love birds

Every Wednesday I check out Splitcoaststampers for the weekly tutorial.  One week, they showcased the Herringbone tutorial.  This is a great way to use up scraps of patterned paper  or to use up old stock. I decided to grab scraps of old patterned paper.  When this patterned paper came out (from Stampin' Up) I fell in love with it.  Well its been retired for a few years now and I have a lot of it.  

Since its February, I was inspired to make a romantic card, but I didn't want it to be a Valentine's Card.  The colour combination is Basic Gray, Kiwi Kiss, Not Quite Navy, Baha Breeze, and Very Vanilla.  I decided to use the Love Birds from the Olive You stamp set from Stampin' Up!.  The birds are so sweet.  I used Nestabilites Label 18 to cut out the image.  I then sponged the edges.  I wrapped some Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon around the herringbone base and tied a knot, then placed the love birds on top.  To finish it off, I added some Dazzling Details to the stamped image.  Its a perfect card for an anniversary or wedding.  

Hearts

Before Valentine's, I was into making Valentine's cards.  Today I have one that I did not give away, maybe next year.  I was just playing around with my stamps and old patterned paper from Stampin' Up!.  I've been challenging myself to use up of retired products.  

The starting point for this card was the piece of patterned Pixie Pink paper that's the middle layer.  You'll have to look really close.  From there, I had to find a color combo that was pleasing to work with.  I stuck with pinks but also used Basic Gray as a neutral for balance.   The complete color combo is Regal Rose, Pixie Pink, Pink Pirouette, and Basic Gray.  I also used a little bit of Very Vanilla.  

The layout was inspired by Clean and Simple FTL 175.  Of course its too late to enter into their challenge, but I still chose to play along.  I used the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set from Stampin' Up! for the card.  I stamped them in Regal Rose and then I covered the large heart with Crystal effects to give it a glossy look.  I really love how that turned out.  

I hope you enjoyed the card.

My Valentine's

Happy Valentine's Day!!

What a great day to get back into blogging.  I have been absent for some time now.  I apologize.  Christmas came and took over my life for sometime, and then I've been preparing for our new arrival.  

However, I have been playing in my craft room.  

Today I want to share with you the cards I made for my two Valentines.   

The first card is one I made for my darling husband.  He's been such a great blessing in my life.  And lately he's been helping lots around the house.  I'm unable to do a lot of things, but he's ready and willing to help.  I don't know what I would do without him.  I'm so glad he'll be around for the next nine months.

For the card, I used the Love letterpress plate from Stampin' Up!.  I've played around with it a few times, and I find it works best with watercolour paper.  You get a nicer impression.  I've made it the focal point of the card, as I wanted to let my husband know how much I love him.  I also wanted to make the card masculine, so I used Night of Navy, Ruby Red, and Bravo Burgundy.   I punched the sentiment out with the modern label and placed it on top of some old ribbon I had laying around.  Its colour is really close to Bravo Burgundy.

I sure hope he loves the card.

The second Valentine's in for my 1 year old son.  I was inspired by the train image from the Whoo's Your Valentine stamp set from Stampin' Up!.  The Frosted Window tutorial over at Splitcoaststampers inspired the design of the card.  For the window opening I used the negative of the Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 18 in Blush Blossom and Regal Rose.  The base of the card is Chocolate Chip.  I placed a layer of Close to Cocoa behind the Frosted Window.   I finished the card with some light pink ribbon that I had laying around and stamped to small hearts (from the stamp set I {Heart} Hearts from Stampin' Up!) in the corners.  It's a perfect card for a child.  

I hope you've enjoyed these cards and I have more to share over the next few weeks.  

Kristy 

Finally Completed a Challenge

It has been a long time since I was able to complete a challenge.  I check out the various challenge blogs and consider doing them, but then I don't.  Now with my craft room all set up and its not a dumping ground, I can finally participate.  This card was made for the Mojo Monday Challenge 214.  

I really like there layouts, and I knew I could do this one.  I kept the card simple as I'm just getting back into swing of things.  I'm not into elaborate cards yet, but I'm hoping to get there.

This card features the Love Bug stamp set from Stampin' Up!.  I love the little critters in the images and there fun to color.  I just recently got the watercolor pencil crayons from Stampin' Up and I had to try them out.  I didn't watercolor the images, but I will try that technique out one day.

The colors in this card are Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin pie, Island Indigo, and Soft Suede.  This color combo was inspired by a challenge over at ColourQ blog.  Unfortunately I didn't finish the card in time to participate in the challenge.  

I think the card turned out well.  I hope you enjoyed it.

Take care

Birthday Invite

My son's first birthday is coming up so I'm planning a party for him.  I decided to make the theme Polar Bears, since he was born in winter and we have snow.  I'm going to be making a polar bear cake for him to enjoy, so I thought I should make coordinating invitations.  I used the teddy bear image from the Teddy and Train stamp set from Stampin' Up!.  I stamped it in Sahara Sand and then used heat and stick powder to add dazzling diamonds.  This gives the impression of a polar bear covered in snow.  Since the invite his for my son's birthday, blue was the color.  I used Bashful Blue and Marina Mist.  Since he's only turning 1, I figured I could get away with using soft colors instead of bold colors.  The card may seem to be babyish, but Caius is my baby boy.  I don't want him growing up to fast.