Till Death...

My friend requested a card for her favorite sister-in-law (actually, I think she is her only sister-in-law, but she loves her, none-the-less :D ) who is celebrating a wedding anniversary on November 2nd, which is Dia de los Muertos. They are passionate about the holiday, so Debbie (my friend) wanted a card to reflect their love of this joyous occasion and celebrate the love they have for each other. This awesome stamp by Bombshell Stamps was the perfect image to capture both of these themes.

I colored the images with Copic markers and added a touch of glitter to the diamond at the top of the image. No embossing on this one, which is a bummer, because you know how I like to double, triple, even quadruple emboss images. Also, no extraneous flowers and gems, it just didn't seem to need it. Trust me, I got it out 3 or 4 times after I finished it to see if I could add some shiny or frilly embellishments and I couldn't. It is what it is :D

The inside reads "I would rather live and love where death is king than have eternal life where love is not. - Robert G. Ingersoll". What a perfect sentiment :)

Hello, Baby...!

My sister's coworker just announced that he and his wife's long awaited adoption of a little girl went through so they are now proud parents. I also have a friend who is pregnant and her bundle of joy (a little girl) is due to arrive in November. Shhhh, don't say anything, but I made 2 of these cards, so they both will be getting the same card. Hopefully, their paths won't cross and expose my creative laziness...LOL!

I wasn't much up for the traditional pastel colors associated with new baby cards. However, these happily patterned, brightly colored papers by Cosmo Cricket just beamed at me with joy across the aisles of the scrapbook store and I knew they were the way to go. The stamp set is by American Crafts and I picked it up for a song (actually it was $5.99) at a recent visit to Archiver's in Des Moines, IA. I love the simple lines of the images and there was no need to color anything...YIPPEE!!

The inside reads "Every child begins the world again... - Henry David Thoreau". Ahhhh...priceless :)

Elegant Skelly

We haven't decided if this elegant skelly is male or female. You decide ;D I made these Halloween cards for my sister-in-law and mailed them to her last Friday. Let's see if she receives them in time to send them out. There's nothing like waiting until the last minute to complete a project and I seem to be the Queen of Last Minute Things. I may have mentioned it before, but I put the "pro" in procrastination! Haha! Anyway, if you catch this post Diane, sorry about delay :)

I was included in an Etsy Treasury!

Wow!! Monday night I received the best news!! I seller on Etsy, the talented Queen of Nostalgia, contacted me to let me know that she had selected one of my cards as part of her treasury. A treasury is created by Etsy users to showcase items that have caught their eye. Sometimes they are grouped by theme or color or season, etc. This clever collection featured handmade cards and was titled "Wait a minute, Mr. Postman!" It is a terrific grouping of beautiful cards and I feel so honored to have been included. I thought I would share a link with you in case you want to check it out!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=86294

Also, I have added a link to The Queen of Nostalgia's blog on the right! Give her a looksie :D

Teach Your Skeleton to Dance

Today is my friend's birthday and she is a Dia de los Muertos fanatic (just like me)! She loves the art and imagery associated with this fantastic celebration, so I thought I would create her birthday card staying with that theme. The main image is stamped on white cover stock in black Momento ink and colored with Copic markers. I have to once again sing the praises of these exceptional tools! They are excellent to color with and provide a nice smooth finish that is sometimes hard to achieve with regular markers. If you don't have any...I have two words for you...Get Some! You will become instantly addicted :)

I embossed certain areas of the image (multiple times) with clear embossing powder to achieve a glossy raised appearance. A little glitter glue around the edge of the image, some gorgeous Basic Grey paper from the Boxer line, and some embellishments complete the card.

The sentiment inside the card is my new favorite quote, it reads "If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance" - George Bernard Shaw. Doesn't that just say it all! I love it! LOL!

Goddess

A friend requested a special birthday card for her fiance. She described his many interests to me so that I could create a card especially for him. A couple of items that stood out was that he is a writer and he also admires the art of Alfonse Mucha. At the time, I was not familiar with Mucha, but quick assistance from Google gave me a wealth of images and information about this wonderful artist. It appears that Mucha is credited with being the father of the Art Nouveau movement in the late 1800's. He created numerous paintings, advertisements and book illustrations, and his images were very familiar to me, though I did not know the name of the man behind this beautiful artwork. His subjects seem to be mostly women clothed in diaphanous flowing robes and painted in soft feminine colors. The works also feature beautiful floral accents, and to me, the overall feeling is very ethereal or goddess-like.

In the very recesses of my mind, I recalled having a rubber stamp image that reminded me of Alfonse Mucha's style. Digging through my vast collection of rubber stamps, I found this image by Stamp Oasis called Spirit of Summer and knew this is what I would use as the focus of the card. I began by stamping the image on white cover stock in black Momento ink. I colored the image with Copic markers and was not able to achieve the soft colors that Mucha was known for, but did try to maintain a softness by not using too many color families. I used mainly shades of orange, blue,and green. I accented the flowers and parts of the border by covering them with Versamarker and embossing with clear powder several times. This gave certain areas of the image a shiny raised effect.

I also used a Nestability die cut to create the tiny open book. I used parchment colored paper, distressed the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then stamped a handwritten script image on top. A tiny cream ribbon and some small soft green gems create the bookmark. The addition of some lovely patterned papers by Basic Grey and a few flowers and gems finish the card. I enjoyed making this card, but I mostly enjoyed researching the inspirational works of Alfonse Mucha, which really proves that the act of creating something with your hands can expand your knowledge on so many levels :)

Cool Fall Days and Crisp Fall Nights

Hello All! I hope everyone is doing well at their end of the keyboard. We are experiencing some beautiful Fall days here in Albuquerque, NM and the Balloon Fiesta is in full swing, adding glorious color to our cool morning skies. If you have never attended the Balloon Fiesta, I would highly recommend putting it on your future "to do" list. People come from all over the world to experience this grand event. I am also told it is one of the few ballooning events that allow people to walk onto the inflation area and experience an "up close" view of the hot air balloons as they fill with air and begin to take shape. It is truly incredible to stand amidst the balloons as they are laid out and then within minutes be surrounded by a surreal garden of bright colors and unique shapes as they bloom into life. Breathtaking!

The image above came from the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Website http://balloonfiesta.com//. Check it out!

Look Maw...No Stamps!

My sister-in-law asked for a special card for her friend's daughter who is getting married in October. We perused the portfolio of photos the couple had taken with a professional photographer and chose a beautiful picture of them that featured the couple slightly out of focus in the background, but their clasped hands as the focal point in the foreground. To me, this photo clearly illustrated the joining of two souls to become one and I immediately thought of the poem Two Doves to use inside the card. Wow, I had selected the main image and even a verse for the inside of the card...I was on a roll! (By the way, all of their photos were gorgeous!)

When it came time to actually make the card, that was a different story. This was an absolute first for me. No rubber stamps were harmed (or inked) during the making of this card. There are no stamped images featured here as I didn't want the wonderful photo of the engaged couple to have to compete with any other elements on the card. Hopefully, the paper and the embellishments I chose to use, enhance the photo and do not detract from it. That was my goal anyway, only you, the viewer know whether I was successful ;-) Be gentle with your criticism...LOL!

The most agonizing part of making this card was cutting into that lovely photo! Ohhhh...the guilt!! I only had one and there was no room to make a mistake. It's not like I could substitute a magazine cutout of Brad and Angelina from the Enquirer. I'm sure someone would notice! LOL!! After about 30 minutes of hemming and hawing I finally stuck that puppy in the CuttleBug and sent her through, all the while holding my breath!! Phew...everything worked out ok :) I let out a huge sigh of relief. The rest of the details are fairly self-explanatory. The papers are from the Windsor collection by SEI. I added a few paper flowers, some pearls, a touch of ribbon, and one carefully chosen decorative brad, and that was that :)

Our Lady of Guadalupe

My friend asked me to make her a birthday card for her mother. She is a very spiritual woman, so my friend asked that I include the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the card. I used a beautiful stamp made by OLOR (Our Lady of Rubber) and colored the image with my handy dandy Copic markers. I added a bit of sheen to a couple of areas using my Spica pens. I combined the image with some lovely papers from the Urban Prairie collection by Basic Grey and added a few paper flowers, some gems, and a couple of great gold embellishments. I know some folks believe "less is more", but I am a firm believer that "more is more"...LOL!!

DIY Metal Embellies

I'm certainly not an expert on working with metal, but boy, is it a lot of fun. With the use of a couple of tools, you can create your own one-of-a-kind metal embellishments, which will look fab on all of your art projects. All of the tools used in these photos are by Ten Second Studio.

First, I started by stamping an image onto an aluminum sheet of metal with Staz On ink. I trimmed the image out with a pair of sturdy, but sharp scissors.

Second, working on a foam mat, I used a stylus to deboss around the shape of the heart on the front (stamped) side. I flipped the heart over and on the back I used a paper stump to rub out the area inside the heart. This creates a dimensional effect on the metal and makes the heart appear to be round and full.

Next, I flipped the heart over to the front and debossed all of the areas that I wanted to appear to be "impressed" into the metal.

Finally, I flipped the heart over to the back and embossed all of the areas that I wanted to "pop" on the front of my image. It takes a bit of work, but if you go back and forth between embossing and debossing the metal, you will end up with an awesome metal embellie that looks nothing like what you started out with.

It took me roughly 10 minutes to make this sacred heart from beginning to end, so there really is not a lot of time invested here. Also, for my project, I like the look of the black ink against the metal, because it gives it a rustic look, but you can easily reverse the project and end up with a nice clean silver embellishment if you like. Try it, you'll like it ;D