A Holiday Thank You

Good Evening !     I've finally had a day to 'work' in my craft room and decided to create a card for this week's Challenge at Outline Stamps - "A Holiday Thank You".    You can find all the details and beautiful Design Team samples here at Outline's Blog 

I would like to take this opportunity to extend a "Holiday Thank You" for all your visits & comments here at my blog.   I appreciate all your kinds words.    I've truly enjoyed blogging this past few months and meeting friendly & very talented bloggers !       It's so wonderful that we can share ideas across the world so easily !

I also took this opportunity to try out the new stamps that I received with a recent Outline challenge win !    I used Outline Round Posies H-1037 X Lg, G-1038 Lg. & E-1039 Med and also F1049 Posy Greeting Centers (Thank you) to create this card.

I also used Designer Papers from my supply/stash.   A couple are from Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium Collection (Christmas 2010) and the dark green is from BoBunny A gift of Love (also from Christmas 2010).     Unfortunatley I don't have much of these left as they are gorgeous.    

I stamped & embossed in gold the X-Lg & Lg posies on dark green designer paper and also on a gold/cream.   I stamped the Med. Posy once on the gold/cream paper.   I cut the outside edge from the dark green and layered onto the gold/cream as shown in the photo above.   I cut the outside edge from the gold/cream on the Med. Posy and used as the final layer and then added the Thank You Posy Greeting in the Center.  

The flower was layered onto BoBunny Dark Green designer paper and then onto Graphic 45 with the holly design and the final layer is dark green card stock.      A few Gold Metallic Leaves and Gold Ribbon along with a small flower charm that matches the design of the posy were the final touches.

In spite of a huge stash of ribbon I just didn't have the right red to co-ordinate.  I thought it would be a nice touch with red, but the gold blends in with the rest !

Thanks for stopping by and have a very Happy New Year !
Cheers
Shirley

Seasons' Greetings with a Doodle Poinsetta

Season's Greetings !      I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the season !

I'm posting a Christmas card today that I created with one of my new 'Shirley Doodle' stamps !  Crop Circles are getting closer to launching their new website that will feature a web store and their new line of stamps including 'Shirley Doodles'.       

Early in 2011, I brought a few of my 'doodled' cards into Crop Circles and the owners Ted & Helen thought the images would be fun if they were rubber stamps.     I don't feel that I'm an artist - I just like to 'doodle' and the images are simple & whimsical.   I had no thoughts of turning them into stamps.    It's been 'surreal' to have stamps made from my Doodles.   The focus this past fall was understandably Christmas images but there are more to follow.  I especially love to Doodle flowers with ink pen, colour with Tom bow markers and then create simple cards with them.

This poinsetta is one of 3 Shirley Doodle poinsetta's that are available at Crop Circles.  

The background for this card was created with Impression Obsession's Cover a Card CC053 Holly.  (I love those stamps !)   I stamped it on white card stock with Versamark Ink and embossed with gold.   I used Distress Inks Aged Mahogany & Bundled Sage to colour over the embossing.   The Poinsetta (Shirley Doodle) was stamped three times and embossed with gold.    I used the Sage Distress Ink on one flower and Aged Mahogany on the other two.    I also used Tom Bow markers to add dimension and Diamond Stickles for sparkle.     The flowers were cut out and layered as shown above and matted with burgundy & green card stock.   A few rhinestones were added for the finishing touch.   I also used Spellbinder Nestabilities:  S4143 & Cuttlebug Folder:  Divine Swirl.

Thanks for stopping by and Season's Greetings !
Shirley

Pretty & Pink Snowflake with Impression Obsession

Good Evening !     It's such a busy time of year, it's getting harder to find time for blogging, but I couldn't resist this week's Pink Challenge at IO.   You can find all the details and beautiful design team samples here at Impression Obsession's Blog .

I recently purchased IO's beautiful Damask Snowflakes and was anxious to try them out so I decided to create a pink snowflake  !

The following Impression Obsession Stamps were used to create this card:  F2259 Sm Damask Snowflake, F2258 Damask Snowflake & C8280 Joyous Season.  

I created the background using smooch inks- Taffy, Moonlight & Cherry Chocolate.     To create a smooch background, start by covering white card stock with Versamark ink.  Next using a colourbox stylus with the black moldable foam tip, add smooch inks starting with the lightest colour.   The smooch inks give a beautiful sheen that I love.   I've been using these inks for a year & half and while the bottles appear small they seem to be bottomless.  I stamped the small Damask snowflake with Brilliance Platinum Planet Pigment Ink randomly onto the background.

I stamped & embossed in silver, the large Damask Snowflake onto watercolour paper.   I used Tom Bow marker #757 directly on the paper and added water with a small brush to blend out.   I only used the one marker.    I carefully cut out the snowflake and added the brad (by Bobunny) to the center.   I layered onto the card as shown with dark & light pink card stock.  I added ribbon along the edge of the pink strip under the snowflake.   Spellbinder Nestabilities S4143 was used for the label & the sentiment was also embossed with silver.   A little holograph glitter,  pink & white dot ribbon and pink rhinestones were the finishing touches.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the Season !
Shirley

Get Your Shine On Challenge

Good afternoon !   It's still snowy here, but nice & sunny !   We've had a fun weekend with friends & family and enjoying lots of food & Christmas cheer and are just chilling out today.   So here I am entering another challenge.   They are fun and I've won some nice shopping sprees, so it's all good !

I'm entering this card into a challenge at webstore Dolce Stamps and Cards.    The challenge details and beautiful Design Team cards can be found here at their Blog:  Get Your Shine On.

I also have quite a stash of stickers hanging out here !    This card was created mainly from stickers and Micro Fine Glitter so it has some sparkle & shine for this challenge.   The ornaments are Elizabeth Craft Stickers which I used 2-way transfer sheets to place onto doubled sided tape by Sookwang.     I peeled off half of the little sections with a small knife and added Ocean Spray Micro Fine Glitter.   After removing the balance of little pieces I added Rose Copper Micro Fine Glitter.  I stamped F605 Evergreen Bough (by Rosewood) twice as it wasn't long enough for this card onto blue/green card stock and embossed with silver.  I used tiny border stickers for the 'hangers' and added a little Merry Christmas sticker by Starform.    I added the ornaments with pop dots and then layered with co-ordinating designer paper (sorry don't have the name but it's from a Basic Grey mini-pad), Metallic Rose & Blue Green cardstock.    I also added Starform holograph border stickers and rose stickles.

You can use this technique with lots of Sticker Designs.   If you are interested in trying out Micro Fine Glitter, Ellen, a Design Team member for Dolce Stamps and Cards has an excellent tutorial on using Glitter if you click onto her card at Dolce Stamps and Cards Blog.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day !
Cheers !
Shirley

Penny Black - Pink Poinsetta

Good morning !  

We have a light snow here, winter has arrived and it looks much more 'Christmasy' !     It's a busy time of year and harder to find time for blogging,  but I will do my best to add a few more posts this year !    

I'm posting a Christmas card that I created with a gorgeous Penny Black stamp.   It's a great stamp to use for cutting and layering which I enjoy so much with my card designs.    I find the cutting very relaxing.  I also really enjoy creating my own backgrounds from inks & stamps but I still have a 'passion for paper'.   I have a 'stash' of designer papers hanging out here.   A fellow blogger recently wrote how she liked to 'hoard' papers and I laughed to myself as I can relate.   Why do I feel that I might run out of paper ?   I have to tell myself that there will always be other papers that I will fall in love with too !  So I need to keep using my paper !   

The background on this card is actually not Christmas paper but it works well.   It's from Graphic 45's, Once Upon a Springtime collection.      I also love their Christmas lines.

I stamped Penny Black's Christmas Star 4104K twice and embossed with gold on white paper that is suitable for watercolouring.   I used Tom Bow markers (with water on my non-stick craft sheet)  to colour  both flowers.   I cut them out, but didn't use all the petals from the 2nd poinsetta and layered them as shown above onto the designer paper.   I also stamped the flower on burgundy card stock in gold ink that you can see on the edges of the mat under the designer paper.     The sentiment (by Craftsmart) was also embossed with gold on co-ordinating card stock.    A gold bow, green stickles and burgundy pearls are the finishing touches !

Thanks for stopping by !
Shirley

Christmas Peacock

I hope everyone is enjoying a nice weekend.   We had a wonderful dinner last night at one of our neighbour friends.  We had so many different courses we don't need to eat much today !  Christmas is such a great time.

My friend asked if I could make her a card that featured a Peacock, but it also needed to be for Christmas.  I had just treated myself to a beautiful sheet of stamps from Chocolate Baroque that features Peacocks, feathers & fans so here is what I came up with ! 

The stamp comes from the Chocolate Baroque set Peacock Fan, UA4SP0183.   I stamped the larger peacock from the set, embossed in gold and painted with my Tom Bow markers.    The sentiment which was also stamped and embossed in gold is from a from Tina Wenke that I found at Crop Circles.   I used my Cuttlebug & Spellbinder dies for the sentiment & purple labels and my Cuttlebug snowflake folder for the embossing.   The snowflake designer paper is from a K&Company mini pad that has been hanging out in my stash for a while.  The finishing touches include mauve ribbon, starform border stickers, stickels on the feathers and some little pearls.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day !
Shirley

A Butterfly named Candra

Good evening !

I was working on more cards for Designs by Ryn this week and posting these which feature a butterfly stamp named Candra !  (CM-B6).   Candra is really a moth !   These are another diversion from Christmas Cards !

The background for the above card was created with Tombows, water & salt !  The stamp is by Designs by Ryn - Candra CM-B6.  I stamped the butterfly and the sentiment 'Dream' by Kaisercraft in Colorbox Pigment Ink - Harbour and embossed with clear.

To create the background of the above card,  I stamped Impression Obsession Cover a Card - CC025 Tapestry 2 on blue/green card stock with Gold Brilliance Ink and then embossed in clear.  The combination gave a neat shimmer to the background !   Candra was stamped and embossed twice in black on watercolour paper.   I coloured with my Tombow markers using water on the paper.   I cut out both butterflies, but just the center of the 2nd one and popped them up as the photo shows.    I added a little left-over paper from the first card onto the background along with hand dyed silk ribbon and a crystal heart charm.

Again the above background was created by using Tombow markers, Water and salt.   Candra was stamped & embossed with gold and painted with Tombow markers.  

I guess it's going to be a long time before we see real butterflies (or moths) again in our garden but here is a gorgeous photo of a  'real' one that my step-mom Ann took.   I love this photo and thought I would share it !

Thanks for stopping in on my Blog and have a great day !
Shirley