Happy Birthday to You!

Hello bloggers!  I've got a bright and fun card for you today. 

This cute Henry Mouse stamp by Whiff of Joy was colored with my copics, attached to a swiss dot scalloped circle mat and popped up on dimensionals.  Since I chose such a bright color scheme, I decided to keep the embellishments to a minimum, using only a large star brad to add some interest to the card. 

It seems like I just can't keep enough birthday cards in my stash.  This card can be given to either a boy or girl with makes it perfect to keep on hand.  Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Bird

Prickley Pear's new Christmas stamps include a beautiful bird perched on a tree.  I love the versatility of this stamp set, traditional colors with render a lovely holiday card, soft pastels will yield a perfect spring card, earthy tones will make it perfect for fall.

I chose to go with traditional gold and red to make a festive card since the holiday season will be here before you know it and I'll need a head start making Christmas cards.

I stamped the image on white cardstock using rich cocoa ink from Memento.  I colored my bird in with copics, added some stardust pen and swirled the sparkles around using an aquapainter filled with alcohol (a technique I learned from Jen Del Muro), and added half back pearls in red and white from Pizzazz Aplenty.  The image was die cut using my new nestie labels set, I love the new sets that were recently released, they have an elegant feel to them!  I edged the panel with gold ink to finish it off.  The background panel is from Jillibean soup and I added a few more pearls to the side to add some interest.  The sparkly stripped panel is from DCWV and I just couldn't resist adding a soft bow to my card.

Prickley Pear has several holiday images that can help you make wonderful, homemade cards this season.  Thanks for stopping by!

New Stamps

I recently discovered this stamp set from Taylored Expressions and I instantly fell in love with it!  I love the beautiful, elegant images in this set.  And, I was pleasantly surprised to with TE's packaging.  My new set came premounted on ez-mount and attached to it's own storage panel.  A perfect fit with my storage system!

I stamped this beautiful butterfly with green Enore ink and colored it in with my copics.  I added some sparkle with my stardust pen and embellished it with white half back pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.  Once I sponged around the image, I attached it to a scalloped mat and added liquid pearls around the edges.  The bottom panel is another stamp from the same set stamped in Brilliance coffee bean ink.

I can't wait to experiment some more with this stamp set!  Thanks for stopping by!

Case Study

Last week, a fellow design team member, Tesa, posted about a fairly new blog called CASE Study.  The blog features a guest designer each month that will inspire you with the beautiful cards.  I decided to play along and create a card of my own.

I kept the general layout and color scheme of the card but changed a few of the details.  I used my text style stamp from PTI to stamp my background.  Instead of using copics on my butterfly, I stamped it out on acetate and colored it with PK Glitz glitters and added a crystal flourish trail.  Instead of a scalloped, pear trimmed border, I opted for a double loop border punch from Martha Stewart.  The sentiment is from Prickley Pear. 

I just love inspiration challenges, they provide a great starting point!  Thanks for stopping by!

Embellish Color Challenge

Ever since I discovered Ashley Newell's blog, I've been admiring the gorgeous work her and her design team colleagues produce for their color challenges on the Embellish blog.  Although I love their work, the color combos are not colors I would normally combine.  This time, even though I was unsure of the palette, I decided to jump in and play along.

When I showed the card to Aldo, he surprised me by telling me that he loved the color palette I had chosen. Hmm, maybe I've been playing it a bit too safe with my color combos!  Part of the challenge was to use your stamps to create a background so I used my new Juliette stamp set from SEI to stamp the medallion print on yellow cardstock using grey ink.  The die cut flourish is from PTI's embellishment stamp set.  I added black 3mm rhinestones from Pizzaz Aplenty to the center of each medallion.  A black rhinestone flourish and velvet ribbon complete the card. 

Christmas Tags

Last week I attended the Creating Keepsakes Convention in San Marcos and I had a blast!!  One of the make and takes being offered was hosted by Tattered Angels.  I got the opportunity to play with several of their products and I walked away from their booth with a few goodies I just couldn't resist!  I have a feeling that there will be plenty of shimmer in my future projects :)
When I got home, I was also greeted by some wonderful happy mail from Prickley Pear!  Their new Christmas images are being released tomorrow and, trust me, they are wonderful, as usual!  I decided to make a couple of tags using my new glimmer mists and stamps.

I sprayed a large manilla tag with jazz blue and apple glimmer mists, added some homemade gold shimmer spray and distressed the edges with vintage photo ink.  The Distress inks blend so well over the shimmer mists!  I added some ivory crochet lace, a crystal flourish, and a snowflake to the tag.  I stamped out the holiday frame on white cardstock using Encore copper ink and very lightly sponged it with vintage photo ink.  I added my sentiment and some beautiful peridot rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty. 

I loved this tag so much, I decided to make another one.

This time, I stamped snowflakes on the tag using versamark ink and embossed them with clear detail power.  Once I added the glimmer mist and let it dry, I gently buffed the snowflakes to remove the excess mist and ended up with a beautiful emboss resist background.  Some ribbon, topaz rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty, a sentiment from Technique Tuesday, and a large brad finish off the tag.

I wish you could see the beautiful shimmer on the tags, but I just can't figure out how to capture it with my camera...  Pizzazz Aplenty features a different offer every week, be sure to stop by and check out this week's offer.  Thanks for stopping by!

Little Loveasaurus

Hello!  I've got a new card to share with you today.  This card features the oh so adorable Little Loveasaurus from My Favorite Things. 

I paperpieced this cutie using my favorite green polka dot paper from October Afternoon's Fly a Kite collection.  His scales were colored in using copic markers and I added some Sakura stardust pen on top for some shimmer.  I used a Spellbinders impressabilities plate and sponged vintage photo distress ink on top of it to create the circle patter on my craft panel.  Strips of green ribbon and some white flat back pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty complete the card. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Reading Is Fun

Hi all, I'm back today with some cute bookmarks I put together.  Lately I've been making it a point to pull out all the items that I've had for a while but never used and this project features so many of them! :)

 

The bookmarks were die cut using my new PTI mat stack 4 die.  In order to make them double sided, I covered the back side of the polka dot paper with 1/2" double sided tape prior to die cutting the paper.  I letterpressed the brown cardstock using my PTI book print impression plate inked up with vintage cream ink.  The little boy, the bookworm, and the sentiments are from MFT's I {heart} books stamp set, a set I've had for about a year, but never used.  Oops. :) The glasses on the little boy and the worm were glazed using my clear sakura glaze pen. 

These cute little bookmarks came together so quickly and make the perfect little gift to pair with a giftcard from a bookstore.

Scrapbooking Again

Well, wouldn't you know it, I made two more scrapbook pages!  Weird right?  Well, these two pages are due to finding the GORGEOUS new line of MME paper, Lost & Found.  Swoon!  They are absolutely beautiful and are just perfect for scrapbooking.  

While I was browsing through the paper at Scrapper's Boutique, I came across this paper and it immediately reminded me of the time my mom tried to show Jessica (my sister) how to sew.  The looks on my sister's face were so funny, I pulled out my camera to record them.  So, I pulled out the pictures, purchased a few embellishments and here's what I came up with:

I made one for my mom and one for Jess so they could always remember their mother-daughter time together.  I apologize for the glare, but I didn't remember to photograph them until they were in their shadowboxes.  There's lots of different elements on these pages, so this might be a long post. :) 

The glittery titles were made using Making Memories alphabet stickers and crystal swirls by Prima Marketing were added to both pages.  The small spools at the bottom right were made using small wooden spools from Hobby Lobby painted with white acrylic paint and spooled with ivory and pink embroidery thread.  Both pages have clear acrylic brackets that were painted with alcohol inks and pearl hat pins attached to the ribbon ruffle.  Tiny scissor and thimble charms finished off the pages. 

I plan on giving them to my mom when we meet in San Marcos, I really hope they like them! 

Mojo Monday Cards

I'm back today with a couple of cards I made earlier in the week using the current Mojo Monday sketch. 

This first card uses some designer paper from Tim Holtz' Lost and Found paperstack.  My scalloped circle is embellished with some flat back black pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.  You have got to check out their selection and prices on flatback pearls and rhinestones!  They have great selection, reasonable prices, and wonderful customer service!  My focal image was stamped with PTI's text style background stamp in tea dye distress ink.  I then layered the beautiful Ferris Wheel stamp from PPRS.  Some pure poppy saddlestitch ribbon and a ticket tag from Tim Holtz finishes off this card.

My next card is a bit more elegant and soft:

This card's focal image is a Plain Jane by Verve and my scalloped circle is embellished with liquid pearls.  The top background was made using my new PTI Embellishments stamp set with pink ink to create a tone on tone effect.  The pink flourish on the bottom was made using the same stamp set and coordinating die.  I am totally in love with this set, it has so many possibilities!  I added some ivory pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty to add a bit more bling. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Sketch Challenge

Happy Saturday!!  Prickley Pear is sponsoring this weeks sketch challenge over at Card Patterns.  They asked a couple of us from the design team to play along with them this week.  Here's this week's sketch:

And here's what I came up with:

A coworker asked me for a girlie horse theme card for a friend of hers and I'd been wanting to use this beautiful flourished horse stamp for a while now.  I stamped my horse with Brilliance ink and embossed it clear embossing powder.  I then sponged it with my pink Memento ink to give a soft pink glow.  I stamped my stars using Fresh Snow ink on some pink PTI cardstock, embossed them with clear detail power, cut them out, and lightly sponged them with tea dye distress ink to give them a bit of depth.  I edged some more pink cardstock with my MS star border punch and layered some pink cowgirl themed paper I picked up a while back at my LSS.  Some rhinestone swirls and a loop of twine complete the card.

I'll be heading over to the CKC Convention in San Marcos next weekend with my mom and my aunt.  I'm so excited, I can't wait!!  Is anyone else out in blogland going?

Know Life

Howdy folks!  I'm back today with another look at the new Prickley Pear clear stamp and die set released earlier this week.  Along with several cardinal stamps, this set also includes a beautiful dandelion and music sheet stamp.  The second I saw this stamp, I knew how I wanted to use it

This stamp just calls out for a monochromatic, elegant layout.  Using my new GCD paper pad, full of yummy black and cream paper and embellished with flocking, I created a simple layout.  The ATC sized panel was stamped on cream paper and heavily distressed with ink and a distresser.  A smaller notebook panel, black velvet ribbon, and a cute sentiment complete the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Prickley Pear Blog Hop

Welcome to the Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp Blog Hop! We have 4 beautiful new Fall and Holiday sets we are so pleased to announce.
Our Cardinal, Pumpkins, Ornaments and Trees sets!

Visit the Design Team’s daily releases and our blog over the
next 4 days to have chances to win one of these beautiful sets.

Today's Prize Package includes the Cardinal set and Matching die.

Each day you have more than one chance to win. Start at the Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp Blog. Simply post our logo onto your website, become a follower and leave a comment on the Prickley Pear Blog for one chance to win. Then hop on over to the day’s release blogs and make comments there for more chances to win. Sounds easy enough. And the bonus is that you’ll see some fabulous paper projects featuring the new sets.

Today, you will need to visit Tracy and my site and leave comments!

For each release, you’ll have 2 days to participate…you’ll have until midnight the night AFTER the release day to enter comments. Please just one comment per blog.

 

 I took a small hinged tin and altered it to make a gift tag holder.  I covered the lid with Pure Poppy cardstock and Indian Summer paper by Basic Grey.  I stamped the cardinal onto clear cardstock with black Staz On ink and used diamond glaze and glitter to make this cute bird sparkle.  A small paper flower embellishment complete the outside.  

Inside, I added a divider using more Pure Poppy cardstock and filled one compartment with twine and tiny clothespins.  The second compartment contains Christmas tags for this years presents.

Thanks for stopping by!