Get Well Lady Bugs for Hadley

My cousin's baby is sick and has been hospitalized for quite some time, and I wanted to create a cheery card to send to brighten up her room a bit.  I found a fun sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and thought it would be perfect!

I had already settled on using the ladybugs from "Darling Dots" (I do so love red and black as a color combo) and colored them with markers and fussy cut them so I could mount them on the circles using dimensionals.

I continued the dots theme throughout the card using the dotted DSP and the Swiss dots embossing folder. 

All I need to do now is write my message to sweet Hadley on the inside and ship it off. 

--Rach

This card uses:
*Stamp Sets: "Darling Dots" (retired hostess), "Teeny Tiny Wishes"
*Papers: Cerise (retired DSP), Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red
*Inks: Real Red, Basic Black
*Accessories: dimensionals, 1" and 1.25" circle punches, Itty Bitty Banners framelits, Swiss dots embossing folder

Curly Cute Cupcakes

January is a month of many birthdays around these parts.  It's our second heaviest month behind July.  I've been busily making birthday cards and trying to make sure each one is unique and suited to the recipient. 

This card is for my niece, Lydia. I chose the DSP with polka dots to mimic the dots on the cupcakes.  I'll come right out and admit I'm a sucker for polka dots.  :o)

I found the sketch at the Paper Players, and it's such a versatile sketch you'll be seeing it a couple more times. ;o)

And, the inside. 

I got it addressed, stamped and mailed just in time for Lydie's birthday. Whew!

--Rach

This card uses:

*Stamp Sets: Darling Dots, Curly Cute, Friendly Phrases
*Paper: Bella Rose DSP (retired), Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
*Inks: Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Wild Wasabi and Pretty in Pink markers, Pretty in Pink and Riding Hood Red stamp pads

Long Time No Post...

Hello, poor neglected blog!  How have you been?  Lonely?  Yes, yes, I can see that.  The stamps, ink pads and all the accessories have been rather lonely as well. 

I could hear you all calling out to me, yet I ignored you, my mojo gone.  Gone, I tell you.  And, there were other crafty things that needed to be done.  No, I know that's no excuse, but I had to sleep, didn't I?  No?  Well, now I think you're just being unreasonable...  I'm sorry.  It's the best I've got, and the truth.  I'm truly sorry, and I promise to try and do better in the future.  With Christmas coming, you know I'm back for a while. :o)

I have been longing for the "A Wreath for All Seasons" by PTI for quite some time now.  I had to place an order with them for some heavy white card stock, and I'll be darned if this set didn't just jump in my cart.  No, really, it did!

And, how happy am I it chose to do so? Look at that lovely CAS card up there.  Ahhhh. (This is a card heavy post as I'm loading them all for Lissie to see.)
 

I played around quite a bit with the set, trying out different ideas.  I decided no rounded corners, and yes, I was going to add the baker's twine to the wreath.

One layer and simple.

My Thanksgiving cards.  I inked the stamp with Pumpkin Pie and then rocked and rolled it in Cherry Cobbler.  Oh how I love love love the depth and richness of Cherry Cobbler. :o)

And, Jaydee is doing a card drive for Enchanted Makeovers, and I needed to kick it into high gear to get at least a few cards to her.

Here I pulled out one of the first sets I ever purchased, "Pick a Petal" and went with one of my go to color combos--yellow (Daffodil Delight) and black.

To add some interest, I used some of my newly purchased Twinkling H2O's.  I have this thing about bling and sparkles, what can I say?

Another card using "Pick a Petal".

Simple, elegant, and effective, this card uses Baja Breeze and is just like so many others I've created.  It's a fall to for me when I need a lovely card.

And, I pulled out "Darling Dots" once again to make the next two cards.  I'm planning on making cards using each of the stamps in that set if I can.

I added bling to each of the cards for a bit of added sparkle and shine. :o)

Oh, it's been so fun to get back in and play around.  I'm anxious to get in again this evening.  I made twelve cards last night, let's see how many I can make tonight! :o)

--Rach

Pink Pink Pink

I needed a fun card to send to Grandma, and a 1st birthday card for my niece.  Grandma's favorite color is pink, and I thought the Melon Mambo/Pink Pirouette combo could work nicely for both cards. :o)

This card is another go to layout for me.  I love CAS cards and this one fits the bill.  I used "Darling Dots" and "Signature  Greetings" on this one.  I also made sure to draw a line and use my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to line up the flowers.

I'll send this along with a sweet spring wreath I made for her. :o)

And, here's Ever's birthday card. :o)  Using the same layout and idea, I used the flower stamp from "Season of Friendship" and the sentiment from "So Happy For You". I tried to use a "rock and roll" technique on the sentiment and it sort of worked.  Oh well.  It's the thought that counts, right?

I used some Dazzling Details to add some sparkle to the centers of the flowers and the butterfly's wings. 

It's been so wonderful to spread my creative wings once again.  When my mojo has flown the coop, I have a terrible time getting going again, but once I do, things start to flow. :o)

--Rach

Daffodil Delight Makes me Smile

We recently had new carpet installed, and when we did, we moved my studio.  Everything was waiting in boxes and bags in the garage--for what felt like forever!  I had ideas--tons and tons of ideas--but no way to create them.

After a trip to IKEA, my new space was up and running (you can read about it here).  Best of all, I can make cards again!!  HOORAY!!

Last night I was just dipping my toes back in the card making pool.  You know I LOVE using yellow and black together.  :o) I wanted to make a sunny card, and I do believe this fits the bill. I know just the person I'm sending it to--they truly do make me smile. :o)

This card uses:

Stamp Sets: "Darling Dots", PTI's "Signature Greetings"
Inks: Daffodil Delight, Staz-On Black
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds

Oh the joy of stamping once more!
--Rach

Sparkly Hannah Day 2010 Cards

I have been trying and trying to get some studio time.  This is always my crazy, busy time of year.  We are out of town every other weekend for football games, we are traveling to see family, we are just busy. 

I know, I know excuses excuses...

At any rate, I made it a point to get in the studio last night as I had a mission.  Today is Sparkly Hannah Day 2010 and I wanted to give out anonymous cards with a couple of dollars in them.  The plan is to leave these cards on random cars in parking lots. Inside the card reads, "We know this isn't much, but we hope you will use it to buy yourself a little treat".  Besides that, the card is simply adorable. :o) Who wouldn't smile after receiving one of these cards?

This card uses:
Stamp Set: Darling Dots, PTI Signature Greetings
Paper: Whisper White
Inks: Melon Mambo, Only Orange (retired)

I made ten of them last night.  You MUST use a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to get the images lined up!  I also drew a light pencil line across the card to give the flowers a baseline. 

As for the poor image quality, well, my sweet Lil dropped my camera and my flash broke.  Boo hoo hoo!  I hope to have it repaired soon!

Happy Sparkly Hannah Day!  Go forth and perform a RAK!

So Sweet!

So, did I mention I played around with "Darling Dots" quite a bit this weekend?? :oP Once I finished the ladybug card, I saw the cupcakes and thought they could be something very cute. I had been wanting to play with Blushing Bride and thought it would look amazing with Early Espresso (thanks, Liss!). Unfortunately, I keep ordering Basic Black satin ribbon, and NOT Early Espresso, so I dropped back and went with Chocolate Chip instead. Then, when I found this sentiment, I knew it was a perfect compliment to the cupcakes. :o)

In case you can't tell, I really like the clean and simple style. :o) I decided to make these cards simply for fun, and then I found another challenge for which they would be PERFECT. Stampin' Royalty's challenge this week is KISS or Keep it Simple, Sweetie. For me, these fit the bill! :o)

Isn't it funny how piercing the paper made the card just that much more sophisticated? Same card, just pierced.

This one was simply the Stamping 411 sketch--what started me down this road with "Darling Dots" in the first place.

Finally, I couldn't decide if I wanted to do a Chocolate Chip card base or Blushing Bride. So, I did both. ;o)

These cards use (all SU! unless otherwise noted):
Stamp Sets: "Darling Dots", PTI's Signature Greetings, Warm Words
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Blushing Bride
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Blushing Bride, Real Red, Certainly Celery
Accessories: 5/8" Chocolate Chip satin ribbon, piercing kit

Same cupcakes, same layout, four different cards. Pretty nifty! :o)

--Rach

Ladybug Happiness

First, let me say I'm sorry for the photo quality. We've had a number of cloudy days and I just can't get the light right in the studio to get any truly decent photos. Anyhow, in my quest to try a few more challenges, I came across Stamping 411. They had a sketch challenge as well as a color inspiration challenge. I took on the sketch challenge first.

I was trying to decide which stamp set to use when I spied "Darling Dots" lying out on my workspace. I had just finished the purple card and was pretty pleased with the results and decided to give another stamp from the set a go.

I have to say, I had NO idea this little hostess set was so versatile! I'm beyond pleased I got it.

This card uses (all SU! unless otherwise noted):
Stamp Sets: "Darling Dots", "Warm Words"
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Black
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black
Accessories: 5/8" black satin ribbon

And, because I can't help but play around with my ideas, I made this card as well--kind of a take on the purple card:

Additional stamp set: PTI's "Signature Greetings"

And, I have to say, those ladybugs do indeed make me smile. :o)

--Rach

Playing with Purple

Having gotten my feet wet in the "challenge" sites pool, so to speak, I've decided to branch out a bit. I wandered over to the Pals Paper Arts site and found this week's challenge intriguing. The challenge was to make a monochromatic card using purple. Now then, purple isn't one of my most favorite colors, but I figured I could give it a go. It should be noted, I had NEVER made a card using Elegant Eggplant prior to this one and was lamenting the retirement of Pale Plum. I have to say, I'm pleased with the results.

I drew a light line across the card face to create a bottom for the flowers, and using the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, got the flowers aligned. It came together in no time.

This card uses (unless otherwise noted):
Stamp Sets: "Darling Dots", PTI "Signature Greetings"
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Inks: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum

And, because I wanted to get out my retired Pale Plum, card number two:

Paper and inks: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum

It's funny, there is more contrast with this card, but it looks washed out compared to the first one. It's easy to see the Color Renovation created more intense, bolder color families. :o)

Anyhow, I do like both cards, in spite of the purple. ;oP

--Rach