here's a coupon code to save some money. Enter in Holly-10 when you check out and you will save 10% off your entire order. :-)

Chirpy and the Easter bag

Chirp, chirp! I've used this adorable Chirpy stamp from Classy Cards 'n Such to make a fun little bag for Easter. The bag is something I found at the dollar store, just a plain white bag in a package of 10 for a dollar. I used the Dabbed Shimmers technique (using shimmery Seafoam paint - Creative Inspirations Paint) from Technique Junkies all over to add some color and I tied some ribbon, Mauve - Carolina Asian Sheer, to the handle. Chirpy was colored with Copic markers and I colored the ribbon on the egg to match the ribbon I used on the bag.

I am entering this into the following challenges:

Anything Goes #63 - Get Ready for Easter
Crazy Amigo - Eggs
Top Tip Tuesday #73 - Easter and/or Animals
Try it on Tuesday - Easter
Crafty Boots - Easter

Did you know that Classy Cards 'n Such has GLITTER now?? I love glitter! I bought all of them as soon as I saw them, and I used the Carnation glitter on the polka dots on this egg. It matches the Mauve ribbon beautifully! Then I fussy-cut the image and adhered it to the bag. All I need is some Easter candy to put in the bag and I can give this to a special someone. :-)

I know you want to go shopping at Classy Cards 'n Such, so here's a coupon code to help you save some money: Holly-10 . Just type that in when you check out and you'll save 10% off your entire order. Stock up on glitter, stamps, dies, Twinkling H2O's, anything you want. :-)

Have a wonderful evening!

Katie's Birthday

I started by stamping Katie with black ink onto white cardstock. I colored her skin, hair, boots, and the flower stems with Copic markers. With a water brush, I picked up some Tumbled Glass distress ink and colored the little bird. Barn Door distress ink was used to color the flowers, and Festive Berries distress ink was used to color the dress and the bow in Katie's hair. After this was dry, I cut this out using the Out of the Nesties Box technique from Technique Junkies. If you look closely at the boots, you'll see that they are "outside the box."

Don't be afraid to mix up your coloring mediums. You can see I used both Copic markers and distress inks to color in this image. It's fun to break out of your normal style and do something different. :-)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Mondays #4 - Anything Goes
Gingerloft #36 - Happy Birthday
DisDigiDesigns - Embossing
Alphabet Challenge - D for Dry Embossing
Classy Cards 'n Such #4 - Embossing

The products that I used from Classy Cards 'n Such are:

Katie stamp (Stampavie)
Happy Birthday stamp set (Stampavie)
Daisies embossing folder
Wild Cherry cardstock layer from Layering Swatches #2
Tumbled Glass distress ink
Festive Berries distress ink (from the Winter 2011 Seasonal distress ink package)
Barn Door distress ink
Classic Scalloped Oval Small die (for the sentiment)


I hope you have a great week! I can't believe it's the last week of March and we've got 80+ degree weather! Crazy! :-)

Chocolate Chevron Birthday

Happy Sunday, folks! Are you enjoying this beautiful day? We are definitely experiencing an early spring here, and our temps are going to be in the 80's all week long! We've been enjoying the evenings by sitting out on the porch and watching all the birdies flying by.

I created this card as a fun birthday for someone who doesn't really care for flowers, but she loves chocolate. I used the following products from the Classy Cards 'n Such store:

Birthday Sentiments (JustRite)
Chevron Stripe Background (JustRite)
French Pastry Doily Die (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Dancing Doily Lace Border (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Stardream Fuse Azalea cardstock
Seam Binding - Chalk White

I stamped the Chevron Stripes with vanilla ink directly onto my chocolate card base. I didn't cover the entire card - just the bottom 2/3rds of the card. The doily was cut from StarDream Fuse Azalea cardstock (a gorgeous shimmery pinky mauve color), and then I cut off the top third of that doily. That was adhered to the upper part of my card.

The lace border is cut from kraft cardstock and adhered below the doily. I cut a length of Chalk White seam binding, scrunched it up in my hands, misted it with a little water, and scrunched it up some more. Then I tied the seam binding around the card between the doily and the lace border. The sentiment was stamped with chocolate ink onto vanilla cardstock and cut out with a circle die. I cut out a scallop circle from chocolate cardstock and adhered that behind the sentiment. This is then adhered to the card directly over the seam binding.

You don't have to use the entire die cut when you cut something out. I only used part of the French Pastry Doily die cut on this card, and I still have the other piece that I can use on another card later. If you think a particular die will be too big, think about how you can use just half of it. You can get even more mileage from your dies when you "think outside the box."

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Secret Crafter #178 - Shabby Chic/Vintage
Sweet Stampin - Anything Goes
Stamping for the Weekend #6 - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by to visit! Have a wonderful day!

Textured Blossoms Hello

Happy Friday! Spring is officially here, and I'm sending you a little Textured Blossom hello. :-) This Textured Blossom technique is one of many great new techniques you'll find on the Stampin' Companion CD from Technique Junkies.

You can order the cd directly from my blog - look over on the right side and you'll see the "BUY NOW" button. This cd is packed with 70 wonderful techniques and beautiful artwork for each technique. You can see a full listing of all the techniques on the cd by clicking here. All these techniques use products from Stampin Up, but these can easily be adapted to use non-Stampin Up items as well.

That's what I've done with this card here. The patterned paper, the stamp, the flower die cuts, the button, and the texture on the flower petals are all non-Stampin Up products. You don't have SU tools or products? No problem! Pull out what you do have and try them with some of these techniques. It is fun to see what you can do when you bend the rules a little bit! :-)

Warhol Rogue Kids

We've had some crazy weather here - lots of flash flooding this morning from a huge storm system. The good news is that we got so much rain, we just might be "officially" out of the drought! The ponds around here are nice and full and the grass (and weeds) are so green I could swear we're in Ireland. I've even seen bluebonnets lining the roadways already!

I've been having fun with my Relish Reading stamps from Rogue Redhead Designs. Here, I've used the kids in the swing with a Warhol technique (Technique Junkies) and some fun baker's twine. Aren't those kids cute??

Did you know that you can get EZ Cling Mount Foam as well as nice rigid storage panels from Rogue Redhead Designs now? I love one-stop shopping! :-)  There are some terrific directions on how to use the EZ Mount foam on this page. 

I hope you have a wonderful evening. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Blue Sophia

Isn't that little girl just darling? I'm in love with the Sarah Kay stamps from Stampavie, and I bought almost all of the newest releases from Classy Cards 'n Such as soon as they showed up in the store. These stamps bring back that nostalgic feel of Hollie Hobby and Little House on the Prairie and the folk art that my mom used to paint when I was little.

I colored this sweetie with Copic markers in shades of blue (B91, B93, and B95). I've use the "White on White" technique from Technique Junkies to create this romantic card. This card qualifies for the following challenges:

CMC Copic Challenge #39 - Anything Goes
Moving along with the Times #140 - Special Lady
Dare to be Sassy #116 - Monochromatic
Four Crafty Chicks #81 - Chicks Rule

Here's hoping you have a GREAT week!

Stamps: Sophia Wishes (Stampavie) - purchased at Classy Cards 'n Such
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
CS: White
Other: Copic markers, oval and scallop oval dies, Lace Corner Deco F (Cheery Lynn Designs dies) - purchased at Classy Cards 'n Such

PS - You can save 10% off your order when you use this code: Holly-10 during checkout from Classy Cards 'n Such. Just passing the savings on to you so you can stock up on your favorite Stampavie images and Cheery Lynn Designs dies. :-)

Copper Snowflakes

Are you enjoying your weekend?  Tonight I am sharing a Christmas card with y'all. Christmas?? It's spring-time! LOL Yup, I saw a fun challenge on the Jingle Belles blog and I was in love with the inspiration picture there. I just had to play along, and guess what? I now have one Christmas card ready for December!

I loved that snowflake and the neutral color palette on the Jingle Belles blog, so I went searching through my stash. I found this gorgeous set from Flourishes called Holiday Sparkle. Isn't that snowflake awesome?

I wanted to stick with that neutral color palette, but I needed a bit of oomph to make it pop. Instead of stamping in brown, I decided to emboss the snowflakes and sentiment with Copper embossing powder from Creative Inspirations Paint. I tried to use a brown cardstock layer, and then a copper cardstock layer, but they just didn't look right. More Copper embossing powder to the rescue! I embossed the layers with the same powder so everything would coordinate. You can see the awesome copper color in this picture below:

I purposely made this card CAS (Clean And Simple) and I didn't add any other embellishments. This card is perfect for mailing with just one postage stamp. Now I'm off to make a big stash of these in different colors - I'll be ready for Christmas this year! :-)

Wisteria Ladies - Rogue

Good morning! There was a challenge on the Gingersnap Creations blog last month to create something using ONLY two colors. I took that very literally and I used only white and wisteria to create this card.

You've heard me say this before, and I'll say it again. I love the Milliner Misses set from Rogue Redhead Designs. :-) I stamped these ladies with wisteria ink, die cut them, and then sponged more wisteria ink around them. I used a faux stitching technique on the layered mat and a touch of Cuttlebug Highlights on the embossed background. The sentiment comes from the Bits and Pieces set - such a versatile set! You can make just about any sentiment you want from the words in this set.

Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog! I hope you have a wonderful day!!

Shabby Chic challenge card

Happy Tuesday, folks! Have you seen the sketch challenge over on the Classy Cards 'n Such blog? This is a fun and easy sketch, and I created a shabby chic card using that sketch. The products that I used from the Classy Cards 'n Such store are:

Shabby Chic Labels 4 (JustRite stamps)
Victorian Velvet distress ink
Spun Sugar distress ink
Bundled Sage distress ink
Chalk White seam binding (dyed with Victorian Velvet distress ink)

I am also entering this card in the following challenges:

Bunny Zoe's Crafts #22 - Shabby Chic/Vintage
Love to Create #6 - About the Ladies
Craft Room Challenge - Shabby Vintage


I started by stamping the Eau de Cologne image with black ink onto white cardstock, and then I watercolored it with the distress inks listed above.

While the ink was drying, I smooshed the Victorian Velvet distress ink onto my craft mat, misted the Chalk White seam binding with water, and then smooshed the seam binding into the ink on my craft mat. When I was happy with the coverage of ink on the ribbon, I crumpled it up in my hand and then set it aside to dry.

The black card base measures 4.25" square, so I cut some designer paper (Madison Avenue from My Mind's Eye) to 4" square and rounded off the edges with a corner chomper. The black designer paper measures 3" x 3.75" and I used a corner punch on the corners. The stamped and colored image was cut with a Labels 4 die, and then I sponged some Antique Linen distress ink all over it to give it an aged, shabby appearance.

When the seam binding was dry, I wrapped it loosely around my fingers and then tied it in the middle. I love the crumpled, wrinkled look of this hand-dyed ribbon! It's perfect for shabby chic cards!

I hope you have a wonderful day! It's going to be hovering around 80 degrees all week long here, so it definitely feels like spring. I even saw some bluebonnets lining the highway yesterday!

Copper Watering Can

Hey folks! Did you enjoy the special blog hop that we had this weekend for Creative Inspirations Paints and Great Impressions? That was so much fun and there was so much creative eye candy to drool over!

I'm playing with another stamp from Great Impressions called Watering Can Bouquet (G302). I stamped this with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored it in with a bunch of Creative Inspirations Paints.

Isn't that a great stamp? I decided to go bold and summery with my colors, but you could take this in any direction. Pastels for spring, warm fall colors, or even a monochromatic theme would be wonderful with this stamp. I used the Torn Frames technique from Technique Junkies and some bright summer-y papers from Echo Park.

The paint colors I used are:
Antique Copper (watering can)
Green Olive
Mango
Emerald
Plum
Blush
Amethyst
Chocolate
Buttercup

Isn't that Antique Copper just gorgeous?? You can see the shimmer below:

Thanks for looking! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Blog Hop - CI Paint and Great Impressions

Good morning! Welcome to a joint blog hop featuring Creative Inspirations Paints and Great Impressions stamps! If you've come here from Shanna's blog, you're on the right track. If not, please start this hop by going to the Creative Inspirations Paint blog and follow the links along the hop.

You will want to collect letters from each blog on the hop. These letters will spell out a word or words, and you need this for your comment on the very last blog in the hop (at the Great Impressions blog). You have this weekend (March 9th 8:00am EST through March 11th 8:00pm EST) to complete the hop and gather your letters. You will need to leave a comment on each blog along the way, and you need to enter the special word(s) with your comment on the last blog. You can win an awesome prize - 5 jars of paint (winners choice) and a 25.00 gift certificate to Great Impressions! My letter for you is E.

All the blogs will feature projects made with stamps from Great Impressions and products from Creative Inspirations Paint. There will be lots of inspiration and eye candy for you, so don't miss any of the blogs along the hop!

For my card today, I've used the Whimsical Potted Tulips (E640) and the A Little Hello (B151) sentiment stamps. The tulip image is colored with the following colors of Creative Inspirations Paint:

Buttercup (tulips)
Amethyst (butterflies)
Green Olive (leaves)
Plum (pots)

Wanna see the gorgeous shimmer??

Love that shimmer!! These paints are awesome! Great Impressions is celebrating the grand opening of their online store, so check them out when you are done with the hop. Your next stop on this hop is Jenny's blog - have fun!!

Shimmery Pink Roses

Good morning! I've got a shimmery pink roses card to share with you today. I've used the following products from the Classy Cards 'n Such store on this card:

With Sympathy stamp set from JustRite
Stardream Rose Quartz cardstock
Hot Fudge cardstock from the Layering Swatches #2 set
Damask embossing folder
Seam Binding - Chalk White
Think Pink Twinkling H2Os (I used Dreams Bloom from this set)
Bow-Easy tool

I colored the roses with Copic markers and then I added some shimmer with the Twinkling H2O (Dreams Bloom color). I used the "Out of the Nesties Box" technique from Technique Junkies to cut out the image. The Hot Fudge cardstock is embossed with the Damask embossing folder, and I used a Bow Easy tool to make the double bow from seam binding.

I know you wanna see the shimmer. :-) Here it is:

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Craft Your Passion #100 - Anything Goes
Creative Mondays #3 - Anything Goes
Kaboodle Doodles #109 - Think Spring
Totally Stampalicious - Spring is in the Air

This also qualifies for the Flowers challenge on the Classy Cards 'n Such blog. Since I am a guest DT this month, however, I am not entering this in that challenge. I want to encourage you to share your floral creations by entering into that challenge. You can find the link HERE.

Have a wonderful day!!

Bunny with Tulips

I've got a cute little bunny rabbit to share with you today. This "Rabbit in Watering Can" is a Stampavie stamp that I found in the Classy Cards 'n Such store. Isn't that adorable??

Can you see the faint outline of butterflies in the background? I used the Faux Embossing Folder technique from Technique Junkies to create that. I've also used the Twinkling H2O technique to color in the flowers and leaves on this image as well as the die cut flowers. You can see the gorgeous shimmer in these two pictures:

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Crafty Bloggers Network #15 - Spring Time
Cute Card Thursday #206 - Signs of Spring
Scrapbook Sisters #73 - Spring Flowers
Squigglefly Challenge #8 - Spring is in the Air



The products from Classy Cards 'n Such that I used are:

Rabbit in Watering Can stamp (Stampavie)
Textured Two Tone Ribbon by May Arts - Light Blue/White
Miniature Rose die (Cheery Lynn Designs)
Twinkling H2Os - Think Pink collection (I used Hopeful Honeysuckle, Lucky Apple, and Luv-U-Pink)

If you'd like to know how I created this card step by step, you can visit THIS POST that is on the Classy Cards 'n Such blog. I've listed out each step so you can re-create this card for yourself.

I created this card for the second challenge on the Classy Cards 'n Such blog. This challenge is all about flowers, so if your card or project has flowers on it, and at least one item on your project is something that is sold in the store, enter it into the challenge! We'd love to see what you've created!