Thank You Cards

I think I'm breaking a record this week with the number of blog postings!  I should really be posting more anyways, but the move to Hawaii has really thrown me for a loop.  I'm just starting to get organized again, so that's something to be thankful for.  And speaking of blessings, I have two cards to share today :)

I needed to make thank you cards for some special people in my life, so this is the first card I came up with: 

The background stamp is one of my favorite Hero Art's background stamps (Leaf and Floral background).  I inked the back panel with peacock feathers distress ink and then stamped the background in the same color.  The sweet flower stamp is from Penny Black (delicate florals), which I colored with copics.  The card is finished with a sentiment from Paper Smooches' Spiritual Sampler-- they really have the best sentiments! 

The next card is a little different, but I think it's still in the same vein: 

Sorry for the weird photograph-- the vellum actually is normal colored in real life!  Anyways, I stamped Penny Black's Glory of Modesty background stamp on a white cardstock panel and clear embossed it.  I then used Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick distress inks to color in the flowers:

Ink the middle with the darker shade (Worn Lipstick)

Blend the darker shade out from the center with the lighter color (Spun Sugar)

I didn't have any daubers to do this, but the q-tips worked great!  The distress inks blend really nicely, so this is an easy technique for anyone to try.  I finished the card with the same sentiment that was embossed in black on vellum. 

That's all for me today.  Thanks for stopping by! 

-Lizzy

Another Birthday

The fall, in general, is a popular time for birthdays in my family and October is no exception! The latest celebration was for my husband, and he was lucky enough to have the day randomly off of work.  We kept it pretty low key, but did decide to go on a hike up the Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Trail.  It's a beautiful trail that climbs roughly 1800 feet in 2 miles.  It was an awesome hike and totally worth the somewhat steep (at times) incline.  I took a few pictures and thought I would share :) 

Made it to the top! 

The view from the top

2000 feet above sea level

See those tiny houses in the valley way in the distance?
Yea, that's where the car was...

 Awesome, right?  But, as you know, no birthday and no blog post would be complete without a card ;) 

 I kept it pretty simple with this one.  I used Avery Elle's The Man stamp set for the majority of the card.  The "cheers" sentiment is from Paper Smooches' Birthday Sampler.  

Thanks so much for visiting! 

-Lizzy

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! 

Hope you're enjoying the weekend!  Today I'm sharing a card for Father's Day that I made for my dad.  

This card was a lot of fun to make and not too hard to put together!  I die cut several ties (Memory Box) out of white cardstock and one from washi tape.  Before adhering the ties on the right side of the card, I stamped my sentiment (Paper Smooches) directly on the card base.  I then adhered the remaining ties and re-stamped my sentiment with a stamp-a-ma-jig.  Lastly, I finished the card off with some yellow Lawn Trimmings.  

Thanks so much for visiting today!  I hope you have a great day celebrating all the dads in your life!

-Lizzy

Belated Birthday Wishes

Hi There! 

I'm just here to pop in to share a card for the latest Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge: Anything Goes. 

For inspiration, I went back through old SPARKS challenges and came across this Trend Watch from last year: 

I was inspired to make a *belated* birthday card, with an emphasis on "travel", with a few of my Paper Smooches stamps: 

If you thought of the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, you're right in line with my creative vision...lol!  He's about to jump down that black hole, because he's late!  I used the bunny from A Little Lovin' and dressed him up in a vest and coat.  His pocket watch is actually the alarm clock from Perpetual Bliss that I selectively cut out.  

I thought this idea would be a cute idea for a belated birthday card.  Here's the inside of the card: 

The sentiment is from Word Salad.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope I'm not too late to enter the challenge! 

-Lizzy

Always Card

Happy Thursday! 

I was thinking about the watercolor challenge over at the Moxie Fab World blog again, and thought it would be fun to play with some distress inks and water.  I used a few shades of purple, which were rubbed onto an acrylic block and spritzed with water.  Using a paint brush, I brushed the various shades of purple onto a cardstock panel and created a pretty, purple background.  I was going for an ombre effect, but it didn't quite turn out how I envisioned, so I ended up cutting apart the panel and using just a square.  I'll keep the rest of the paper for another project.  Here's the card that I ended up making: 

Once I cut apart the cardstock panel, I used a Lawn Fawn heart die to cut a heart out of the middle.  Next, I stamped the sentiment, which is from the Word Salad stamp set by Paper Smooches and popped the panel up on some foam adhesive.  A few sequins and some twine finished the card.  Oh, and I used my corner rounder to soften the edges of the watercolor panel and the card base. 

And I think I'd be pretty happy to receive this card in the mail, so I'll be playing along with this week's Simon Says Stamp Challenge "Happy Mail". 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

-Lizzy

Bookmark Card

Hey! 

For today's card, I wanted to try out the technique of extending a die.  I had recently watched Savannah O'Gwynn's video tutorial on how to get more (literally!) out of your dies.  I thought it would be fun to use my Paper Smooches tag scallop die to make a bookmark.  Savannah gave a lot of great tips in her video, which made extending the tag very easy to do!  I'll definitely use this technique again.  

Here's my bookmark card: 

 After I die cut the bookmark, I decorated it with images from Smarty Pants and the sentiment is from Get Outta Town (Paper Smooches).  I adhered the bookmark to the card with some repositionable adhesive, so it easily peels away and can actually be used.  To finish it off, I made a tassel and cord out of some lime baker's twine.  

The bookmark would be super easy to reproduce and make multiples and, of course, it could be decorated to suite your needs. 

Since the theme is "Anything Goes" over at the Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge, I'll be playing along. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

-Lizzy

Anything Goes

Hi! 

I just wanted to pop in to share a card for the latest Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge.  It's the 5th week in the month, so that means the theme is "Anything Goes"!  ....which also means there's no excuse not to make a card!  

Here's my card: 

For this little scene, I used the Surf and Turf stamp set by Paper Smooches.  All the images and sentiment are included in the set.  The tree is a Memory Box die and the clouds are PTI. 

My favorite part of this card is the water.  I wanted it to be see-through and considered vellum, but I thought it would be a little too opaque.  I was going for the crystal clear Pacific ocean look, not the murky Atlantic ocean :)  Blue cellophane was just the right thing.

I added some goggly eyes to the crab and stickles to the starfish to finish off the card.  

I'll also be playing along with this week's Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Anything Goes. 

That's it for me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by! 

-Lizzy

Let's Chat

Happy Friday! 

I just wanted to share a fun little card for one the Card Creations Challenges over at the Moxie Fab World Blog.  This is for the Speech Bubble Challenge.   

I thought it would be fun to make a card based on the iMessage iPhone app.  Here's my take: 

I cut out a square of green paper and rounded the corners with my Corner Chomper.  I noticed that the app actually has some subtle stripes that run diagonally, so I stamped the Notebook Paper stamp from Paper Smooches with VersaMark to get the subtle green color I wanted.  Next I punched out 2 circles and stamped/embossed the number 1 (Smitty's ABC's, LF).  I then die cut a speech bubble from my Lawn Fawn dies out of white paper and vellum. 

I adhered the vellum slightly off to give the speech bubble some dimension as though it was shaded with a marker.  I think it's kind've a neat look.  The speech bubble and circles are adhered with foam tape. 

I then added my sentiment (Perpetual Bliss, Paper Smooches) and some twine (LF) to finish off the card. 

 

And since "Anything Goes" over at the Simon Says Stamp blog, I'll link this card up as well. 

Thanks so much for visiting today!  Hope you have a nice evening! 

-Lizzy

Camera Craze

Happy Wednesday! 

Hope everyone's week is going well!  We got about a foot of snow, so it was a snow day for most everyone.  We lost power for a few hours, but everything is back on now-- including the internet!  Woot!  

While I was without power, I thought I would make another card for this month's Moxie Fab World Challenge: Camera Craze. 

I'd like to be better at clean and simple cards, so here's my attempt: 

I used the camera from Paper Smooches Perpetual Bliss stamp set and embossed it with white embossing powder.  The starburst background is from Hero Arts/Studio Calico and is one of my favorite stamps.  I masked off the top part of the starburst and just included the bottom part on the card.  I thought it would be a good way to move one's eye towards the sentiment, which is from Mama Elephant (Smitten).  

Thanks so much for visiting today.  Hope to see you back soon! 

-Lizzy 

Happy Everything Card

Howdy Folks! 

Hope you're enjoying Valentine's Day!  I just wanted to pop in and share my entry into this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge, which is a designer drafts challenge. 

Below is the sketch to inspire our cards:  

I found this sketch to be a little tough, but here's what I came up with: 

I used the new Paper Smooches stamp set "Leafy Greens" for the background panel.  It's such a pretty set!  I was so happy to have won it from the last design team blog hop :)  It even has a few matching dies, but those will have to be on my wish-list for now!  I stamped the images in wisteria wonder (SU), baja breeze (SU), and soft granite (HA) ink.  I then layered some acetate with a pretty white chevron pattern over the panel.  The sentiment (Simply Said- also from Paper Smooches) was stamped on vellum and embossed in black.  

I added a few rhinestones and some silver striped washi for fun.  Lastly, I mounted the panel on some kraft cardstock, which I thought looked nice with the soft color palette. 

Thanks so much for visiting today!  Hope to see you again soon! 

-Lizzy