Be Joyful

Hi friends! Popping in with a quick post this week, sharing a card I made a few months ago for a friend at the CT church we've been attending. Since my posting has been sporadic, and will probably continue to be so for the next few weeks, I figured I'd share an older project that had not yet been posted. Stay tuned for newer works..

This week we're heading back to NH, for the final move in to our new home. I can hardly believe the changes that have taken place over the past year...what a crazy experience it's been! Even though this has been a hard transition, filled with many unknowns and sometimes even troubling circumstances, we are so grateful for this time. God has placed us where we needed to be, when we needed to be there, and abundantly blessed us along our journey. We have made some wonderful friends here in CT, ones we hope to stay in touch with throughout our lifetime, we've had extraordinary school experiences that will follow us into NH, and we have really enjoyed life in CT, which is filled with stunning scenery, quaint shops, and friendly people. While I am thrilled to be returning to our home, there's no doubt that a part of my heart will be left behind. So...the theme of this card, be joyful, is definitely appropriate!

This card was created with lots of new Wendy Vecchi products...new stamps, new mat minis, and new stencils. You can find a list to the full list of supplies that I used on my card at the end of the post.

The base of my card features easy stenciling, using the Lots of Dots and Classic Words stencils along with Wendy's Archival Inks (Potting Soil and Watering Can). My oval frame was created using two coordinating Spellbinders dies. The flower pot and flowers were stamped on scrap paper and fussy cut (both from the Blooming Art II set). The bird and heart are both new mat minis. Notice the bird's details? Love that the bird mat mini coordinates with the Put a Bird On It Stamp It/Stencil It set...that is some serious fun! The sentiment is from the new Say It Background Stamp. I finished up the card with some faux stitching and black rhinestones.

That's it for me today! Be sure to check out the links below, where you can find all things Wendy Vecchi! I'll be back ASAP with more projects...just need to unpack my crafting goodies!

Happy Crafting!

Supplies:

-Stencils (Lots of Dots, Classic Words)

-Stamps (Blooming Art II, Put a Bird On It, Say It)

-Bird Mat Minis

-Heart Mat Minis

-Distress Inks

-Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks

Hooray!

I'm sharing the quick steps I took to create this fun birthday card for a dear friend's 50th surprise party on The Crafters Workshop blog today! Hop on over to check out all of the details. You won't believe how easy it is to create this card!

Happy Crafting!

The Adventure Begins

For those who haven't heard...I was asked to join The Crafters Workshop design team last month! Woot! Woot! I'm so excited! TCW is one of my all time favorite companies, not just because I am obsessed with stencils, and they produce the best stencils ever, but because I love the owners...a wonderful group of crafters and friends!

Today I'm happy to share my first TCW project...I'm sharing just a sneak peek on my blog, hop on over to The Crafters Workshop blog to see a step-by-step tutorial.

Enjoy and happy crafting!

Inspiration Wednesday - Week 8

A quick and easy project to share with you today, using decorative napkins! Seriously, this is genius! I know, folks have been using napkins for all kinds of craft projects, but this is the first time I dipped my toe in the napkin waters, and let me tell you, the water was fine!

My only challenge? Finding napkins! Where do you find those babies? I ended up finding these stashed in my kitchen pantry, a left over (I think from the dollar store) from last Thanksgiving. And what do you know, these napkins contain a few of my favorite things...flowers, script text, and butterflies. That's a happy find! Now that I've collaged with these napkins...I need more!

This layout was based upon Donna's IW video from a few weeks ago. It's a simple project, consisting of napkins, a few manila tags, stamps, and some Distress Ink. The beautiful "Hello Sunshine" stamp, which goes perfectly with the napkin design, is from my sweet friend Catherine Scanlon. You can find all of her stamps here. The other random stamp designs, seen on the smaller tags, are from Prima. And, yes, the number 49 is my age...but a few more months until the big 5-0! Ugh...I'm going to need a month long crafting spree to get over that hump! LOL!

Hope you enjoy today's layout...happy crafting!

Inspiration Wednesday - Week 7

Hi kids! Sharing my next Inspiration Wednesday creation! I actually have last week's to share as well, but I'm running painfully behind on my posting. I've been spending my days getting ready for our move back to NH, which has kept me busier than normal. Yesterday I packed up all of my craft supplies and I don't expect to see them again for 2-4 weeks, insert sad face, so I prepped a bunch of projects to share over the next month or two...this is the first!

This project was from a few weeks ago, as you can tell from my date stamp of 4/3. And while my last IW project didn't thrill me, this was made me do the happy dance! It's really such a simple project, comprised of bits of collaged paper, including designer paper, tissue paper, and vintage book text, along with my favorite products..embossing paste and stencils.

The best part of this layout? Glazing medium and umber paint...oh man, this is nothing better than the vintage look that these two products create. I just love the look of the embossed, aged letters...swoon.

I also really loved working with the kraft tissue paper, which is a left over from my store ownership days. The color of the tissue paper provides a wonderful contrast with the white paint, and because it's so thin you end up with wonderful crinkles that translate into texture you want to reach out and touch.

This little bit of script text on the inclusion may be my favorite bit of all...Overall, I had a great time creating this piece, and it will no doubt serve as an inspiration for future projects. 

Happy Crafting!

Inspiration Wednesday - Week 6

Well it only took six weeks for me to get way behind on my IW videos and posting...oh boy! And it also took six weeks for me to hit the "they can't all be winners" creation. LOL! This layout, although very simple, took the most time to create. Those darn flowers were tricky!

However, in the end, I found that I was mostly happen with the final results. The flowers, which were created with Wendy Vecchi's embossing paste, started as white, then blue, then back to white again before ending up as gold. I do really love the look of the gold against the dark blue background.

My page ended with some cork letters, aren't they fun, and a few sentiment stickers. Next week I'll share week 7, which came together much faster and easier. Hey, they can't all be winners, but keeping a journal filled with all of our art, not just the very best, is a satisfying experience. I love looking back on older projects and seeing how my techniques have evolved or improved. It's a great keepsake...like a diary packed full of color, texture, and artistic growth!

Enjoy!

Playing with Tim Holtz Woodgrain Cardstock

Hi folks! I'm back with another new product review...Tim Holtz Woodgrain Cardstock. The new cardstock comes in a pack of 12 pre-cut sheets (5.5" x 4.25") of heavy cardstock embossed with a woodgrain texture. Very convenient! The pages are white right out of the package. Here's what I created with my first sheet...

This piece of cardstock involved lots of layers, which started with Distress Paint in Tea Dye and Bundled Sage. I added the paint and then spritzed the paper with water to blend the colors. It already looked pretty good here!

Next I added a few Distress Stain colors to get more of that patina look. I used Peacock Feathers and Peeled Paint for this second layer.

And just because I was curious about the new Mica Sprays (this one is from the Dylusions line), I spritzed a fine mist of mica spray over the cardstock. It's not screaming bling, but adds just the finest mist of shimmer. Love it!

As I was digging through my bin of paint I stumbled across the Tarnished Brass Distress Paint and was compelled to add a tiny bit of brass paint to the edges...dreamy.

I finished by adding Gathered Twigs and Black Soot Distress Inks. Conclusion? The woodgrain cardstock is a blast, and it take stand up to just about anything you throw at it!

Next I stamped a butterfly, from a Dina Wakley stamp set (see supply list below), onto a piece of a gelli print I had in my stash. (I did glue the deli paper to a piece of cardstock for more stability) Then I grabbed my new Dylusions White Paint Pen and added some highlights...The new paint pen is dreamy! You need it! It took a while for the paint to work its way down to the tip of the pen, but after that it worked amazingly well, better than the Sharpies I have in my stash. This white pen is going into my stash of favorite pens!

I finished my card by using the new cabinet cards from Tim Holtz, along with a sentiment and a few Idea-ology stickers (upper right hand corner). And, of course, I needed a tiny bit of bling...'cause butterflies must have a sparkly trail, right? 

And in other, very exciting news, I was asked to join the 2016 The Crafters Workshop design team! I can't wait!! The term doesn't begin until the May time frame, but be sure to stay tuned for lots of great stencil projects!!

Supplies:
-Tim Holtz Woodgrain Cardstock

-Distress Paint

-Distress Ink

-Distess Stain

-Scribbly Insects Stamp Set

-Cabinet Cards in Black

-Idea-ology Labels

-Dylusions Paint Pens

-Dylusions Mica Spray