A Touch of Grace

I have a few more pictures to feature in the bridal series and then I’ll move on to Christmas projects I’ve been working on.

Today I’m posting two pictures of the bridal guests.  I absolutely adore these stamps from Rubbernecker!  In fact, I like them so much that after I finished this series I placed an order with Rubbernecker and purchased all of their “lady” stamps.  I stamped and colored two of the images using Prisma colored pencils.  Using a craft knife I cut both images and adhered them together using Dimensionals. I then placed the image on top of the oval using Dimensionals again for added depth.  I made a necklace using micro pearls using Crystal Effects as my adhesive.  I used a Quickie Glue Pen to color in the dress polka dots, shoes, hat, and gloves and then sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds on the glue. 

I did the same on this image, coloring two, adhering with Dimensionals for depth.  I used gold micro beads for the earring and pearl micro beads for the purse handle and the area on the dress where the skirt and bodice adjoin.  I used Dazzling Diamonds on the scarf, gloves, purse, skirt, and shoes. 

I was hoping to get a better close up picture, I’m going to try to get a better one and replace this with one that is clearer.  I love the detail in the handbag.  I placed micro pearls on the purse handle and gold micro beads on the purse’s clasp and along the top.  You can see the pearls on the dress as well. 

• Stamps:  Rubbernecker, SU (sentiment)
• Paper:  Pale Plum, Basic Black, Whisper White, SU DP, Carol’s Rose Cottage DP
• Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
• Accessories:  Dazzling Diamonds, Quickie Glue Pen, Micro Pearls, gold micro beads, Crystal Effects, craft knife, cutting mat, Nestibilities, large Kaiser Pearls, Lavender Moon ribbon, silver cord, organdy ribbon, SU oval punches, Hero Arts bling, Prisma colored pencils

Congratulations Sharon!  I’m so excited for my friend, Sharon Johnson, also known as notimetostamp.  Sharon’s blog reached 1,000,000 hits this week, kudos to you Sharon!  You are so deserving, you have inspired me for years and I’m so very blessed to call you friend. 

Sharon has invited me to participate in a celebration she is having as a thank you to all of her viewers and I am delighted to share in this fun-filled celebration.  We will be offering fantastic ideas to assist you with holiday gift ideas.  There will be many participants, we have been busy designing and creating and are very excited to share our designs with you.  There will be lots of blog candy and several challenges as well! 

The celebration begins Monday, December 1, and will run for ten fun-filled days.  Please stop by and visit us for some fabulous holiday ideas.  I will be providing links so that you can hop all over to some of your favorite blogs and, hopefully, some new designers you haven’t met yet.

I’d like to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving Holiday and offer travel prayers for those of you who are traveling or have family traveling.  I’m posting a picture of my table that I’ve set for the holiday.  I used this same set up last year, sure hope my family isn’t tired of it.  I watercolored pumpkins and placed them on enamels jars that are filled with Apple Pie scented candles using the Autumn Harvest from from Stampin’ Up!  I made little place cards using a retired Stampin’ Up! set entitled Autumn’s Blessings. 

Moving along in my bridal series I’d like to share my flower girl, she’s just so adorable to me.  The image is from Inque Boutique’s Flutter By, Butterfly, such a beautiful set, I just love it! I haven’t provided a link to Inque Boutique because the company has been sold and I don’t know who the new owners are.  I did read Stephanie Bernard’s blog and I’m so very sorry the new owners chose not to have Stephanie come on board, that will most definitely be their loss.  I met Stephanie at CHA in July and she is totally adorable. 

I stamped the flower girl twice, colored both images, and placed one on top of the other for dimension. The images were cut out using a craft knife.   I placed her on dimensionals again and adhered her to the card.  The butterflies are from Kitchen Sink Stamps and are on dimensionals as well.  All images were colored with Prismacolored pencils.  I added Dazzling Diamonds to the dress for added sparkle.  The little bow on the front of the dress was colored twice and placed on dimensionals as well.  It doesn’t show in the photograph, but this card has a lot of dimension. 

• Stamps:  Inque Boutique; Kitchen Sink Stamps, SU (sentiment)
• Paper:  SU DP, Whisper White, Basic Black, Carol’s Rose Cottage DP
• Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
• Accessories:  Dazzling Diamonds, Dimensionals, craft knife, silver cord, Cuttlebug tag, Hero Arts bling, Lavender Moon Ribbon (Papertrey, Ink), small circle punch (for tag)

I’d like to share some of my favorite tools with you.

I recently purchased this Glue Glider Pro and absolutely love it.  Years ago I purchased an ATG gun and tried unsuccessfully to use it.  It was just way too heavy and bulky.  It was also very difficult for me to load the refills.  Although the ATG gun is a wonderful tool, it just didn’t work for me in card making.  When I saw this tool, it reminded me of the ATG gun so I decided to give it a try.  Boy am I glad I did!  Living in Florida the humidity factor is really difficult with a lot of the adhesives on the market, they don’t adhere well; not so with this little gem.  It’s lightweight, easy to use, never skips, goes on rather smoothly . . . needless to say I was instantly smitten and wrote to my friend, Joan, and advised that I had found the adhesive of my dreams.  Joan now carries the Glue Glider in her store, Joan’s Gardens, as well as the refills.  And this little tool won’t set you back an arm and a leg, it’s very affordable . . . another bonus!  I’ve taken a picture of a refill, please excuse my poor photography, but I think you get the gist of what it looks like.

In a previous post, I used the Perfect Layers tool to show how I place layers/panels on my cards perfectly and have gotten a few questions regarding that tool so I thought I would share it with those of you who are not familiar with it.  Stampin’ Up! no longer carries it in their catalog.  So for those of you who have it and have never used it . . . LOL . . . maybe this will help. 

I’ve taken some close ups to show the different size panels that can be made.  My favorite is 1/16″ and since most dies don’t come lower than 1/8″, this is a perfect tool for me.  As you can see from the close ups, the measurements start at 1/16″ and go up to 5/8″.  There are lips on both sides of the tools giving you up to 8 options in size. 

It’s very easy to use once you get the gist of it.  You lay your photo or panel on a cutting board and choose the measurement you want to use, in my case it’s usually 1/16″.  Lay the tool down on top of the image and abut the lip to the edge of the image and then use a craft knife to make the cut.  You’ll definitely want to use a cutting mat when using this tool.  I always tape my image down with a non-tacky tape so it doesn’t slip when I’m cutting.  I get perfect layers every time.

Oops, excuse my fingerprints  . . . LOL . . . well at least you can tell that I do use this tool alot!  This photo shows that I have punched a large tag from my SU punch.  Now if I want to go even larger all I have to do is tape down the punched tag, line up the tool on the left side of the tag and catch it on the lip.

As you can see in this photo, I’m working around the tag, cutting all the sides by lining up the tool on the edge of the tag abutting up to the lip.

And here is the finished tag.  It looks slightly off at the top, but that’s only the angle of the photo, I tried to get perfectly over the tag for the shot, but couldn’t, I had to come in at a slight angle.  With the perfect layers tool, I can make take any punch, as long as it as straight sides, and make whatever size I want.  I could go on and on building up the size, a punch or die can’t do that!  And that’s why I love this tool!

Continuing on with the bridal series I designed a bridesmaid card using the same designer papers I used with the bride’s card.  I love this beautiful image by Rubbernecker stamps.  I colored the two images with Prismacolor colored pencils.  Both images were cut with a craft knife and layered one on top of the other with dimensionals.  The tiny Kaiser pearls were purchased at Flourishes and the beautiful satin ribbon was purchased at Papertrey, Ink.  Micro pearls were used for the bracelet and necklace.

• Stamps:  Rubbernecker, SU (sentiment)
• Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, SU DP, Carol’s Rose Cottage DP, Pale Plum
• Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
• Accessories:  Prismacolor colored pencils, Dazzling Diamonds, Kaiser Pearls, Cuttlebug (tag), silver cord, ivory organdy, Lavender Moon satin ribbon, Nestibilities ovals, micro pearls, Crystal Effects, craft knife, dimensionals

I’ve had a few questions regarding how I use the Scor Mat to help me with layers so I took this picture to give a visual on how I use it.

I’ve placed a piece of Always Artichoke cardstock on the Scor mat, lining it up on the black lines.  I then placed a Perfect Layers tool two inches above the bottom of the cardstock horizontally across the mat, making sure that I stayed on the black lines on both sides of the paper.  Next I placed the Perfect Layers tool 1 and 3/8 inch from the left side of the card in a vertical position.  Then I placed the panel in the 90 degree angle for perfect placement.   Please note, I didn’t use exact center measurements for the placement of the panel, I’m merely trying to give the gist of how I place the tools for perfect panel placement on my projects using the Scor Mat.  I used Stampin’ Up!’s Perfect Layers tool for this illustration.  Because I love 1/16 measurements, I use this tool a lot, it never leaves my desk.  As you can see from the photo, the black lines are one inch lines, the solid white lines are 1/4 inch lines, and the broken lines are 1/8 inch lines.  

It seems nowadays there are as many bachelorette parties as there are bachelor parties, and from what I hear almost as risque!  Although, from personal experience,  I wouldn’t know .  .  . (wink)!  So while I was working on my bridal ensemble, I decided to design a bachelorette’s card.

Designing this card for my wedding series was a blast.  The bachelorette image is the same stamp that I used for the bridal card.  I cut the bun off the back of the head and adhered it to the top, covering the seam with micro mini pearls.  A watercolored flower and leaves were attached near the pearls creating a head piece.  The close up picture below shows the detail.  I love adding small details, a pearl necklace, earring, bracelet, and ring were added to the image.  The pearls were adhered with Crystal effects.  I placed them on the adhesive by licking the tip of a toothpick, picking up a pearl and placing it down on the adhesive (okay I know this sounds really gross, but it’s a great tip and it works).  The pearls stick perfectly to the end of the wet toothpick and then come off easily when placed on the adhesive.  I used a toothpick to draw the jewelry lines with Crystal Effects (a wonderful adhesive).  The gorgeous black dress is a Jolee’s sticker.

You can see the headpiece much better in the close up, the mini pearls are so pretty, they are less than 1mm in size.  I used a craft knife to cut out the leaves and flowers. 

I use a lot of dimensionals in my designs and would like to share a tip for all the newbie stampers who may follow my blog.  Don’t throw away the negative portion of the panels the dimensionals are on.  I’ve attached a photograph to show you how I use mine so that nothing is wasted.

These are dimensionals from Stampin’ Up! and All Night Media.  On the left you’ll see Stampin’ Up!’s sheet.  Once I’ve finished using all the dimensionals, I then cut around the outer frame and use those pieces as well, it doesn’t matter what the dimensional looks like since it’s on the back of your project.  Stampin’ Up! is very smart in the layout of their design, placing them on the sheet in a honey comb pattern.  All Night Media uses circles, leaving a lot of waste.  As you can see from the right side of my sheet, I cut the negative pieces and use those on my projects as well, leaving no waste.  I like using both of these products. Stampin’ Up!’s dimensional are thinner and perfect in some designs, whereas All Night Media’s dimensionals are a little thicker and sometimes I need the extra thickness in other designs.

• Paper:  SU DP, watercolor paper, Carol’s Rose Garden DP
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Tombow markers, cutting mat, heating tool, watercolor brush, Ranger gold/gold tinsel EP, micro pearls, craft knife, Jolee’s stickers, dimensionals, Crystal Effects, toothpicks

This is one of my favorite cards and can you believe I didn’t keep the template when I made it!  What was I thinking????  I changed the template so many times while designing it that the original one no longer applied to the finished product .   .   . LOL. 

I used multiple papers in the design, the card has several layers.  The lapel and pockets are a shimmery charcoal gray cardstock that I purchased from Flourishes.  I didn’t have stripe paper so I used shimmery silver and Basic Black SU papers to make the striped paper for the tie.  I cut black strips and adhered them to the gray paper and then cut out the tie.  The tie tack, cuff links, and buttons on the vest are Kaiser pearls that I also purchased from Flourishes.  I used a Krylon silver pen to paint the buttons on the vest to match.  I watercolored a rose, cut it out and attached it to the lapel for the groom’s boutonniere.  The size of this card is about 5 x 7, possibly a bit larger.

I made a tag on the inside of the card that says Happily Ever After.  If I give this card to a bride, I’ll leave the tag in, if I give it to the groom, I’ll replace it with a plain piece of note paper.  The flowers and leaves were painted on watercolor paper, cut out and adhered on dimensionals.

• Paper:  Shimmery Charcoal, Shimmery Silver, Basic Black, Whisper White, watercolor
• Ink: Versamark, Basic Black
• Accessories:  Tombow markers, Ranger gold/gold tinsel EP, heating tool, watercolor brush, Kaiser pearls, dimensionals, Nestibilities, craft knife, cutting mat

Okay, I have to share this with you.  I don’t normally endorse products, but I want to tell you about this product I recently purchased.  I ordered the Scor Mat from Joan’s Gardens (and Joan I shamelessly harvested this picture from your blog because I’m way too lazy to take the time to photograph my mat).  I have to say this is the best mat ever!  I’ve used it non-stop the past several days while making Christmas designs that I’ll soon be sharing.  What I love most about this mat is that the measurements go all the way to 1/8″ increments .  .  .  fantastic for perfect placement of layers on cards or any other projects.   As you can see in the picture, it also has diagonals lines that are fabulous for cutting angles.  I love the mat so much I’ve placed another order with Joan for a second one.  I want one for cutting on and one to be kept perfect, I’m a tad bit spoiled, but in my defense this mat is very affordable.  Check out Joan’s store on her blog, it’s fabulous and she ships immediately.

While I’m working on Christmas designs, I’ve decided to post some of my older designs.  Over the next few days I’ll be posting a series of designs that I did for a bridal ensemble. 

This card is such a beautiful card to give to a very special bride, maybe a sister, or another family member that you’re close to or even a special friend who is like a sister to you. 

 I stamped and watercolored the bride, then cut her out using a craft knife and set her aside.  I stamped the gown twice, once on Pale Plum and once on vellum cardstock using bridal embossing powder.  I cut out both gowns, cutting the center portion of the vellum skirt out as well and glued the vellum gown to the pale plum gown on the embossed lines so the adhesive wouldn’t show through.  I used micro pearls to make a bracelet and a necklace, she also has a tiny pearl earring. 

I stamped the four floral corners, painted them, cut them out and arranged them on the four corners using dimensionals.  I stamped tiny little roses and made a head piece with a tulle veil and attached that to her head.  It’s hard to see in the photo, the tulle has Dazzling Diamond dots on it.  I stamped a bridal bouquet and attached that to her hand.  The rose and ribbon on the dress were stamped separately on watercolor paper and attached to her dress.  The bride’s shoes were painted with a mixture of Pearl Ex and Gum Arabic giving them a pearly satin sheen. 

 Below is a close up to show the detail on the bride’s jewelry and veil.

• Paper:  Pale Plum, Patterned Cardstock Vellum, SU DP, Basic Black, Whisper White, Carol Wilson Embossed DP
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Tombow Markers, Bridal EP, Ranger Gold/Gold Tinsel EP, dimensionals, watercolor brush, micro pearls, tulle, heating tool, craft knife, mat pack, dazzling diamonds, Pearl Ex, Gum Arabic

Since returning from Nashville, I’ve been working on the samples I posted before I left.  I’ve run into issues with my Wizard and it took me much longer to get the paper cut than what I originally intended.  It seems like I’m always running behind.

I made cards for all of the samples and decided to post several of them since some of you asked for close ups.  To keep attention focused on the watercolors, I’ve kept the designs very simple.  As you can see, I’ve painted the same stamped image in several different colors using Tombow markers.  The washes were painted with Stampin’ Up! re-inkers.

I used More Mustard for the background wash on this picture.  The paper looks black, but it’s actually gold mirror paper.  It’s very difficult to photograph.

I used an embossed gold paper on this one.  The wash is a combination of Certainly Celery, Mellow Moss, and Lovely Lilac.

I used Lovely Lilac on this wash.

I used Lovely Lilac and Mellow Moss on this wash.

I used More Mustand on this wash and used the gold mirror paper.  The gold mirror paper is very elegant, but difficult to photograph.

I used Pale Plum on this wash.

More Mustard was used on this wash.

I used Pale Plum and Mellow Moss on this wash.

The sentiment is a stamp from A Muse.  Since these are notes I’ll be sending out, I thought it was the perfect sentiment. 

• Paper:  Whisper White, Gold Embossed and Gold Mirror (The Paper Company), Canson watercolor 140 cold pressed, the butterflies were punched from Prism, Stampin’ Up!, and Papertrey, Ink papers
• Ink:  Versamark, SU re-inkers
• Accessories:  Tombow markers, heating tool, paint brush, Ranger gold, gold tinsel EP, satin ribbon, Kaiser Pearls, dimensionals, Wizard, Mega Nestibilities, Dazzling Diamonds, glue dots, Glue Glider Pro, tweezers

One on my viewers very kindly wrote to me to ask how I am as she hasn’t seen me post in a week.  Oh my gosh, life does get in the way.  I’ve been super busy with working on designs for Christmas cards.  I’ve got a general layout and hope to start painting next week.  In the meantime, I’d like to share a photo I look yesterday of several images I painted this past week.  Check out the Nestibilities die I used to cut the images.   I do believe this set of dies is my new all-time favorite of the Nestibilities.  I hope to get these images made into cards next week and posted. 

I’m flying to Nashville today to visit my son, we’re going to take in the Vandy/Gator game, I’m so excited! 

Have a wonderful weekend with your families!