I was in the mood to make a manly card today! I only used Versa mark ink on this whole card. I wheeled the images from the Great Outdoors wheel onto Always Artichoke paper, and stamped DAD from my Brushstroke Alphabet. Cut them out and matted them with Vanilla cardstock. Then I cut a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock 1/2 inch smaller than my card, stamped it with my Crosshatch background, roughed up the edges with my scissors & fingernail. I added a couple eyelets and put the twine through them and all around the card. I love all the texture on this card, and think my Dad will appreciate the images....It looks so much like my him - the cabin by the river, the fish, the canoe paddles! I think I'll stamp "Happy Birthday on the inside & deliver it to him next week! He'll be 60!

I offered to make a thank-you note for the woman who so graciously gave up her house to us meet in each week - and she didn't even attend the Bible study! This is what I came up with. I stamped the tag from Too Terrific Tags (retired) in Chocolate Chip. Then watercolored it in with Cranberry Crisp, Chocolate, and More Mustard chalks & my dependable blender pen. I matted it in Chocolate and then Cranberry papers. Then I decided to do yet another new technique! I punched holes in the Cranberry paper with my paper piercing tool & guide and connected the dots I had made with my white gel pen. It looks like I sewed it on there! I did the same thing on the large piece of Chocolate paper, except for the placement of the holes to make it look like a zig-zag. You can see I added a ribbon - one of my favorite things!

I am going to a baby shower tonight for someone having her 6th child!! I thought, "What will she need?" and decided everyone needs some thank you notes! So I made her a pack of 15 of these. They're not spectacular, but they are cuter in person! I used Bashful Blue ink to stamp the "ADORABLE" stamp - from 'A is For Adorable' set. Then matted it in matching paper. Stamped the Thank You in white craft ink - and smudged one or two - hard to remember it takes longer to dry! Then I punched a double rectangle above the words & tied on a little white ribbon. I liked the look of the torn paper, just to add a little texture. And it's all on a piece of confetti paper, though i think it's a little difficult to see in the picture. They were quick, once I got my design figured out. I hope she likes them!

Another of the new techniques I have tried this week! This just might be my favorite one yet! Look at the pattern on that paper - I made it! All you do is crumple up a piece of wax paper, flatten it again, iron over it onto a piece of glossy cardstock - then brayer over the cardstock with a dye based ink pad (in this case, Cranberry Crisp). Rub over that with a dry cotton ball and there you have it! The paper is so pretty all by itself, all I did was add the words from my God's Blessings set, also stamped in Cranberry. I matted it a couple times, added 3 brads - easily spaced and straight because of the Crafter's Tool Kit paper piercing guide. Then tie on a piece of Vanilla wide organdy ribbon & put it all on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock cut to the card size you like!

For step-by-step instructions see: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/waxpaperresist.php

Can you tell my honey has been away for a few days? I've been crafting like crazy!! This is a little 3x3 card, so cute. Perfect to put with a baby gift. I'll have to make one in blue for a little shower I've got this week! I cut thin strips of Whisper White and glued them down along the left and top, punched a circle from Pixie Pink with my 1/2 inch circle punch and put it behind my button. Tied a little string through the holes, and then adhered it with a glue dot. They are super-sticky and great for this type of thing. I stamped the square with a flower (can't really see the flower) in Versa Mark, and stamped the sentiment from God's Blessings set over it in Regal Rose. I love that look of stamping words in a darker ink over a lighter image. Easy breezy!

Same layout and stamp sets as the card I just posted. Just changed the color and the images a little. The card is from Sahara Sand cardstock. The Background Basics includes the stars that are stamped in VersaMark on the Not Quite Navy cardstock. I used Navy & Pumpkin Pie for coloring in the mouse's clothes and brought it together by using those two cardstocks too. In real life, the bow is the same color as the Navy cardstock. Funny how things change 'on film'. These cards are great to have around, fast to make and cute as can be. I really like this set!

Another card from our girls night on Wednesday. I really enjoyed playing with their stamps. This set is called Nice & Easy and I know where it got it's name now...it makes a quick and easy card! The background is from the Background Basics set and is stamped in Chocolate Chip. I used Barely Banana cardstock and put the ribbon through holes made with the double rectangle punch. I 'colored' in the image with my blender pens - yes, I use them on almost EVERY card!

I had a my small group ladies over for a night of stamping fun, and made a few simple cards with the stamps they brought. The flowers are from Nice & Easy Notes. I colored them in with my blender pen and pastels, stamped the sentiment from God's Blessings in black, used a double rectangle punch and added the white organdy ribbon for flair! The card is our Confetti White paper, which I really like! It adds just enough background that you don't really have to do anything to it. The papers are Old Olive & Cameo Coral. Love that combo!

I'm not quite as crazy about this one, but I feel like it's masculine, and I don't make a whole lot of those! I used the same technique below, Frosted Filters. I stamped Happy Birthday on the coffee filter after it was dry and glued down. Then I used another of my wheels - Great Outdoors - in Chocolate Chip. I matted the images in Always Artichoke, More Mustard, & Old Olive. I feel like this card needs something else, but can't quite place it...maybe I'll add another embellishment later.

This is the second new technique (called Frosted Filters) I tried yesterday. See that textured, colorful paper? It's a coffee filter! Put some drops of a dye based ink refill in a plate, spray with water, then put your coffee filter on top. Squeeze out the excess water, dry with your embossing heat gun, and cut to size. That's it! I will warn you, your hands will be dyed - you should have seen mine - and it hasn't completely come off yet! I also really wanted to use my wheels some, so I stamped Wings & Things in ChocolateChip ink, colored it in with Regal Rose & Chocolate, added some dazzling diamonds glitter to the two dragonflies & layered the papers on. I wasn't so sure about this last night, but when I looked at it again, I love the look of that coffee filter! And it was fun getting my hands dirty!

For more information on this technique see:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/frostedfilters.php

I decided to challenge myself to try a few new techniques. This was the first one. I've done this before, but was disappointed with the results. This time, I loved it! The technique is masking. You put a piece of thin paper with a shape punched out over your cardstock. Then I just put my More Mustard ink pad over the space a few times to fill in the rectangle. I got out my Burst Into Bloom flowers and stamped them in Chocolate Chip. Pull away the scrap paper and this is what you get! I will defnitely do this again! I stamped the sentiment in chocolate chip and layered papers behind my image. That's it! Fast, simple, and I really enjoyed it! Try it, I think you'll love it too!

What a wonderful verse! I just got this set, and I love it! I was inspired to make a window card from seeing the ones on the Splitcoast site. This is what I came up with. I used my square 1 3/8" punch to cut out the window from Gable Green Cardstock, then distressed the edges. I punched the Regal Rose square with my 1 1/4" punch and cut a black piece slightly larger to create a little border. Then I stamped the flower from In Full Bloom, colored it with a Blender Pen and Pastels, and adhered it with a Pop-Up Glue Dot. I stamped the flowers from the same set above and below the sentiment (stamped in Regal Rose) and colored them the same way. This card is very bright and fun, though the colors don't quite 'pop' on the screen like they do in real life. I added the black grosgrain ribbon for a little more texture & contrast.

This is my favorite card of the ones I have made with our new set Polka Dots and Paisley. Every stamp on this card comes from that set. I love the Bashful Blue and Black combination!

I created the featured paisley by stamping one in blue and one in black. Then I cut out the inside of the black paisley and attached it to the blue one with a Pop Dot, so it's got some dimension. I've colored the paisleys in the background with my Blender Pen and Bashful Blue ink. Tie on the ribbon - it adds so much to a card!

I was trying to make some simple Easter cards for a workshop I'll be doing on Saturday. This is one that I came up with.

The juggling rabbit is from a very popular hostess set called Tags So Much. I colored in his eggs with colored pencils & matted him in Pretty In Pink. I've used a paper-pierching tool with a template (both in the Crafter's Tool Kit) to get evenly spaced and straight "holes" along the bottom edge of the torn Sage Shadow paper. Tied around a bit of 3/8 inch white organdy ribbon & stamped 'happy' from the Polka Dots & Paisley set with VersaMark. Viola! So simple!