Guest Designer at Penny Black

I am so excited to be the guest designer on the Penny Black blog today! I had such a great experience working with their products on my projects below.

First up is a card I made with their Snowflake and Holly stamp. I started by stamping the image in black ink on their Mix & Match white card stock, masking out a small portion of the stamp to stamp in a sentiment later. The Mix & Match card stock has a really nice weight to it. It really held up nicely to the scoring I did to the card to mimic a raised door panel. I added a light grey marker line for added emphasis. I added the Happy Holidays sentiment, from the Winter Wonders stamp set in gold ink, in the masked out portion. I then stamped the Snowflake and Holly image on another piece of white card stock. I colored this image with bundled sage and forest moss Distress Ink. I colored the holly berries and mistletoe with markers. I then cut out the entire image, except for the script area, with scissors and a craft knife. I adhered this cutout to the white panel, keeping most of the colored image raised from the black and white image below for added interest. To finish off the card, I glued the white panel to a red card.

Detail of raised holly image and scored door panel

I made this card with the Berry Wreath stamp and Mix & Match papers. I started by cutting a white card stock square and distressing it with peeled paint Distress Ink, leaving the center of the panel lighter than the edges. I then stamped the wreath with a light grey ink. I randomly colored some of the berries red with a marker and then covered them with Glossy Accents. I glued this panel down on a slightly larger square of white card stock. I distressed a red piece of card stock with fired brick Distress Ink around the edges. I then added some score lines around the edges of the red panel. After gluing the green panel to the red panel, I stamped a sentiment from the Winter Wonders stamp set in gold ink. I then glued the red panel to a white card. Lastly, I added tiny branches from the backyard to the wreath for more dimension with Glossy Accents.

Detail of wreath

This partridge card was made with the ...in a pear tree stamp set. I just wanted to use this particular bird but I wanted the last one to be turned in the opposite direction and saying Noel. I decided to do this by stamping on white tissue paper. This tissue had glitter imbedded in it but I thought it added to the festivities. I started by stamping the first two birds in a row on the backside of the tissue and then flipped it over and stamped the third bird on the front as well as the sentiment. I used Mod Podge to glue the tissue to a white strip of card stock. Once dry, I colored the third bird with colored pencils. I used Penny Black Mix & Match paper to create a deep green border for the panel. On another piece of their card stock, I randomly stamped the Reverie stamp in Versamark ink. Everything was then added to a white card.

I made these Santa tags to be money/tiny gift holders. For these tags, fold white card stock, keeping the fold at the top, and stamp the Antique Santa in black ink.

Using repositionable tape to keep the card together, cut around the Santa so the whole card becomes the Santa shape, leaving the very top uncut to hold it together. Open the card and stamp the Santa again with light grey ink. Stamp a third time on scrap white card stock in light grey. From this last stamping, cut out the lower portion of the Santa (all the horizontal banding) to be used for the inside pocket. Adhere the pocket with Glossy Accents, just along the outside edge and bottom, to leave room for the gift. Different sentiments were added from the ...in a pear tree, Winter Wonders, and Crystalline stamp sets. All the tags were done with colored pencils. I added snowflakes in white ink to the toy bag with a snowflake from the Crystalline stamp set. One the blue and red Santas, I cut off the decorative stick and instead put a present in the hands from the ...in a pear tree stamp set and tied it with some twine. The sparkle is from Stickles and a gold gel pen. Punch a hole at the top and thread some ribbon to finish it off.

This last project is a small gift bag. I made a template for this gift bag in Photoshop and then printed it out on to white card stock. I colored the sky with Distress Inks in stormy sky, faded jeans and wild honey and peeled paint for the ground. I used the ...in a pear tree stamp set for the front and back images as well as the sentiment done in white ink. I cut out a second bird from each image and colored each differently and glued them on for a bit of dimension. The leaves on the tree were all punched and glued to the tree from a scrap bit of paper I inked with peeled paint ink. The pears were colored with a gold leafing pen. The white snow was done with a white gel pen. I punched two holes at the top of the bag and threaded some silver ribbon for handles. I finished the bag by stuffing it with white tissue that I stamped with a snowflake from the Crystalline stamp set.

Back of bag

Work in progress

I just want to thank all of you for stopping by my blog today. I truly appreciate it. I would also like to thank Penny Black again for the great experience I had working with their products and for the opportunity to be a guest designer on their blog today.

I've been published in Paper Crafts Holiday Cards

I've been holding on to this post for awhile now and now I'd like to let you guys know that a project of mine was published in the latest Paper Crafts Holiday Cards and I am THRILLED!


I submitted this sled ornament last May and it was selected! Oh so happy! ;-) Here are the details:
1. Start by drawing the sled’s elements on white mat board then cut with a craft knife.
2. Color all boards with warm red chalk ink and rails with metallic gray acrylic paint. Let dry completely.
3. Using the fine black marker, draw woodgrain lines on all the boards.
4. Using Glossy Accents, glue all the pieces into the sled shape.
5. Stamp the holly image on white cardstock and color with pencils.
6. Cut three 2” pieces of silver wire and spiral one end. Start by bending a small bit of wire and then continue winding just with your fingers. Glue to sled’s steering board.
7. Adhere holly over wires and top with red glass beads.
8. Punch multiple white snowflakes and glue to sled in a random pattern.
9. Stamp sentiment on white cardstock and hand cut into curved banner shape. Add stitches to banner with black marker and glue to sled.
10. Lastly, add metallic silver hanging thread.

Rubber Stamp: Seasons’s Greetings, C2853 Hero Arts
Clear Stamp: Holly, Pattern Play Holiday Set Inkadinkado
TFL!

*EDIT* I won a guest designer spot on Penny Black Blog for these Three Pointsettias

Thought I would do an untraditional Christmas card today using the Penny Black pointsettia. The whole card and flowers started with white cardstock. For the green flower, I first stamped in shabby shutters Distress Ink and then colored the flower with old paper Distress Ink. The white flower is just stamped in an aged gold ink. For the red flower, I stamped in Versamark and then used gold embossing powder. I colored the flower with fired brick Distress Ink. The card itself was completely colored with vintage photo Distress Ink. I adhered the flowers with foam tape for dimension. I stamped the Noel with a Hero Arts alphabet, in gold ink. Lastly, I used gold Stickles for the center of each flower and framed the outer edge with a gold leaf pen. TFL!

Featured Artist at Stampbord.com

I was asked by Stampbord to do a step by step, for this box above, and to be featured on their web site for September and October. If you'd like to check it out, just click Stampbord.com

TFL!

Card for a friend

White card, pewter colored cardstock, leaves are a Sizzix diecut, daisy flowers are from the Angel Company - stamped in grey ink, and sentiment is from Papertrey Ink stamped in white ink. TFL!

With this one stamp...

While on vacation, I took just a few basic supplies with me which included this Deco Hexagon stamp from Magenta. The main reason I took this stamp with me was that this shape lends itself to many possibilities, a couple of which I used for this post. Above, and a couple photos below, show the Christmas light covers I made. I used colored pencils on some and Distress Inks on others to make a whole string of these. Each one was stamped and colored and then I cut out two triangles of the hexagon to make this four-sided shape. I cut out a hole at the top of each pyramid shape for the light to fit through after gluing the side together.
Sorry for the terrible photo here. Very difficult to photograph the entire thing.

Detail of one cover just using Distress Inks.

I made this card from this same stamp. There is a flower shape that is made when the design is put together in this hexagon shape that I chose to cut out and use for this card. I stamped the image for this one on grey cardstock and then black embossed it. I finished them off by coloring them with a white colored pencil. Use a red grograin ribbon from one of my birthday present packages and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

And lastly, I made this drink umbrella by cutting just one triangle out of the hexagon shape. This was also colored with colored pencils. I cut small holes at the top of the umbrella for some interest. I then glued a wooden skewer underneath the umbrella with glossy accents and stuck it in a glass. As always, TFL!

Christmas in July

Still on vacation but wanted to post this 3D ornament I made here this past week. I only had this one hexagon-shaped Magenta stamp (C14117-P) with me here and a limited amount of supplies; colored pencils, white cardstock, glitter and glue. I did manage to find a gold leafing pen and this red crystal at a store in town that adds a lot to this design. I started by stamping the image four times and coloring them with colored pencils. I cut two of the images out in the hexagon shape, leaving a border around the images to add the gold leaf border. The other two images were cut just using the center flower. I added glitter to the petals of the flowers that I left mostly white. I took a piece of white thread that I colored gold and threaded the red crystal onto it. I then glued five of the sides together of the main two images, with the thread between them, and once dried, stuffed with some tissue to give it some dimension. I then glued the final side shut and adhered the two flower images on either side of the ornament. TFL!

CASE Study Challenge #43

Here is this week's challenge card from Jill Foster. Below is my take on it.
When I saw Jill's card, my immediate thought was to try and keep as many elements of her card in mine. So by using her color scheme, bird and circle elements, this is my card. I started by drawing this birdhouse shape from white cardstock. I then used Distress ink in antique linen and colored the house. I then inked up a Penny Black background stamp in more antique linen and stamped the script. I cut a 1/2" piece of plain cardstock and used it to make the clapboard on the house by lining up the paper and inking with more antique linen, going heavy on one side and fading it out at the bottom. This is repeated the whole house. I then cut a separate piece of cardstock for the roofline and inked that with frayed burlap Distress ink. To add interest, I drew the woodgrain on this piece after inking then glued to house. I cut an 1 1/2" circle for the entrance to the birdhouse and glued in place after inking in frayed burlap. I then took a Martha Stewart bird stamp and stamped in black ink over everything. I then stamped more of the flowers and stems here and there. I colored the stems with marker and for the flowers I used a couple of my punches and colored with dusty concord Distress ink. For the bird, I stamped the image two times onto white cardstock. I colored one image with fired brick Distress ink and the other image with spiced maralade Distress ink, mixing a little of both colors on the tail. I cut out the red portion of one bird and pieced in onto the orange part of the second bird. For some more dimension, I used foam tape to adhere the bird to the card. For the inside of the card, I cut another birdhouse shape and colored with antique linen. I also added some of the same stamped flower images and added the same roofline inside the card. I scored the back portion of the card at the roofline and that became the hinge point for opening the card. Hope you enjoy the card and TFL!

card open

Spring Tree

I made this card for the Penny Black blog challenge using borders. I decided to make a postage stamp for the main image using two Penny Black stamps. I colored the tree image in blues and green and then spritzed it with pearlized water and then stamped on white cardstock. I then cut a mask of the tree. After the mask was in place, I stamped the script in Versamark ink and covered it with clear embossing powder. After it was heat set, I used green Distress ink to color the panel, keeping the mask in place. I used Staz-on black ink to stamp the 45c for the postage stamp. I then used an EK Success postage stamp border punch to create the white panel. I adhered both pieces to a black & white polka dot patterned paper. I then cut a blue piece of cardstock to size and used the envelope patterned background stamp from Hero Arts. It seemed a perfect choice to use the envelope patterned stamp since the main image was a postage stamp. I then stamped 'spring' from Purple Onion Designs. Lastly, I adhered the whole thing to a white card. TFL!

Stamp Group Challenge

I get together with a great bunch of people every month at our LSS. In April, we all brought in a stamped image to exchange with another person. The challenge was to take it home and make a card with it for the following month. I got two images. The first was this owl that was stamped in black on white cardstock. I thought it looked like it should be in a tree so I drew this tree on brown cardstock and cut it out. I overstamped it with Hero Arts Magical Background stamp in brown ink. I punched the hole in the tree with a large oval punch. For the main card, I started with a white card that I colored with Distress ink to color the sky then overstamped it with the same Hero Arts background stamp in blue. Before gluing the tree to the card, I used black Distress ink to color the back of the punched hole where the owl sits. I punched the green leaves, with a petal punch, from green stock that I stamped with a leaf pattern. I glued these on, bending some for dimension. I colored the owl with watercolor pencils, cut it out and finished with Glossy Accents for the eyes. I cut a small tag down to size and stamped hello with a Papertrey stamp in black ink and tied it on with twine.

The second image I received was this bird sitting on these branches, stamped in black, brown, and red on yellow cardstock. I first punched the image out with a large scallop punch. I punched what was left over of the plain cardstock with a large scallop border punch and set aside. For the main card, I chose white and glued a patterned paper to it that had a small amount of red to go with the heart on the tail of the bird. I used a coordinating paper with the left over stock and used it for the left border. I tied the to elements together with red grograin ribbon topped with a small white ribbon. I cut a small tag and stamped a Papertrey sentiment in black ink and attached it with the white ribbon. I pop dotted the main image and adhered it to the card. Since the coordinating paper didn't have any red on it, I used colored pencils to add some along with some white. I aslo added white dots to the background paper and the heart with a white marker to tie it all together. TFL!

Mother's Day 2011

All stamps Hero Arts; CL449, CG245 & CL477

I made this card for my mom for Mother's Day this weekend. She likes rose but I don't have a rose stamp. I thought I could fake it a bit with these poppy flowers and this leaf stamp. I stamped the poppies in Shabby Shutters Distress Ink on white cardstock. I added yellow centers with colored pencil. I then cut out a few select poppies for this card. I colored more white cardstock with the same green ink and then stamped the leaf stem and cut it out. For the background, I took more white cardstock and colored with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink. I stamped the Classic Fabric Design stamp with Versamark ink and then used clear embossing powder. I then covered the image with Fired Brick Distress Ink. I scratched the edges of the image with the edge of my scissors to expose the white core. I adhered the panel to a green card which I distressed the edges in more green ink. I foam dotted the leaves and flowers to the panel and added a green ribbon. I finished off the card with a white bow. TFL!

Thinking of you

All stamps are Hero Arts; S5477, K5242, CG152, LL154

I started this card by stamping the tree trunks in brown chalk ink on white cardstock. I then stamped the big pine bough in green chalk ink and the bird in brown. I used Distress ink on the tree panel. I colored the pine bough with Distress ink just near the center of the needles and worked outwards to a fade. The bird was colored with two colors of blue Distress ink. I adhered the tree panel to a green card and then cut thin brown strips of cardstock to outline the panel - for a kind of lodge look. I stamped the sentiment in brown chalk ink and finished the card off with Distress ink around the outer edge. TFL!

Bird Collage

I made this card for the Paper Piecing Challenge in the Moxie Fab World. I started by stamping the Bird Collage stamp on beige cardstock. I then stamped this image on many patterned papers. I stamped the main flower on three different patterned papers and cut out three different sizes of the flower. Each piece was layered on top of the other with glue dots to add dimension and height. Each small leaf was cut out and glued directly to the beige cardstock. I only glued the centers of these leaves so the edges could be lifted up slightly. The small white flower petals were glued in the centers only and the edges of the petals were curled up for additional dimension. The yellow center is cut from yet another patterned paper. The bird is cut from a blue patterned paper and a glitter pen was used for interest on wing. I added another patterned paper to the lower third of the card and divided it from the main image with a black and white ribbon. A beige button was added to the ribbon and from that I was able to tie a small tag that I made and stamped with the sentiment. TFL!

Cardinals in the birches

We've been having so much snow here lately that I decided to make a card with a snowy feel. I was inspired by the Hero Arts Tree Trunks stamp (S5477). It looks like birch trees in winter to me so I though it would be perfect. We have quite a few cardinals in our yard hunting for food so I thought they would complete the scene. I made the cardinals with a Martha Stewart punch and Distress ink colored white cardstock. I made both red and a color that looks like the female cardinal to punch them from. I chose a dark gray cardstock for the main card and I white embossed the trees. I matted the card on the same red that I used for the male cardinal and then adhered the whole thing to a white card. Enjoy winter! TFL!

Our house on the hill

For this project, I was inspired by the Mi Casa set (CL389) from Hero Arts. I started by Distress ink coloring the blue sky on white cardstock. I then overstamped the sky with the Flourish background stamp (CG119) in white ink. I then colored another piece of white cardstock with multiple colors of Distress inks to make the ground. I cut the paper into a hill shape and adhered it to the main sky paper. I stamped one of the houses on a patterned paper, a solid brown paper, and also on the sky and ground paper. I cut out the base of the house from the patterned paper and the roof from the brown paper and glued them to the main paper. I stamped and cut the birds from yellow and magenta patterned papers and arranged them in the sky. I stamped the tree and colored with markers. I stamped Welcome in black ink with the Bird Branch alphabet (CL138). For more interest, I decided to cut the image into six equal pieces and frame the whole thing. This now hangs in my entryway (photo below). I ended up making a couple of these as presents this past Christmas for family. TFL!

the project hanging in our entryway