Butterfly embellishments.....using Gossamer Blue June Kits

Hey there.  I recently shared a post over at the Gossamer Blue blog.  You can hop over there to see how I pair Gossamer Blue kit items with items from my own stash to create some beautiful cards. 

We all want to get the biggest bang for our buck so it only makes sense to reach into our stash of dies, Washi tape and other supplies. 

Keeping our supplies in a constant rotation is the key to really using all of our goodies that we've collected over time.

I hope you enjoy my set of embellished butterfly cards and that you get inspired to dig deep into your stash of items.

It's amazing how just a little bit of thread from an old spool.....a tiny strip of washi tape....some new brads and paper.....stamps from some older sets....it all adds up to projects that look trendy and fresh when you combine the new with the old.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I'd love for you to leave a comment letting me know what older items you're reaching for these days.  It's amazing to me how completely new and fresh things like die cuts look when you just use some new patterned paper, etc.  

Winnie & Walter Guest Blog Post....Floral Cards

I love a good floral stamp set, especially when I can create a vintage look with the images and have lots of options for adding color.  It's also great when the stamp set has a fun typewriter font that I love so much.  Winnie & Walter's The Big, the Bold and Extras has just the look I love.  

I used a journaling card as the building block for my images.  I stamped the images in brown ink, stamped the filler image then colored a few accents with Copic markers.  For the banner I did some two step stamping with a light pink ink.  My vintage typewriter came in handy for adding a birthday sentiment.  I popped the flowers and birthday sentiment up with pop dots.

A strip of washi tape placed diagonally is accented with a staple.  The journaling card has stitching to add a homespun look.  I used a pretty patterned paper from my stash for the background.

*Sigh*...beautiful floral images on a card just can't be beat.  Thank you so much to Winnie & Walter for having me as their guest this week.  Be sure to check out all their fun stamp sets & see their social media links on their blog sidebar.

Workspace Wednesday....Washi Tape + Twine Storage

Edit:  I wanted to say "hi there" to my friend Carol and answer a question....the white storage units in the background are from Pottery Barn.  I got them probably 10 years ago and they are discontinued now.

You know how it is when you're a crafter....you have lots of stuff.  You know how it is when you're a junker....you have lots of stuff.  I love it when the two worlds collide and you come up with some fun storage.  For me, my organizational system is not all about everything coordinating and being behind pristine, white shelving.  I like wood and texture and metal...and a little rust never hurt either.  I also like to have my crafty things out in plain view.  If everything was hidden away all nice and orderly, I'd never find a thing and I'd probably forget I even have it.  That's what happens when you get to your mid-40's.  The memory gets thrown out with the dish water.  Or is bath water?  See what I mean..

So today I'm sharing two crafty items...my Washi tape and baker's twine + two junkin' finds for storage.

First up I've been using old receipt spikes to stack up my Washi tape.  I loved this system for a while but I'm finding that my stacks are tipping over and the Washi I want always seems to be on the bottom of the stack.

 So I dug out this wooden nail divider that I've had for quite some time.  I made a deal with myself that I had to get rid of whatever Washi rolls wouldn't fit in the unit.

 I think I ended up with about 8 extra rolls I had to purge but I'm confident that about 120 rolls of Washi should be sufficient.

 So what about the receipt spikes?  These things are little junkin' gems to me.  I love searching for them in junk stores.  However, the prices have gone up on these.  I used to find them for about $3-5 bucks but now they're usually $8-15 bucks.

 I was storing my twine spools in this metal strainer but it was getting a little crowded.

 I decided to use one receipt spike for each spool and I love it!  I can take a spool on the spike over to my work table and just reel off what I need for each project.  The spool stays upright and doesn't roll all over the place.

So there we have it for today's Workspace Wednesday.  I hope you find the perfect little matches made in heaven for your crafty stuff + your junky stuff.

Thank you cards....using artificial flower petals

Hello friends.  I got the nicest comment on a recent post about how it seems I've found my happy place in regards to what I'm creating lately.  You know, that's true...I've been digging into my favorite bits and pieces of product and have just really enjoyed creating lately.  To me, there is so much creativity out there that it's easy to compare...easy to feel like you have to join in...easy to forget your own style.  It's those times that I delve deeper into what I really love and remember that I'm just creating for me...and then if I want to share, I do.  

It's not to say that we can't be inspired by the creative ones though.  Take my cards for today for example.  I've been following Kim Stewart's blog because her photos are so beautiful, she's loving the watercolors like I do and she has an artful sense about everything she touches.  Many of her projects have these lovely dimensional flower bits on them.  I'm not sure if they're artificial flowers or what....but those projects inspired me to grab a few bundles of flowers the other day while out and about.  

I disassembled the flowers and have been using the individual petals on cards lately. For this lovely foursome I used a folded flower petal on each card.

I'm still reaching for products from my color kit that I created this month. I've been so inspired by that little wooden box of goodies.  I might just make it a monthly occurrence here on the blog some day. 

All of my cards have a common theme of a piece of background paper, a Becky Higgins 3 x 4 grid journaling card, Washi tape, some messy string bundles, tied buttons, some stamping and a few bits & baubles.

It's the bits and baubles that I love so much.....and the stitching details, and tied buttons and little sequins. Little by little I pick though my stash of goodies to find the right finishing touch.

And then just like that I find some new inspiration.  Thanks so much to Kim for being my source of inspiration for today's cards.  

Hope you're feeling inspired......hope you are creating.  

Card from inspiration photo + altering patterned paper with watercolor paint

Yesterday I shared an inspiration photo from my March Pinterest Board: Going Green.  

I also shared this color kit that I created for a class assignment for the Color Studio class at Studio Calico.

Today I'm sharing a card I created with my kit contents.  I started with this beautiful patterned paper that you see with the white background below.  I had fun altering the look of the paper with some simple watercolor paints.  If you look at my inspiration photo by the aqua flower you'll see a pillow with yellow flowers and a blue background.  That's the look I was trying for with my patterned paper.  I love the results. 

I trimmed off some of that beautiful paper and created a thank you card for a dear friend who stayed with us the entire day in the emergency room the day of the girls' accident.  

I used lots of items from my color kit you see at the beginning of this post.  I also added a Medium Manila Parcel Tag and some stamps.  The thank you is from a Studio Calico kit and the other is from a Papertrey Ink set..Signature Greetings, I believe. Dainty Doilies can be found here.

During difficult times you sure find out who your true friends are.  It's only fitting to let those dear people know just how much they mean to you.  A simple card with a handwritten note is such a nice gesture.  I've got lots of cards to send out which means my family is so blessed with good friends.

Have a great day everyone!

From journaling cards to greeting cards...

Hey there. Thought I would share some creations for all the card makers out there today.  Sometimes I just feel like sitting down and creating.  No particular project in mind.  No deadlines.  Just a little stamping to see what I end up with.  I had these stamps sitting on my desk, waiting to be inked up.  The left is from Avery Elle, the middle is from Mama Elephant and the right is a set that I believe I got in a Studio Calico class (?).  

I grabbed a few blank Becky Higgins 3 x 4 journaling cards and just started creating.  I started by adding some strips of patterned paper from my favorite papers from the October Afternoon Travel Girl paper pad.  All of these fun patterns will be showing up in the August Gossamer Blue kits.  I love that there are patterns mixed in that aren't all travel themed.  

I then just started stamping some flowers and sentiments.  I ended up doodling lines around the journaling cards with a very fine 0.2 Copic Multiliner pen.  

I cut some card fronts and added index cards and graph paper which I trimmed down.  I've been reaching a lot for these office supply types of papers as they make great, neutral backgrounds.  I added the journaling cards and then strips of Washi tape.  When I'm mass producing cards I like to use my old tape dispenser to cut my tape.  I like that even, torn edge. 

Here they are, all lined up like little soldiers.

So fun and easy.  Kind of whimsical but pretty.  I added some orange vintage twine to a few cards.

These took very little time to assemble once my stamping was done.  It was sure fun just to fiddle around and see what happens.

So tell me card makers, what have you been creating lately?  I recently needed a sympathy card and a card for a friend who has breast cancer.  Those kinds of cards can be tough but they are the most appreciated, I think.  I really need to build up my stash for those types of cards as it's kind of hard to create a more serious card when you need one on the spot.  

In shop news....all of my remaining card kits are on sale right now. The Mixed Florals Card Kit and the   Mixed Greetings Card Kit are still available.  I also just added some finished greeting cards to the shop. I'll be creating card packs to give to some teachers and school secretaries soon.  I package these in embellished sacks like the ones you can create with my Mellow Yellow Packaging Kits. All items ordered from my shop by this Friday will be shipped by Saturday.  I'll then be taking the shop down for a week while I'm on vacation.  As always, thank you so much for your patronage.  It means so much.  

Have a great day everyone!

Gossamer Blue meets Lily Bee.....a notebook

Hey there, today I'm back to share a creation made from the June Gossamer Blue kits.  This month we teamed up with Lily Bee to create some fun filled kits.  Be sure to check the Gossamer Blue blog + the Lily Bee blog to see more team creations.  

I created this cheery notebook because I just love to make notebooks.  I saw this yellow one in my stash that I picked up from Target (I don't see them carrying this style anymore, boo!) and decided it would look great with the fun yellow accents from the Lily Bee products.  

My favorite part about my notebook is the whimsical brad and flair from the Lily Bee Sweet Shoppe pack that was in the GB June Main Add-on kit.  Such a fun little grouping and I added a little sequin from my shop as a finishing touch. For the layers on the notebook I used red stitching and Dainty Doily. 

 The pretty floral patterned paper that I created the notched piece with is from the June Add-on Kit #2.  I also used the exclusive "today" stamp from the June Main Add-on Kit, Washi tape and stickers from the kits.  The fun "hello love" fabric tab is from the June Bits & Pieces Kit & the Medium Manila Parcel Tag is from my shop.

 To coordinate with my notebook I also created a fun clothespin clip using leftover bits and pieces.  I like to use the clothespins to mark a page in the notebook or to clip other loose notes to my notebook.

Notebooks are great to have on hand and I keep mine in a basket.  I sometimes will pull out one to use when I want a fresh, new notebook to use.....and they make the best gifts for teachers, secretaries at the school, Christmas stocking stuffers, etc.  Everyone loves the notebooks!  I find the best notebooks to embellish at Target it seems.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Floral cards using Hero Arts Daubers...

Today I'm sharing some floral cards I made using some new Hero Arts products.  I experimented with a few different techniques using the new Daubers and stamps from the Stamp your Story lines.  

Here's the lineup of products I used from Hero Arts today:

Wet Cement Dauber

Tide Pool Dauber

Field Greens Dauber

Large Lotus Pattern Stencil

Remember Cling Stamp

Field Greens Mid-Tone  Shadow Ink

Tide Pool Mid-Tone Shadow Ink

Here's the trio of cards that I created. I used basically the same products on each card but each one turned out with totally different looks.

Let's take a look at the different techniques I used. On this first card I created a background on the base card using the floral stencil and a very dry paint brush.  I dabbed the Dauber colors onto my paint try and just painted over the stencil.  For the main floral image I applied the Dauber colors directly to the stamps.  You can see below that the Dauber colors are deeply saturated with color and are very vibrant.  I splattered some of the Dauber colors on with my paint brush along with some white spray ink.  I finished off the card with a stamped sentiment + some typewriter words.  Enamel dots and a few sequins from my Neutral Sequin Collection are the finishing touches. 

 I really loved using the notebook paper stamp along with the florals from the Remember Cling Stamp set.  Some machine stitching with the strings left long add a homespun feel to the card.

 Next up I created another stencil background but this time I loaded my paint brush with more of the Dauber inks.  The result was that the ink soaked under the stencil and gave more of a muted floral look.  Much more abstract and subtle.

Here's the paint palette I created using an enamel tray and the Daubers.  You can in the bottom corners how the Daubers go onto the tray (the small saturated circles of color).  By using my paint brush and clean water I was able to lighten the colors up thus giving me a more muted color palette to work with. 

Here's what my floral image looked like when first stamped.  I applied the Dauber ink to my stamp using my paint brush and watered down inks from my palette.  You'll notice that pooling of color sometimes happens.  You can leave this to try if you want that dark color.  I usually let it set for a bit then use a paper towel to soak up the color.  

Here's the finished look when all the ink is dry.  I added more splatters of the Daubers by using my paint brush and a flick of the wrist.  The white splatters are from a spray mist.  

This technique lends itself to a more abstract look but you still get the impression of florals because of the stems.  I used a water based olive marker (from Stampin' Up!) to color in all the stamps before stampings.

 I finished off the card with washi tape, stitching, enamel dots and more sequins from my shop.

 For my final card I used the ink pads with the stamps then added some more splatters of ink using my paint brush.  I colored in olive dots on the small flowers using that same marker I used for the floral stems.

 Washi tape, enamel dots, sentiment stamps and sequins finish off the card.

A very fun day of experimenting to just see what happens.  I give the new Hero Arts products a two thumbs up rating.  :)  Thank you for stopping by today. 

This Summer is keeping us hopping with sporting events and things we want to check off of our Summer Bucket List.  So don't worry if you see some time in between posts. I'm just busy livin' life.  

Gossamer Blue June Reveal Day!

Hello everyone, yep it's June already and that means it's reveal day at Gossamer Blue.  This month we've teamed up with Lily Bee for some crafty fun.  Be sure to check the Gossamer Blue website and blog all month for new creations.  The shop items and Design Team projects will be available at 10am PST.  I'll be sharing my Gossamer Blue projects all month long here on my blog.  I have lots to share and I'm still using up kit items so please visit often.

Today I'm kicking of my June Gossamer Blue projects with a set of cards. The kits are so full of goodies that I just love to pick out some products, spread them out on my work table and see what I can come up with.  Notice that I used the fun wooden stamps that are included in a few of this month's kits.  

There's of fun layers on my cards today.  Here I used a delightful little floral patterned paper by Lily Bee layered with oodles of tags and sticker words.  I started the base of my layers with a simple index card and red stitching + a Dainty Doily.  I stamped the quote bubble and a Small Manila Parcel Tag with the stamps.  Then I added the sticker words, some Washi from the kits, and a tied button

For this card I used more of the same kit items + I added one of the cute flair buttons from a kit.  I sprinkled on a few sequins and added some fun birthday themed stickers.  

On the inside of this card I embellished it with another Happy Birthday sentiment using a sticker and the exclusive Gossamer Blue stamp.  I love the pack of embellishments this month that includes a bunch of these labels.  I stitched over the label with red thread leaving the end strings long.  I love that they look like little streamers hanging down.  A portion of a Dainty Doily is peeking out from the patterned paper. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  I'm off to do a little yard work then I can't wait to come back to see the Gossamer Blue gallery for this month.  :)