Swinging by to say "hi". . . LOTV card

Hi friends! Today I have a sweet little "Thinking of you" card to share with you.

This 5.5" x 4.25" card features a Lili of the Valley (LOTV) stamp. I'm really enjoying pulling out some of my long-neglected rubber stamps!! Here's a close-up . . .

And kind of a side-ish view . . .

My Card "Recipe" . . .

Image stamped onto Express It cardstock

Cardstock: Stampin' Up

DPs: Botanical Garden by Carta Bella

Sentiment stamp, pearls, embossing folder: My stash

Copic Sketch Markers & Colored pencils

A peek at the inside . . .

And one more view . . .

Thanks so much for stopping by . . . and for taking the time to leave a little comment. See you soon!

Lili of the Valley - Anniversary Card

Hi friends! Today I have a sweet little anniversary card to share with you.

This 5.5" x 4.25" card features a Lili of the Valley (LOTV) stamp. It's been a long time since I've used any of my rubber stamps . . . and I believe LOTV no longer sells actual stamps. They've switched to digital images on Etsy. Here's kind of a side-ish view . . .

My Card "Recipe" . . .

Image stamped onto Stonehenge 100% cotton vellum paper

Coffee Archival Ink: Ranger

Very Vanilla Cardstock: Stampin' Up

DPs: Bo Bunny

Stamp & sentiments: LOTV

Pearls and dies: My stash

Watercolors: M. Graham

A peek at the inside . . .

And one more view . . .

Thanks so much for stopping by . . . and for taking the time to leave a little comment. See you soon!

On Your Special Day . . .

Happy weekend!! Yay! Don't you just love the weekend? I do!! Do you have any fabulous plans?? I should do some laundry and maybe do a little cleaning . . . but I am definitely spending the majority of the weekend in my studio!! Wheet whoo! I have a little card to post here, though, before I start working on my next "masterpiece" hehe!

This is a commission for my brother-in-law who needs a "Wedding" card for his cousin. He wanted it "not too fancy" . . . and, I gotta say, this is as "not too fancy" as I generally get! hehehe!! Hope he likes it! I've used an adorable Lili of the Valley stamp called called "Carriage for Two" . . . available HERE at LOTV's online shop. Oh, and that fun "grunge" sentiment is available at LOTV too - right HERE. Here's a close-up of this sweet image . . .

I've been experimenting with watercolor papers . . . this paper is Arches Cold Press watercolor paper 140#. I think I prefer it to the "Hot Pressed" paper since it stands up to my "overworking"! Here's a side view . . .

And one from the other side . . . 

 My Card Recipe . . . 

Very Vanilla, River Rock, & Chocolate Chip cardstock: Stampin' Up

DPs: "French Kiss" by Glitz

Edges lightly inked with Creamy Caramel ink: Stampin' Up

Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads, refills, & markers
Very Vanilla ribbon: Stampin' Up
Roses & lace: Wild Orchid Crafts
Heart tag and border dies: Magnolia

Pearls: My stash
Inside sentiment: Stampin' Up
"Love" charm:: The Charm Store
Mr. & Mrs. sentiment (front) & inside sentiment: Whimsy

Here's a peek at the inside (that thing on the top is a decorated pocket for a gift card) . . .

And one more . . . "artsy" view . . .

Challenges . . . 

Stampin' for the Weekend: Use Lace

Crafty Ribbons #40: Anything Goes w/a Ribbon
Papertake Weekly: Anything Goes
The Ribbon Carousel: Spring is in the Air

And that's it for me!! Hope you enjoyed your visit ! Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll be back soon with a new Sugar Nellie project! Hugs . . .

Hey LOTV . . . Happy B-day!!

Hello, m'darlins!! So . . . this is kinda cool . . . Lili of the Valley is celebrating their NINTH birthday! And they're having a bit of a celebration . . . with a fun competition . . . which I have decided to enter!

There are fabulous prizes . . . plus a chance to be selected as a Guest Designer! (A dream of mine since I got into cardmaking and blogging and discovered LOTV stamps!!) So, LOTV, this one's for you!! Happy 9th Birthday!!

I've used this cutie patootie called "Rosie with Cake" . . . available HERE at LOTV's online shop. Oh, and that fun "recipe sentiment" stamp is available at LOTV too - right HERE. Here's a close-up of little Rosie . . . 

. .

I've been experimenting with watercolor papers . . . this paper is Arches Hot Press watercolor paper 140#. I kind of like it . . . although I have a tendency to "overwork" a bit, so I'll have to work on that! Here's a side-ish view . . .

 My Card Recipe . . . 

Very Vanilla, Blush Blossom, & Chocolate Chip cardstock: Stampin' Up

DPs: "London Market" by Pink Paislee

Edges lightly inked with Very Vintage DIs

Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads, refills, & markers
Seam binding: The Ribbon Girl
Roses, lace, & green pearl brad: Wild Orchid Crafts
Corner dies: SCACD Classic Corner & Whimsy
Heart dies: Cheery Lynn Designs
Heart border die: Memory Box

Front sentiment "recipe": LOTV

Pearls: My stash
Inside sentiment: Stampin' Up
Birthday cake charm:: The Charm Store

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

A peek at the inside . . .

I even added DPs to the back! What's up with that?! LOL!! . . .

And last, but not least . . .

Challenges . . . 

LOTV Birthday Competition

Wish me luck!!

And that's it for me today . . . am off to do more coloring with my DIs! Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll see you tomorrow with a new Mo Manning project! Hugs . . .

Memories . . .

Hey there, sweet friends!! So . . . here's the thing . . . I've been taking a watercolor class . . . and have been loving playing with watercolors!! So, I decided the time was right for me to break out my Distress Inks and paint up some images for cards!! With lots of advice from my friend, Dena (check out her gorgeous work HERE . . . plus, Dena has some excellent tutorials on, among other things, Distress Inks) and a bit of experimenting with inks and papers, I came up with this little something . . .

Thanks for your help, Dena . . . you're a sweetheart! Now . . . I just love Lili of the Valley images . . . and I think their "vintage-ness" lends itself to Distress Inks!! I decided to use this absolutely adorable new LOTV image called "Anniversary Surprise" available HERE. I just love those sweet faces . . . and hats!! I'm pretty pleased with the results . . . I'm thinking I didn't do too badly for my first attempt at using DIs in more than 2 years!! Here's a close-up . . .

As I said, I was experimenting with watercolor papers . . . this paper is Arches Cold Press watercolor paper 140#. I think it's a little too textured for my taste . . . so next time I'll use the Hot Press paper, which is much smoother! Here's a side-ish view . . .

 My Card Recipe . . . 

Whisper White cardstock: Stampin' Up

DPs: "Vintage Summer Basics: by Maja Designs

All edges inked with Creamy Caramel ink: Stampin' Up

Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads

Sentiment: Stampin' Up

Seam binding, brads, and other embellies: My stash

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

A peek at the inside . . .

And last, but not least . . .

I've decided to enter this card into a couple of challenges . . . 

Deep Ocean Challenge #45 - B is for (Blue)

Anything Goes Challenge #86 - Vintage

And that's it for me today . . . am off to do more coloring! Thank you so much for stopping by to visit! See you tomorrow with a new Mo Manning project! Hugs . . .

Christmas Greetings . . . in September?!

Hey sweet friends! I've been thinking a lot about Christmas Cards lately . . . probably because so many of my blogging buddies have already made so many! I, on the other hand, have not! Hehehe! I tell ya, I can't start getting into the "spirit" of the holiday season until AFTER I've spent some quality time at the beach! So . . . fortunately, we are going on vacay this next week . . . to the beach, of course! So, when I get back, I'll be in serious Christmas mode . . . ooooh, right after I make some Halloween cards for the grandkiddos! LOL!

Ahhhhhh . . . well, I've been neglecting my sweet Lili of the Valley stamps lately and decided it was high time I remedied that! I pulled out one of my new LOTV stamps and went to town. And, guess what? This makes Christmas Card # 4! I'm quite tickled with this one . . .

Isn't this the sweetest image? It's called "Ice Skating" and is available HERE at Lili of the Valley. Here's a side view . . .

I actually didn't have any "brass"-looking Christmas charms, so I took a silver one and colored it with a brown Copic marker . . . VOILA! Oh . . . I did the same thing with the metal filigree corner . . . and the beads inside! Clever, I know!

My card "recipe" . . . 

Image stamped on Cryogen metallic white cardstock

Crumb Cake & Real Red cardstock: Stampin' Up

DPs: "25 Days of Christmas" by Simple Stories (Love this! Very vintage-y!)

Lace, metal filigree corner, & roses: Wild Orchid Crafts

Bells, charm, raffia, black twine, & beads: My stash

Green "sprigs": Tim Holtz dies

Liquid Applique (for the fur trim)

Martha Stewart coarse glitter (for the ice)

Copics & Prismacolor pencils

Here's a peek at the inside . . .

Those sentiment stamps are from my stash . . . very festive, don'tcha think? And here's one last view . . . the "artsy" angle, of course!

And that's it for me . . . oooh, I almost forgot . . . I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Wild Orchid Challenge #58 - Layers

CLP Challenge #51 - September sketch

Lili's Little Fairies Challenge - Black Magic

OK . . . now, I'm ready to sign off and watch some TV with my sweet hubby. (College football! Seriously, what ELSE would we want to watch on a Saturday night?! hehee!) Thanks so much for visiting . . . and, as always, for your sweet comments. Hugs to you all!

Tony & Stephanie get married!!

Hello my lovelies!! You remember my sister, Dee, right? Well...her "baby" boy (who is 6 ft 4 inches tall) is getting married! Sooo, of course, I wanted to make a card for Dee to give the bride and groom...and that's just what I did! She did have a couple of requests:

1. This adorable LOTV image called "I do",
2. Green and blue somewhere on the card,
3. Rhinestones & pearls in the bouquet (because Stephanie is carrying a bouquet made completely from vintage broaches!), and
4. A pocket inside for Dee to tuck in a little $$$ for the happy couple!

And...here's what I came up with...

I used K & Company DPs and cardstock from Stampin' Up - Very Vanilla & Not Quite Navy. Toile and pearls are from my stash. Here's a close-up of this sweet little image...

The cool metal corners & those gorgeous flowers came from Wild Orchid Crafts. I added white embossing powder to the metal corners and then heat embossed them...after that, I sponged a little Creamy Caramel ink (from SU) on the corners...to give them a vintage look. I made the pretty doily with Very Vanilla cardstock and one of my Marianne's Creatables Dies...oh, and those yummy leaves were made with another of my Marianne's dies.

Here's a peek at the inside...

I thought this sentiment was perfect...it's from one of my Stampin' Up stamp sets (sorry...I can't recall the name of the set.). Oh...I nearly forgot...the image was colored with my fave Copics and some Prismacolor pencils to deepen the shading.

I've decided to enter this little card into the following challenges:

Challenge #50 at Anything Goes Challenge Blog

Challenge #98 at Die Cut Dreams (Flower Power)

Simon Says Stamp (Use dies and/or punches)

Sooooo... that's it for me! I hope Tony & Steph like it! Thanks so much for stopping by...and thanks, in advance, for your kind comments!! Until next time, my sweet friends.