Just add a little sparkle!

This is a Valentine I did for my sons friends and relatives from them. The first image is the front and the other is the inside. I filled in the truck body with a light grey watercolor pencil and used a bender pen to smooth out the color. Then I outlined in a glitter pen so it would look like a metallic silver truck. The hearts in the back are popped up and a few of them are outlined again in glitter. I love this stamp set. It has several different items you can put in the back and cute sentiments to match them. I am sure you will see this one again in another way.

Spring colds and spring cleaning have me a bit behind in my crafting. Plus I have been working on Mother's day gifts that I cannot post with out ruining it for certain people. I am also starting some mini albums that take longer to work on and finish. I know....just a bunch of excuses!

Well here is a card I made the same day I did my other purple card. The patterned paper has some sparkle in it so I just added a small rhinestone to the sentiment and popped up it up. I love the punch that clips the corners of paper to look like an old fashioned ticket. I used it on the sentiment and added an extra layer of matting. Looking at the picture of the card I think I will move the stamped flower over a bit to the right, funny how I am always tweaking things! Ugh, I need to get a bunch of cleaning done today so enjoy the card and wish me luck getting things done. :)

This card is very purple and that is what I love about it. Not only is purple (of almost any shade) my favorite color but I love the medallion stamp as well. If you look closely you can see the center of the biggest stamp is punched out and popped up as well. I thought about adding another color to that part but liked the saturation of color with just the metal brad to add something else. There is just a hint of spark added to each of the stamps. It is simple and yet somehow not, kinda like me. :)

Have a great weekend!

I love different papers and textures. There is some beautiful paper out there, as simple or as ornate as you want it to be. I love it. Sometimes it is simply the color of a certain paper that sparks a design idea. Other times it is a cute stamp set for sure. I use clear mount and wooden stamp sets and they both have aspects I like about them. Sometimes looking at other people's designs can bring out some cool ideas, add a couple things take some thing else away and it becomes my own.

I am still finding "my style" and learning new techniques so it is an ongoing process and I think it might always be.

I am not sure if you can tell from the photo but I used two different colors to ink this stamp. I then did a torn paper effect for layering and really rough inked edge to kind of match the torn paper. It was a very easy design but I think it turned out well, I am happy with it.

This is the favorite card I have made yet I think. It is five different colors of ink all using the same stamp layered in just a way to show them all off. I added tiny touches of glitter and a few embellishment flowers for dimension. I used an embossing folder to press the pattern into the pink sheet of card stock. This card is quintessentially girly and I love that about it. At some point I am sure I will need to make this one in other colors but for now it is just girly garden fun!

I have been working various items for my two small son's upcoming birthday party in the last couple weeks. I made their invitations a while back and yesterday I decorated the gift bags. I will work on the thank you notes and the cupcake toppers next. None of this is girly in anyway so maybe posting the card I did will help offset that. I will post one of their invites next. They were a longer process of design and execution and thankfully Rachelle came over to help me put them together. It was also one of the first time I designed on a timeline which was a new experience. I usually design when the mood hits me and I have a few ideas bouncing around in my head. This time I was not sure of what I wanted to do or what I wanted to see at the end. It all worked out well in the end but when I look at them I can still feel the frustrations involved.

This is the card I made for my friend's birthday! She and her beautiful family are from Australia and I just bought this kangaroo stamp set. I just had to make a 'Roo for her!! I think it is pretty easy to see the pouch is popped up and the little joey is too so he can peek out. The edges have a nice inked effect (thank you Rachelle) to tie it all together, the presents and L words are sparkled (of course). I thought it turned out nicely. I hope you liked it Jane!!!!

Happy Easter and many blessings to everyone. The black ink is embossed so shiny and raised slightly. The little eggs are all glittered. The glitter did end up more on my pants than on the cards but I guess that is one way to add sparkle to my day and maybe to yours too!

This is the final citrus card and oddly the first one made. This stamp set has a pear and an apple as well but I have not tried those yet. I am sure it is hard to tell but the blossoms and the slice are popped up on foam like tape to give a dimensional look. I do this on a lot of cards and it is not easy to see in the pictures. I will be sure to point it out in future posts. I bet you look closely on past posts you can see it!

The twine pulled over a bit in the scanning of this card so keep in mind that is usually flat and straight up and down. I know it looks just like the lemon card but I like it as well.

I made a very sweet little birthday card for a good friend today. Rachelle came over and chatted with me as I struggled and fussed to make it turn out as I wanted. I am sure she was bored but she was great help as I added and subtracted and she is always a wonderful encourager. Thank you Rachelle!! I will post the final product after I give it to my friend. I hope she likes it.

So I was planning to post my next citrus card but then I finished this one and am loving it right now. I had done all the stamping and adhering a few days ago but it was missing something. I kept coming back to it to see what it needed. Well I have to admit it just needed a little sparkle! If you click on it you should be able to see a little of the glitter accent I added to each of the four squares. I will have to do a few more of these I think. Hmmm now who to send this one to?

I did a series of three cards using these cute fruit stamps. The slice is embossed so that the fruit part looks juicy. This one makes me think of a tall cool glass of lemonade on a summer afternoon.

I should take a moment to thank my husband for several things. He has scanned and labeled all of my cards so that I can quickly post them onto my blog without a lot of fuss. He also keeps my two very busy boys out from under my feet whenever I get a new idea for a card or two. I do try to sneak in some creativity while they nap or are out of the house but I also have a never ending pile of laundry and stack of dishes to contend with. I know I would not have nearly the stockpile of cards if it were not for my great hubby, so thank you sweetie!

This is the other card I did with that bright paper. Again I just happened to have the summer ribbon that goes so well. My good friend Rachelle loves this one. She saw it and was so excited to make a few. She is a summer girl so this is her style all the way. She would live in flip flops if the weather here allowed for it!

This bright and summery paper caught my eye and called out to be used. It reminded me of beach umbrellas and sunshine. I happened to already have the flower embellishments and ink to match perfectly so this one kind of designed itself. I made a "sister" card from the same papers that I will post next time.