Saturday, April 26, 2014

Sequin Shaker Blog Hop

Hi there!


I recently received my very first package of sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and I love them! It's the perfect weekend to use them too, because Paulina is hosting a blog hop and inviting all of us to play along and create sequin shaker cards - so fun!

I've seen all kinds of shaker cards lately, most of which are very cute. I've never been comfortable creating "cutesy" cards so I wondered if I could pull off a more elegant shaker card. Here are the results:


It was really fun to make! I used one of my favorite paper pads from Prima called Fairy Rhymes. Simon Says Stamp's new Fog Gray paper was the perfect color for my card base. I also added their Tall Flowers die-cut. (can't stop playing with it!) I mixed up a bunch of sequins. Some I've had forever, some are the Tiny Flowers, Metallic Mixed Colors from SSS and some from the Springtime Mix from Pretty Pink Posh. Here's a close-up:


I'll be sending this to a special friend - hope she likes it!

If you haven't played along with this fun hop yet, you should! I think this is the first shaker card I've ever made - at least I don't remember ever making one before. I love how special they are for the recipient!

Hope you're enjoying your Saturday! Thanks so much for coming by! ♥

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Finally a Couple of Cards!

Hi there!

Time sure sneaks by when life gets busy, doesn't it? It's been nine days since I last shared a card here on my blog and it felt so good to sit down and create! I had the day off today and enjoyed it to the MAX!

My first card was created using the Summer Garden stamp and die set made by Mama Elephant for Simon Says Stamp. 

I first wanted to play with some watercoloring to practice for the upcoming online card class, Watercolor For Card Makers. In a pre-class video, Jennifer encouraged us to "just play with and get to know" your watercolors. So, I layed down some water onto a piece of Tim Holtz, Distress Watercolor Cardstock, then added some colors and let the water do the work. I didn't especially love the way it turned out and was going to toss it but remembered Jennifer's suggestion to use it for die-cutting.


After stamping and white embossing the die-cuts with their coordinating stamps, this was the result:


I realized I had stamped the sentiment a bit too far over to the right and I was so mad at myself until I came up with a solution by adding the die-cut circle around the flowers. Now it looks much more balanced - yay! Frosted Lace Stickles were added to the centers of the flowers for a little shimmer.

As I was cleaning up, I noticed the Tall Flowers Die from Simon Says Stamp was still sitting on my desk and I wanted to play with it again. This time I used really soft colors and added a shadow effect by die-cutting them a second time with black cardstock. I thought the soft peach shades went well against a kraft background.


After a busy week at work, then having my family here for Easter dinner, (there were 20 of us) it felt wonderful to sit down and play!

And in other news, have ya seen the brand new Simon Says Stamp website? Oh, my gosh, it is wonderful! They've made it so easy to find the products you're looking for now! I love what they've done and really appreciate all the hard work it must have taken! Go and check it out - it really is fabulous!

Thanks so much for your visit! I hope you find some crafty time this week too! ♥