You're How Old?!

Hahahaha!  These crazy birds from Tim Holtz crack me up.  I made this card for my brother's birthday.

I bought some Strathmore Bright White cardstock from Paper Temptress, and I was curious to see if it would stand up to a heavy spray and some watercoloring.  So I sprayed a piece of this white cardstock with different colors of Distress Spray Stains and it took the color beautifully.  It dried almost completely flat - which is awesome!  Normally when I spray any kind of cardstock, it warps like crazy but not this Strathmore Bright White.  I'm impressed!

Next, I watercolored the stamped bird with distress inks.  The bird was stamped with a waterproof black ink onto the Strathmore Bright White cardstock and I hit it with a heat gun to make sure it dried completely.  Then I pulled out some distress inks and watercolored the bird, going over some areas several times until I got the hues "just right."  This paper did not pill or tear or resist the ink.  I'm really happy with this paper!

My last test was running this Strathmore Bright White cardstock through my printer.  The sentiment was typed up on the computer and I printed it on a laser printer.  The printing is crisp and bold and did not flake off nor rub off.  I'm completely sold on this white cardstock.  I can use colored pencils on it, I can spray it, I can watercolor on it, and I can print on it.  How cool is that??

Stamp: Bird Crazy from Stampers Anonymous
Die: Bird Crazy from Stampers Anonymous
Ink: Basic Black Archival from Stampin Up, Pumpkin Pie from Stampin Up
Distress Ink: Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire
Distress Spray Stain: Lucky Clover, Mermaid Lagoon, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Picket Fence
Cardstock: black, Strathmore Bright White from Paper Temptress

Yellow Rose of Kindness

I created this card to send to a dear friend who let me test some cardstock before I bought it.  Patricia from Paper Temptress sent me a sheet of her Strathmore Bristol Bright White cardstock after I asked her if it was good for using with colored pencils.  I tested it out with three different kinds of pencils - Prismacolor Premiere, Polychromos, and Luminance - and all three pencils worked beautifully with this cardstock.

I immediately put in my order for 100 sheets of the Strathmore Bristol Bright White cardstock, and I sent this card to thank Patricia.  The base of the card, the sentiment, and the flower are all from this Strathmore white cardstock.  The flower stamp and die are from Clearly Besotted and the sentiment stamps and die are from Concord & 9th.  I colored the flower with Polychromos pencils and then cut it out with the matching die.  The gorgeous yellow textured paper in the background is the awesome Yellow Crepe Ruche paper from Paper Temptress - I love it!

If you ever have a question about the cardstock and papers from Paper Temptress, contact Patricia and she will help you out.  She is such a sweetheart!  Thanks again for all your help, sweetie!

Walk Beside Me

There are times when I want to make "just because" cards that I can send to friends to brighten their day. I found this beautiful sentiment from I Brake for Stamps, and I wanted to make a feminine and sunny card with it.

I used some sunny Yellow Crepe Ruche paper and some Cryogen White (a yummy shimmery white cardstock) from Paper Temptress. The sentiment was stamped and die cut with an oval die, and I used the Wisped Frames technique. I added some flourishes that I die cut with the Cryogen White cardstock, and I added some flowers from I Brake for Stamps to embellish the lower right edge of the sentiment.

You can see the gorgeous shimmer of the Cryogen White cardstock here:

Why not make a "just because" card today and send it to a special friend? It's always fun to surprise people with some happy mail. :-)

Have a wonderful day!


Stamps: Inspirational Plate #2 (I Brake for Stamps - use code SAVE10HOLLY to save 10% off your order)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Daffodil
CS: all from Paper Temptress ---
--- Cryogen White
--- Yellow Crepe Ruche
Other: lace, Wild Orchid flowers (I Brake for Stamps - code SAVE10HOLLY), oval dies (Spellbinders), Fanciful Flourishes die (Cheery Lynn Designs - purchased at Classy Cards and Such)
TJ Technique: Wisped Frames

Rainbow of Buttons

This is my last post as a Chapel Road Design Team member. *sniff sniff* The owner, Carol, really wants me to stay on, but I had to step down in order to make time for more of a personal life outside of stamping. I've had an absolute blast working with all of these wonderful Chapel Road stamps and all the sweet ladies on the team. It was so nice to form some closer relationships with several of the ladies - hugs!!!

For this card, I stamped the inchie frame (from the Inchy Designs set) with black ink onto this wonderfully thick white cardstock from Paper Temptress (Heavenly White #120). I stamped the sentiment from Edwardian Birthday onto a larger piece of the same Heavenly White #120 cardstock.

I used the Eclipse Black #100 cardstock (also from Paper Temptress) for my card base and I cut a smaller piece and punched it with a Scallop Diamond edge punch. This is another beautifully thick cardstock - it doesn't warp or bend at all. I wanted to use some thick heavy cardstock that wouldn't bend under the weight of all the buttons, and these two cardstocks are perfect.

I wanted a rainbow of colors on this card, so I pulled out all my buttons and spent half an hour selecting just the right palette. Color makes me happy, and it was fun to play around with all the different color combinations. Once I decided on my buttons, I tied each one with some white thread and adhered them inside each of the inchie frames.

You could put anything inside these frames. The Inchy Designs set includes some wonderful artistic elements along with several different frame designs. This is a great set to mix and match and have fun with!

I hope you have enjoyed all the Chapel Road creations I have shared with you. It's been a great experience to help Carol start her first design team and I've been truly honored to be a part of this first team for the past six months. Thank you, Carol and all the design team ladies!


Stamps: Edwardian Birthday and Inchy Designs - Chapel Road
Ink: Jet Black Stazon
CS: Heavenly White #120 and Eclipse Black #100 - Paper Temptress
Other: Scallop Diamond edge punch, white thread, buttons

Side-saddle card

That sentiment really makes you think, doesn't it? LOL! These are some new stamps from Chapel Road and I wanted a feminine, yet distressed, feel on this card. I distressed the edges of the cardstock by sponging some brown ink as well as using a distress tool, and I used the Sanded Co'redinations technique on the eggplant background. The eggplant paper helps to offset all the masculine rusticity going on here. (Yeah, rusticity is a word, right?? LOL!) All these papers are from Paper Temptress. I absolutely adore the Brown Bag papers - so perfect for distressed techniques!

I lightly colored the lady and the horse with some chalks for a soft, sepia effect. I added some aged copper brads to finish off this card. Ribbon just didn't look right, and twine was just too masculine, and lace just looked so out of place. The brads were the only thing that just looked right.

I am entering this card in several challenges that I found out in blog-land:

Challenge Up Your Life #50 - no patterned paper
Mark's Finest Papers #68 - distressed card
Frosted Designs - animals
Simply Create #50 - Time to Distress

I hope you enjoy your Sunday! I'm staying inside with my a/c today - gonna be another hot week here in Texas!


Stamps: Quips stamp set from Chapel Road
Ink: Timber Brown Stazon, Kraft, Suede
CS: all from Paper Temptress -
Brown Basis cardstock
Eggplant Brown Bag cardstock
Speckled Kraft cardstock
Other: sponge, chalk, woodgrain embossing folder, aged copper brads, distress tool
Technique Junkies techs: Sepia, Sanded Co'redinations

Wedding Cake

When I was at a shoebox swap back in May, one of the cards we did was a fun wedding cake made from cardstock. That inspired me to create this card today using cardstocks from Paper Temptress. I've got a complete tutorial written up on the Paper Temptress blog HERE if you'd like to check it out.

This card is so versatile - you can substitute any color for the pink background in order to coordinate with the wedding colors of your special couple. You can also use different flowers or something else in place of the flowers. I love it when a project is easily "customizable!"

Glimmered Snowflakes

Hiya folks! Are you ready for another Christmas card? This heat in Texas is just yucky, and I'm ready for some nice cool, crisp fall/winter weather. It can't come soon enough, lemme tell ya!

I love the Glimmering Silk technique from Technique Junkies, and I put it to use again on this card. This time I used a pale blue Glimmer Mist and I didn't sponge any extra color onto the card. These Snowflakes are from Chapel Road and I stamped them with a gray ink onto the paper after it dried.

The white and blue cardstocks as well as the pretty pink ribbon are from Paper Temptress. The white background is the yummy Cryogen White cardstock - it's a gorgeous shimmery white cardstock. The blue is Aqua Basics cardstock and that gorgeous pink ribbon is the 3/8 Reversible Satin Ribbon w/stitches in Pink/Light Pink. I ordered the 5 yard length, but now I'm thinking I need to order the 25 yard roll! It's gorgeous and soft and ties like a dream.

This close-up picture will help you see the gorgeous shimmer of the Cryogen White cardstock as well as the light blue Glimmer Mist on my Glimmering Silk snowflakes:

I love shimmery, glittery things! :-) I added some pink rhinestones to the center of the clear acrylic snowflake just to do something different and to keep this card sparkly.

As I looked around at all the different challenge blogs, I noticed that this card actually fits into several of the challenges. I'm entering this into these challenges:

Christmas Card Challenges #31 - Christmas cards
Craft Your Passion Challenge #65 - anything goes
House of Gilli #11 - lots of sparkle
There She Goes #114 - glitter, glitz & bling


I hope you have a wonderful day! Stay cool!!

$25 gift card giveaway at Paper Temptress

Hey folks! I've been down and out with a migraine all day today, but I wanted to let you know about a special giveaway at Paper Temptress. You could win a $25 gift certificate to shop at Paper Temptress (free cardstocks and papers!)! All the details are HERE. Good luck to y'all and enjoy your weekend!

Masculine cards with Paper Temptress

The men in my family love outdoorsy activities such as hunting and fishing and camping, so I wanted to use some rugged papers and scenic stamps for that masculine feel. On my first card, I pulled out the Blueberry Brown Bag paper and embossed it with a woodgrain embossing folder, then sanded it so you can see the kraft color coming through. I love these Brown Bag papers from Paper Temptress!

I stamped several Stampscapes images on some Pure White Gloss digital paper and matted it with some Pop Black Licorice cardstock. The card base is also Pop Black Licorice cardstock.





For my second card, I pulled out the Olive Brown Bag paper and embossed it with a woodgrain embossing folder, then sanded it just like I did with the blue card. I stamped one Stampscapes image on some Pure White Gloss digital paper, colored it with some markers, and matted it with some Pop Black Licorice cardstock. The card base is also Pop Black Licorice cardstock.



Have fun shopping in the Paper Temptress store for these great masculine papers. Father's Day is coming up soon! :-)

Gingersnap & Technique Junkies Challenge

Good morning! I am playing along with this week's Gingersnap Challenge, and we are doing scene stamping this week. It's been a long time since I pulled out my Stampscapes stamps, so I dusted off a few of those stamps to create this scene for y'all.

I stamped the trees first, then I added the horse and the flock of birds and set this aside to dry completely. Then I sponged some color onto this, but it just seemed to be too bright. I wanted to keep with the Gingersnap Challenge theme of the Wild West, so I sponged around the edges with some Antique Linen distress ink and some Walnut Stain distress ink.

While my scene was drying, I created a Sanded Core'dinations background (from the Emboss or Die cd from Technique Junkies) by using some of the fabulous Brown Bag paper from Paper Temptress. It's really cool paper - colored on one side and brown kraft on the other side. This gave me the perfectly distressed background for my Western scene card. You're going to be seeing more of this awesome paper from me in the months to come. :-)

I added some twine, some brads, and the sentiment to complete this card. Why don't you pull out some of your scene stamps and see what you can create? I hope you play along with this Gingersnap Creations challenge - you could win a fabulous prize just for playing along!


Stamps: Stampscapes
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Summer Sky Memento, Bamboo Leaves Memento, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Artichoke, Hunter, Antique Linen distress, Walnut Stain distress
Paper: glossy white, kraft, Olive Brown Bag from Paper Temptress, Black Licorice Pop Tones from Paper TemptressOther: twine, brads, sponges, oval punch
TJ Technique: Sanded Core'dinations (Emboss or Die cd)

Pool Bear

Happy Sunday, everyone!

I had a post that was supposed to go live on Thursday directing you to go check out my new artwork on the Paper Temptress blog, but unfortunately Blogger had some technical difficulties. Hopefully they have everything fixed now, and I'm crossing my fingers that I can post this and it won't crash. :-)

I am one of the new members of the Paper Temptress Design Team, and I can't wait to show you my first project using Paper Temptress papers:

Isn't that cute??? Hehehehe! To start, I stamped this adorable Beach Bear image from I Brake for Stamps onto some Cryogen White cardstock from Paper Temptress. After I colored it with Copic markers, I used the Copic Texturizing technique from Technique Junkies and then I cut it out. I cut some of the leftover pieces of the same Cryogen White cardstock with a ric rac die and colored them with a red Copic marker. You can see how shimmery the bear and the red ric rac are in this picture below:

Isn't that awesome? It sort of looks like the sun is shining down on them and the water is reflecting off of them. See that soft blue paper that is all wavy and looks like water? That is the cool Sky Blue Ruche paper from Paper Temptress - how perfect is that for simulating water? I'm in love with this Ruche paper now and I've got all kinds of ideas for using these! :-)

I hope you've enjoyed my project today. Remember, when you go shopping at I Brake for Stamps, use this code - SAVE10HOLLY - to save 10% off your order. Enjoy your weekend!