My Most Popular Posts of 2015

We have come to the last day of 2015 and I look back fondly on my creative endeavors during the year! I wish you all a Happy New Year and look forward to having you visit my blog in 2016!

January–Bokeh Technique and Sneak Peek From 2015 Occasions Catalog




February–My Least Favorite Card To Create




March–Projects From Stamping Group







April–Remnants of Easter






May–Corner Garden Blues




June–2015 Catalog Launch






July–New Floor and Grateful For You




August–Best Thoughts Joy Fold Card




September–Pretty in Pink Poinsettia




October

This was a busy month for me and I didn't get to post AT ALL :( Hopefully, 2016 will allow me to post every single month!


November–Color Burst Christmas and Wonderful Wonderland






December–Tag Exchange and December Stamp Class







I hope you have enjoyed this review of my most popular posts from 2015. I look forward to your comments in 2016!

Shake It Off!

Don't just sit there–shake it off!

You need to run–don't walk–to the computer and place an order with me right now before it's too late!

My all time favorite products are retiring and you need to act before they are gone! Painted Petals stamp set and Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper are leaving us as of June 2, or until stock runs out!

Not only are the Painted Blooms Designer Papers lovely, but they coordinate so well with the Painted Petals stamp set!

You can utilize the designer paper on your card and then echo the paper by stamping on a few petals of your own! In addition, the sentiments from the Painted Petals set are so lovely–you will find yourself turning to them again and again!

You will remember these projects where I used either the paper or coordinating stamp set:

• My Least Favorite Card To Create
• Painted Blooms Valentine
• Corner Garden Blues
• Butterfly And Broken Bokeh
• Creative Blog Hop

If you need more inspiration, you can check out this Pinterest search for Painted Petals and this search for Painted Blooms.

Today's card uses the Painted Petals stamp set to create a card with a lovely color combo of Bermuda Bay, Tangerine Tango and Whisper White.

Because I was making several of these cards, my MISTI came in very handy!

I first lined up and stamped the stems of the two flowers using Bermuda Bay on a 3.5 x 4.75" Whisper White matte and repeated this for all the cards.

Next, I stamped the flowers using Tangerine Tango. These I stamped 2X because at first stamping they looked too pale next to the Bermuda Bay stems. The double stamping was easily done using the MISTI.

Lastly, I stamped one of the sentiments from the set using Jet Black Memento ink.

After all the white mattes had been stamped, it was a simple matter to adhere the stamped mattes to 3.75 x 5" mattes of Tangerine Tango.

I don't know about you but I can get perfectly lined up mattes until it is time to glue them down and then all hell breaks loose! To ensure that my mattes are straight when adhering them, I now use a tip that I learned from one of my stamping ladies.

I use the black positioner tool from my Stamp-a-ma-jig to help me keep the correct position for my matte until I glue it down. To do this, I place my matte the way I want it to be, eye-balling that I have the matte centered. I place the black part into place at the top left of my matte and then carefully remove it to add my desired adhesive. Then I carefully hold the black part and line up my matte with the tool and press it into place. Ta-da! Perfectly positioned mattes every time!

At this point, I tied a length of Bermuda Bay Taffeta Ribbon around the mattes, securing the ribbon with a glue dot where the knot was tied, and then used Dimensionals to adhere the mattes to the Bermuda Bay card base.

For the inside matte, I used Naturals White card stock. I added a few blooms in Tangerine Tango and then inked the edges, using a sponge dauber.

A few sequins were added for a finishing touch!

This was a super easy card to create but I think its simplicity and color combo is what makes it so effective! What do you think? Leave me a comment below and be sure to purchase your Painted Blooms Designer Paper and your Painted Petals stamp set before they disappear! While you're at the store, be sure to pick up a Stamp-a-ma-jig as well, so you can keep your layers straight!

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Corner Garden Blues

Today was supposed to be a play day with my crafting friend, Charlene, but in the end she couldn't make it. Though I was sad she couldn't come, I was able to clean up my craft room a bit and then play with a card that had been rolling around in my head for awhile.

I was initially inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest but I have lost track of it :( It had flowers popped up over a neutral background. One flower was a brighter or darker color than the rest so it stood out.

I knew that I would be using my Corner Garden stamp but because it was a wood-mount, and I wanted to use the MISTI, I had to stop and convert to clear-mount first.

I traced the block of the stamp onto some of the retiring Clear-Mount Cling Foam and cut off the top piece to reveal the clear-mount foam below.

I inked up the Corner Garden stamp with Jet Black Stazon and stamped it onto the clear-mount foam.

Next, I carefully peeled off only the rubber stamp from the block and after revealing the sticky side of the Clear-Mount Foam, I positioned the stamp onto it.

Next, I let my new tool, a Hot Knife by Walnut Hollow, heat up. I then used it to cut carefully around the stamp, excising the excess foam around the stamp. Because the knife was VERY hot, this was like cutting butter with a hot (ordinary) knife! I highly recommend this tool - easy to use and makes the job so much easier!

My stamp was now ready for MISTI!

I carefully placed some "bumpers" into my MISTI (check out the video by Maureen Wong to find out what "bumpers" are and how to use them with the MISTI) to allow me to hang the stamp off both the left edge and the bottom of the matte I wished to stamp.

I inked up the stamp and did a test stamp on scrap paper to be sure it was how I wanted it positioned. I then proceeded to stamp with Night of Navy on a Sahara Sand matte. I re-stamped two more times to be sure it had good, clean lines. MISTI makes it so easy to get a good crisp print from a background–or any–stamp!

I also stamped the image onto a piece of Whisper White. I used by Night of Navy Blendabilities to color one flower and fussy cut it.

I stamped a sentiment from Painted Petals onto the top right of the matte and then adhered it to a Night of Navy matte using Fuse Fast.

I adhered a strip of Sahara Sand Lace, Night of Navy seam binding and some Linen Thread across a larger Crumb Cake matte and then adhered the stamped matte into place on top of it. The fussy cut flower was popped up using Dimensionals.

The Crumb Cake matte was then adhered to a Sahara Sand card base. To complete the card, a few sequins were added to provide a bit more color and sparkle.

Have you used the Corner Garden stamp in a unique way? Leave me a comment below!

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Butterfly and Broken Bokeh

Had a glorious day babysitting my granddaughter today! She was good as gold and we finally got to have some time in the craft room together.

I had bought some foam egg cut-outs and foam sticker shapes at Dollarama and Raine really enjoyed decorating four eggs with the stickers.

I thought that she would probably only stay at the task for about 15 minutes but it was closer to 45 minutes by the time she was finished!

She enjoyed being a "big girl" and sitting up on my high chairs to work on her eggs. Of course, she had to bring one of her stuffed animals up with her to add to the fun!

I snapped a few photos but they aren't great–so hard to get good pics with my phone when she's always on the move!

Anyway, I got to craft a bit later this evening. My card is a CASE of Colleen's creation on One Smile Lifts A Spirit.

If you read my post, Bokeh Technique and Sneak Peek from 2015 Occasions Catalog, you may remember this image of the very first watercolor and bokeh background that I ever created:

Back then, I thought this background too bright and colorful to be used in any project but for whatever reason, I still hung onto it. When I saw Colleen's technique, I thought that it would be a way to use this piece successfully.

I chose to use a Whisper White card base and layered both a Basic Black and a Tempting Turquoise matte on it. I then cut my bokeh background in strips of 1 1/4", 3/4", and 3/8" and inked the edges with Tuxedo Black Memento ink. I used Dimensionals to adhere the strips to the card front, separating them by about an 1/8."

My MISTI came in handy when I stamped the sentiment from the Painted Petals stamp set. I used Jet Black Stazon ink and it took three inkings and stampings to successfully stamp this image; without the MISTI I would have been tearing my card apart to re-stamp it!

I used the Butterfly Thinlits to cut a butterfly from Basic Black and then used Versamark and Iridescent Emboss Powder to heat emboss it. I adhered it to the card using glue dots and then added some rhinestones down the middle.

A few sequins, some from my stash and some from Pretty Pink Posh, adhered with Crystal Effects, and my card was complete!

Have you ever created a card background that you thought was a little too overpowering? Perhaps you could use this technique to save it!

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My Least Favorite Card To Create

Though I am always excited to be creating a new card, I dislike having to make a sympathy card because it means that someone is hurting. This time, the father of the Head Customer Service Manager at Walmart passed away.

Because Michelle is such a special person who is always striving to be cheerful and encouraging, even under the most trying of circumstances, I wanted to create a special card to give to her.

I decided to use the Painted Petals stamp set along with the coordinating Designer Series Paper, Painted Blooms.

I cut a standard card base from Rich Razzleberry and a matte from Blackberry Bliss. I cut a piece of Vellum Card Stock and a piece of the DSP to 5 1/4 x 4."

I used my new MISTI (Most Incredible Stamping Tool Invented–more on this tool in the future!) to position my sentiment from the Love & Sympathy stamp set and stamped it using Jet Black Stazon ink. I next stamped the stems of the flowers in Wild Wasabi and the blooms in Rich Razzleberry.

Once the ink was dry, I used some Crystal Effects along the left edge to attach the vellum on top of the DSP. I knew the adhesive wouldn't be seen because I was going to attach a strip of card stock down the left side of the card front. I adhered the DSP to the Blackberry Bliss matte using Fuse Fast adhesive.

The Decorative Dots embossing folder was used to emboss a 1 1/2" strip of Rich Razzleberry card stock. I wrapped a piece of Mossy Meadow ribbon around it and adhered it on the back using Sticky Strip. I then tied a small piece of ribbon around the existing piece and knotted it. I secured the ribbon to the front of the embossed strip using a couple of glue dots.

I placed three Candy Dots down the top right side of the card front and added some Crystal Effects to the underside of the vellum, beneath the Candy Dots, to further secure the vellum to the card front.

I adhered a matte of Naturals White card stock to the inside of the card and to echo the front design, I stamped three tiny flowers.

Drop me a line below to let me know how you like the card! Also, please let me know how you like the scrolling list of products used compared to the large gallery display of products I was using previously. I thought that the scroll takes up a lot less space while still allowing you to view all the products used.


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Creative Blog Hop

Today I am excited to share with you because I was asked to take part in a Creative Blog Hop! Michelle Long, a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator from Oregon, invited me to participate. You will definitely want to check out her post for the hop as she designed a lovely group of items!

Saturday was my day off so I had all day to play and create for this post. I chose to work with watercolor again; I am really enjoying the many different techniques available to produce watercolor effects with ink.

I started by selecting a piece of watercolor paper. I used washi tape to tape it down on my craft mat so it would not curl up as it got wet.

I wet the paper with clean water using a large, flat brush. I then dipped my Aqua Painter in either Blackberry Bliss or Old Olive ink refills and dropped ink or painted portions of the paper.

As I went, I blotted or added more ink to areas, depending on how it looked to me. I also spritzed water on it using my Stampin Spritzer. It definitely did not look the way I had planned it! However, I grew to like it more and more as I continued the process.

Finally, I decided I had laid down enough color so I used my heat tool to dry it before continuing.
I wanted to add a few water spots so I picked up some clean water with my hand and flicked it onto the paper. I let it sink in for a bit and then blotted it with a paper towel. I repeated this a couple of times until I was pleased with the effect.

I then flicked some ink drops of both Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive onto the paper for added interest. I dried the paper using my heat tool and then trimmed it to 4 1/8 x 5 1/8", preserving some of the un-inked portions of the watercolor paper.

I cut pieces of Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive ribbons and adhered them with Sticky Strip to the back of the paper, both in a vertical and a horizontal format. I then wove the strips where they met and then adhered the remaining ribbon ends.

I used the Pansy Punch to cut a flower from Rich Razzleberry and inked the edges with Blackberry Bliss. I cut two additional flowers using the Petite Petals Punch, inking them as well. I also punched a flower from Mambo Melon and inked the edges with (you guessed it!) Blackberry Bliss. I used a punch from the now retired Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack to punch tiny flowers from Mambo Melon and Blackberry Bliss.

I used my Paper Blossom Tool Kit to shape each flower to make it more realistic. This set has been invaluable to me over the years and is always in my basic tool kit for card making. I adhered the parts of each flower using Crystal Effects.

I used the Bird Builder Punch to provide some greenery for the flowers, using the leaves and the bird wing to act as leaves. These were punched from Old Olive and inked with Mossy Meadow. They were also shaped with my Paper Blossom Tool Kit.

I attached the larger flower to the watercolor panel using a Dimensional and the smaller flowers were adhered with Crystal Effects. I also adhered the little leaves with Crystal Effects.

I added a rhinestone to the centre of each flower. To finish off the panel, I unravelled the gold thread from the Gold Bakers Twine and kind of shaped it into a pleasing shape. It was adhered in places with a little Crystal Effects.

The watercolor panel was adhered to an Old Olive 4 1/2 x 5 1/2" matte that had been inked loosely with Mossy Meadow.

I used Black Stazon Ink to ink the sentiment from Painted Petals on the 5 x 7" Mambo Melon card base and then adhered the rest of the card to it using Dimensionals.

To coordinate with my card I created a treat bag from the Painted Petals Designer paper, cut with the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies. I assembled the bag quickly using Fuse Fast adhesive.

I used the Banners Dies to cut a banner from Old Olive and embossed it using the Designer Dots embossing folder. I inked it with Mossy Meadow.

Using Mambo Melon card stock, I cut the For You using one of the pieces from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies. I cut it three times and adhered the layers together to make thick letters. I adhered these to the banner using Crystal Effects.

I created another flower, using Mambo Melon and Blackberry card stocks and adhered it to the banner using a Dimensional. I then attached the banner to the treat bag using a clothespin.

As part of this Creative Blog Hop, I need to answer a few questions.

1. What are you working on?

In the next few days, I will be designing some Valentine treats for my Granddaughter, Raine, as well as planning my projects for the March session of my stamping group.

2. How does your style differ from others in your genre?

I'm not sure that my style differs from others but I do tend to use bold, dramatic color combinations and I tend to favor texture in the form of embossing, burlap, ribbons, etc. I like to try a number of different styles in card making rather than sticking with one particular style. At the present time, I am enjoying experimenting with watercolor techniques.

3. Why do you create what you do?

I enjoy the creative process and love to share it with others! What could be more fun than playing with color and paper and ribbons and ink and glitter? :)

4. How does your creative process work?

My creative process can be sparked in various ways. Sometimes (quite often in fact!) I am inspired by a particular color scheme and I create a project based on it. Other times, I may be project driven in that I may have to create a particular type of card–birthday, thank you, sympathy, etc. Still other times I start with a particular technique I want to learn and combine that with a pleasing color scheme to design a specific project.

I nominate Carrie Rhoades who will be posting projects on her own blog on February 16. I found Carrie through Pinterest. She has some amazing projects on her blog! In particular, I love the flowers she has created using the Bouquet Bigz L Die to adorn some of her projects so be sure to browse back through her posts to see these!

Be sure to visit Carrie on February 16 to view her special projects!

Thanks for visiting today!

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