A Touch of Grace

I sincerely hope that you are not getting tired of seeing the same stamps used over and over.  One of the reasons why I do this is to provide you with different designs that hopefully inspire you to stamp.  I have to selfishly admit that the biggest reason I do this is because I just love the stamps!  I love using them over and over again, I never tire of them like I do some of my other stamps.  There aren’t too many stamps out there that do that for me.  Usually I use a stamp once or twice and then I’m done.   On this card, I used the wild flowers again, I cut the image in two and placed the main cluster of flowers in the upper left corner of the sentiment and the placed the other half of the image in the lower right corner.

I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on the four corners of the Vintage Cream paper (PTI).  I used my Scor It to emboss the double lines (sorry, they’re not showing up well in the photo).  I also used the Cuttlebug to cut the four gold corners on gold mirror paper, doesn’t it look just like metal!  I used the negative pieces from the four corners for the gold swirls on the sentiment, I just love my “bug!”  I didn’t have ribbon to match the flowers and raspberry paper so I opted for a neutral cream that I purchased from Jacksonbelle Embellishments. 

• Stamps:   Elegant Inspirations
• Paper:  Vintage Cream (PTI), Basic Black (SU), Raspberry (MB), Gold Mirror (TPC), Canson Watercolor 140 lb. cold pressed
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Tombow markers, heating tool, watercolor brush, Ranger gold/gold tinsel EP, Cuttlebug, border punch, Scor It, craft knife (SU), self-healing mat, Xyron adhesive, dimensionals, ivory ribbon

Hi everyone,

I hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend and taking in your favorite football games!  Go Gators!!!

I’ve designed another card using the Birdhouse Flower stamp that I’m sending to a friend to tell her how much I appreciate her and all that she does.  I’ve changed the colors a bit in this design and added a beautiful cross charm.  I applied gold corners and gold edging stickers that I found in a scrapbook shop.  They’re not showing as pretty in the picture as they are IRL.    

I’ve been advised by a couple of you that you have been placed on suspension in my blog.  I’m not sure what that is all about, but it is happening with quite a few accounts with Feedburner.  I hope to get this problem corrected shortly.  I’m not computer literate, so I ask that you please have patience with me while I try to get this issue resolved.

• Stamps: Elegant Greetings
• Paper:  Basic Black, Orchid Opulence, Vintage Cream (PTI), Canson Watercolor 140 lb. coldpressed
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Tombow Markers, Ranger gold/gold tinsel/very fine detail gold EP, heating tool, watercolor brush, sheer black ribbon, gold charm, nestibilities, butterfly punch, gold stickers, dimensionals, gold cord

Hi Everyone,

You just can’t believe my excitement when I had the honor of meeting artist Judy DuFoe in person.  It was a total surprise, I had no idea I would be meeting her!  I’m a very casual person and most of the time I don’t wear any makeup (I’m embarrassed that I wasn’t wearing any on the day of this meeting .   .   . oops!) and I usually wear jeans or cargo pants.  I had washed my hair that morning, didn’t bother to blow it dry, just pulled it back in a barrette, and headed over to Lakeland.  Oh my .   .   . a day of total embarrassment . . . you know, the kind where you just wish the earth would open and swallow you up!! 

Judy is one of the nicest persons I’ve ever met!  She is so gracious with lots of southern charm. 

I’ll have some designs to post in a few days.  I’ve been working on some watercolors and hope to get them made into designs this weekend. 

Do you remember earlier in my blog when I said I wanted to take classes.  Well, I still haven’t found the time to squeeze that in, but I have been working on a drawing.  I bought a book on drawing flowers at Michael’s and this is my first attempt:

I used saral paper to make the outline.  I then used a cool gray #30 prisma colored pencil to sketch in the petals and large leaf and to do the shading.  For the darker shading I used a #90 cool gray.  The drawing in the book only had the large leaf, I added the smaller leaf, stem, and sepals.  I’ve started the coloring, but that’s taking me a long time as the picture in the book is in black and white.  Colored pencil is like onions, you have to layer the colors for dimension.  As you can see from the small leaf, I’ve only applied the first layer.  I hope to finish this project this weekend.

Today’s color challenge over at Splitcoast is Pink Pirouette, Basic Black, and white.  I substitued the white with Papertrey’s Vintage Cream, love that paper, it’s gorgeous!

I made this card in memory of my grandmother who passed away from breast cancer four years ago.  She was 83 when she was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer and passed away at 86.  Ladies, please don’t ever feel you’re too old to get breast cancer!  Continue to get your mammograms.   My grandmother did get her mammograms, but her cancer didn’t show up on film, due to the rare type that she had. 

I will come back a bit later to fill in the details on how I made this card and the products that were used.  I will also be taking another photograph in the daylight to get a better picture with all the details.  The embossing isn’t showing up well in this shot.  Oh how I dislike using that light tent!  Ugh!!!!

Editing to add:  Today was very hectic and I wasn’t able to take another picture of the card in daylight, I’m hoping to get to that tomorrow.  I want to show a close-up side view of the dimension of the large peony.  I painted it three times, cut out the entire stamped image, then cut out two more peony layers and adhered them on dimensionals.  I used the Mini Scor-It to emboss the double lines around the four edges of the Vintage Cream cardstock.  I then embossed little emblems in the four corners, only one is visible in the bottom right corner.  I embossed the sentiment with fine detail embossing powder.  The cross was punched and adhered on a dimensional.  The butterflies are layered, the bottom layer is Vintage Cream and the top layer is a patterned paper.  Kaiser pearls were adhered to the butterflies’ abdomens.  The ribbon was tied in a bow and adhered to the card with a glue dot. 

Here’s another view taken during the day in natural sunlight, the embossing shows up a bit more in this picture.  You can see the embossed emblem underneath the bow and in the lower right corner. 

• Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Basic Black, Mirror Gold, Vintage Cream, Gold
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Tombow Markers, watercolor brush, Ranger gold, gold tinsel, super find gold detail EP, heating tool, Embossing buddy, sheer ribbon, butterfly punches, cross punch, Kaiser pearls, dimensionals, craft knife, self healing mat, Seashell glitter, Score It, embossing stencil

I was tickled pink when I got home from church today and saw that Anne was chosen for the Featured Stamper challenge.  I can think of no one more deserving!  Anne is a very sweet person, always leaving heart warming comments on cards in our galleries and blogs.  Anne, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to case one of your gorgeous creations.  This is the card I chose to case in Anne’s gallery.  I encourage you all to click on the link, you won’t be disappointed, I promise. 

I was also thrilled that my card qualified for Sharon’s ssnottime challenge.  I incorporated one inch ribbon, butterfly punches, something from nature, and designer paper (on the butterflies and the gold mirror paper).  

• Paper:  Canson watercolor paper, Fabriano Medioevalis cards, Gold Mirror Paper, Venetian Florentine (butterflies)
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Tombow markers, waterbrush, blender pen, heating tool, Ranger gold/gold tinsel/super fine gold EP powder, dimensionals, glue dots, ribbon, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, Scor-It, craft knife, Marvy small and medium butterfly punches, Martha Stewart large butterfly punch

I designed this card for a very dear friend I met at splitcoast.  You all know Nancy Ruth, she’s one of the sweetest gals a girl could meet and she always keeps me chuckling with her zany wit.  It was a joy to make this card for Nancy, she always keeps me inspired with her warm and sincere words of praise.  Thank you Nancy, you’re a dear! 

TWICE TAGGED:   Yikes, am I ever behind!  I’ve been tagged twice and still haven’t responded.  I was first tagged by Joan Ervin, and second by Christine Okken, my two very dear friends and Dirty Dozen sisters   .   .   .   .   I adore you both {{{{hugs}}}}!!!!

These are the rules:

• Link your tagger and list the rules on your blog;
• Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird;
• Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs; and
• Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Okay, so here goes:

1. I luuuuv coffee, but will only drink two brands, Micky D’s and Dunkin Donuts.  I drive to Dunkin Donuts and buy six bags at a time since I go through two pots a day.  I don’t actually drink two full pots, usually three-to-four cups in the morning and two in the evening.  I don’t like warmed up coffee so I make another pot in the evening.
2. I ainx out if I don’t hear from my son at least once a day.  I need reassurance that he’s safe and okay.  It’s doesn’t have to be a long text or e-mail, just two little words, “I’m okay” or even better, “I love you Mom”.
3. My stamping room is like a maze, you really need a map to navigate it!
4. I’d rather fly than drive, I wish we had little spaceships like on the Jetsons; and oh yes, I would LOVE to have Rosy (the maid).
5. I’m incredibly maternal, besides my kids, I have an English Bulldog who’s old and blind, a year old darling Dachshund, and my girl, Scooter, who’s feline.  I’d have more, but my husband put his foot down.  My babies, all three of them, follow me around the house all day long, including my trips to the john.
6. Dove chocolates are definitely in the food group.  I think they’re right up there with carbohydrates and I believe carbohydrates are supposed to be 60% of our daily diet.  Yup, I like carbs!
7. I sleep with two sets of ear plugs, foam and silicone.  Do they work?  Somewhat, although my husband’s snoring still gets through.  I keep telling him if he wakes up dead one morning, I smothered him with his pillow during the night.

 Now here are the seven people I am tagging:

• Joan Fricker
• Sharon Johnson
• Janine Orchard
• Tammy Herschberger
• Kellie Fortin
• Julie Koerber
• Susan Roberts

Well, the card is not exactly blue!  More like yellow and green, but I’ve never heard of Little Boy Green . . . or Yellow?  LOL

I made this card for my great-nephew who just turned 7.  Boys’ cards are not my forte to be sure!  I think if I had started card making when my guys were small, I would have more inspiration.  I hope glitter is okay for a 7-year-old.  Now that my guys are so much older, I’m totally out of it when it comes to what’s in or out for the little tykes.  My guys totally assure me that ribbon on a guy’s card is the “kiss of death” whatever that means!  Apart from using JustRite’s monogrammer, there is no stamping on this card, the focal image was made using Cuttlebug dies.

Happy Birthday Taylor, I love you sweetie!

Recipe for Taylor’s card:

The police car, dump truck, and fire truck were made from Cuttlebug dies.  I cut chipboard from the dies first and then cut layers of colored paper.  I adhered the paper layers onto the chipboard using tweezers.  The arrows were punched from SU’s arrow punch, as well as the photo corners and were placed on the card on dimensionals.  The designer papers are from Crate Paper’s Zoom collection.  I applied Dazzling Diamonds to the windows of the vehicles and on the circles. I used JustRite’s small letter set on the Harmony Classic Circle I for the Happy Birthday sentiment and to place Taylor’s name on the dump truck.  I have to tell you I never thought I would use those tiny little alphabets, but I am absolutely in love with them, they are soooo much fun to play with.  I love that I can write anything I want with them.  To write Taylor’s name, I simply placed them in the center of the Classic Circle, it was just that easy!  After stamping the sentiment, I used two SU circle punches to punch the sentiment.  I then traced the punched sentiment onto chipboard and used a craft knife to cut it out.  I adhered the sentiment onto the chipboard and adhered the dump truck to it.  It’s difficult to tell from the photo, all of the vehicles are on dimensionals as well. 

• Stamps:  JustRite Small Letter Set, Harmony Classic Circle I
• Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Crate Paper Zoom Collection
• Inks:  Blue Bayou
• Accessories:  Cuttlebug Dies, SU circle punches, SU photo corners punch, SU arrow punch, Dazzling Diamonds, dimensionals, tweezers, Fiskars paper trimmer, Scor-It, craft knife

My husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this past June and I wanted to do something special to commemorate our milestone.  I wanted to create a design that would be an heirloom to pass down to our sons once we are gone. 

The Recipe is at the bottom of this post.

I asked the frame shop to leave the glass off so that I could take these pictures without a glare.

Below are several close-up shots that I took going clockwise around the design.  I decided to include them in this post so that if any of you want a closer view, you will be able to see a little more detail.

I started the close ups with the top of the picture.

The flowers in this picture are at 1, 2, and 3 on a clock. The Lily of the Valley was painted on the front of the vellum with a mixture of Pearl Ex and Gum Arabic.

The position of these flowers is 2, 3, and 4 on a clock.  You can see the shine of the Lily of the Valley very nicely in this shot.  Each flower, leaf, stem, etc. was cut with a craft knife.

The position of these flowers is around 3, 4, and 5 on a clock.  I have overlapped a lot on the pictures so that there are several views of the flowers at different angles. 

The position of these flowers is 4, 5, and 6 on a clock.  These are all the flowers I used in the calendar that I watercolored.  As you can see, there is a much softer and translucent look when watercolored on vellum.  I just love the lilies and roses in this shot.

The position of these flowers is 5, 6,  and 7 on a clock.  The flowers may look the same in color, but I actually used several different colors in the pink, peach, and maroon families. 

The position of these flowers is 6, 7, and 8 o’clock.  As you can see, the flowers are a little bit lighter in this photo, which is more accurate of their true colors.  All the pictures were taken in the same room at the same time.  I use natural sunlight when I take my photographs and sometimes the values will be different if the sun goes behind a cloud.  These two pictures are a perfect example. 

Now we’re at 7, 8, and 9 o’clock.  Do you see the lily, that’s the lily stamp I used on the June calendar page.  Those tiny little flowers and leaves are the wildflowers that I usually paint in hues of blue and violet.

The position of these flowers is 8, 9, and 10 o’clock.  These are the same Calla Lilies that are on the August calendar page, as well as the Lily of the Valley.  I love using those stamps together.

The position of the flowers here is predominately 10 o’clock with a little of 9 and 11 showing.  The Calla Lilies are among my favorite stamps.   

Here we are at 10 and 11 o’clock, the final phase of the project.  I hope you enjoyed looking at the close up photos.

Last of all, the finished picture framed with the museum glass in place.  To give you an idea of the size of this project, the photograph is an 8″ x 10″, the framed picture measures 24″ x 24″.  A box frame was used when framing at a depth of 1 1/2″.

The picture is hung at the bottom of our staircase.

Recipe: 

I took one of our wedding pictures and had an 8 x 10 copy made.  I went to a frame shop, picked out an embossed bridal mat and asked that it be cut in an oval to frame the photograph, which I thought would be perfect for the design I had in mind.  After it was cut, I took the mat home and tucked it away for safe keeping.  I stamped multiple flower stamps onto vellum  cardstock from Stampin’ Up! using Versamark.  I embossed the flowers in a mixture of gold and gold tinsel Ranger embossing powders.  I watercolored the vellum on the reverse side using a blender pen.  Once I had what I hoped would be enough flowers to frame the photo, I cut them out using a craft knife. 

I placed a xerox copy of the photograph under the mat and then arranged the flowers roughly around the photo to get an idea of how I wanted to place them so that they would be symmetrical/balanced. The reason I used a xerox copy instead of the photograph is because I didn’t want to get fingerprints on the original photograph that would ultimately be placed when the flowers were adhered.  I wanted to see the picture underneath the mat so that I would get an idea of how the flowers would look with it.  I used non-permanent scotch tape to tape the xerox copy to the mat.  I didn’t want all the lilies on one side, or end up with all the roses being in a corner, so I played with the design for a while until I had it arranged the way I wanted it to look. Once I had the flowers placed where I wanted them, I adhered them down with Glue Dots.  A bow was adhered at the top of the picture with the ends swirled down on both sides of the photo.  You may be wondering if the Glue Dots are visible through the vellum .  .  . the answer is no.  Because I overlapped the flowers, no adhesives can be seen.  I adhered the bow and ribbon in the same manner.

The estimated time to do this project:  One week  — Well worth the enjoyment I receive every time I pass the staircase and will continue to enjoy until I pass on.  I hope that if I make it to 80 or beyond, I will still be able to look back and remember pouring my heart and soul into this project.  I hope to remember the excitement and joy I felt as I worked on each and every flower.   

Paper:  Cardstock Vellum

Ink:  Versamark

Accessories:  Tombow Markers, Blending Pen, Heating Tool, Ranger Gold/Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder, Pearl Ex, Gum Arabic, Craft Knife, Glue Dots, Photograph, Professional Framing, May Arts Gold Trimmed White Organdy Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds

Hi everyone, we’re back from Tennessee.  What an action packed weekend!  I arrived in Nashville Saturday around noon and met up with my husband and son for lunch at Chili’s. We spent the afternoon together and attended the Vanderbilt/Auburn game.  What an exciting game it was!  Go Dores!!!!

Today’s card is one I made a few months ago for my mom’s birthday.  Mom  loves hot tea!  She also loves girly cards and this one is exceptionally girly! 

The real china tea cup was a birthday gift from a dear friend of mine that loves to attend “tea” luncheons.  It’s such a beautiful teacup and saucer, I used it for inspiration for the teapot and teacups that I watercolored.  The lace doily is actually a paper dessert doily that I bought at the grocery store.  I trimmed it to fit in the corner.

• Stamps:  Elegant Greetings (SU)
• Paper:  Whisper White, Almost Amethyst, Gold, Canson Cold Pressed 140 lb. Watercolor Paper
• Ink: Versamark
• Accessories:  Flowers (Michael’s), Ribbon (SU), Pearls (JoAnn), Lace Doily (grocery store), Dimensionals (SU), Scor-It, Fiskars Paper Trimmer, Tombow Markers, Legend Watercolor Brush, Ranger Gold/Gold Tinsel EP, Heating Tool, Glue Dots

Oh my gosh, I feel like I’ve been missing in action!  I can’t believe it’s been a week since I’ve posted a card.  Life gets so busy at times!  My youngest son has homecoming this week at his school and he was nominated and voted prince/duke of his class, Daniel’s a Sophomore.  We’ve had practice and activities all week long.  Today I was supposed to fly to Tennessee for parents’ weekend at Vanderbilt with my oldest son.  Since I have to escort Daniel on the football field Friday night, I rescheduled my flight for Saturday morning.  My husband flew out today to be with Stephen and I’ll join them on Saturday (I’m very excited, we’re going to the Vandy/Auburn game). 

Today’s challenge over at Splitcoast was to make a card using a quote.  I placed my quote on the inside of the card, it reads:  “If friends were flowers, I’d pick you.”  I watercolored the Chrysanthemum and let it dry.  While it was drying I dry embossed the white frame and cut out windows using a craft knife.  I layered the embossed cut out onto a slightly larger piece of yellow Prism paper using dimensionals.  I punched six butterflies with a Martha Stewart punch.   A Quickie Glue pen was used to apply the Dazzling Diamonds to the butterflies and small pearls were placed on the abdomens.  Once the glue was dry, I layered the glittered butterflies on top of the plain butterflies for a 3D effect.  When adhering the butterflies, I placed adhesive only on the abdomens so that I could bend the wings up.   A Fiskars border punch was utilized to make the white embossed border on the card topper, that was then layered onto a piece of Prism yellow paper cut the exact same size.  I then attached the ribbon and placed the pearls on the topper.  I think I purchased the white floral ribbon at Wal-Mart.  The Kaiser pearls are from Flourishes.  A craft knife was used to cut out the chrysanthemums.  The card has many layers, I used dimensionals to layer the chrysanthemum, the card topper, and the embossed window.  I then layered that onto Whisper White cardstock.   Inspiration for this card comes from an amazing blog I discovered this past week called Amazing Paper Grace.  This adorable card was the inspiration behind my chrysanthemum card.

• Paper:  Whisper White, Prism yellow, Arches watercolor paper
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Tombow Markers, watercolor brush, Ranger gold/gold tinsel EP, Martha Stewart punch, Kaiser pearls (lg., med., & sm), dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds, craft knife, embossing stencil, stylus, cutting mat, Fiskars border punch, floral ribbon