Gilded Lily Envelope and Invitation Tutorial ~ FotoBella DT

     Graphic 45's Gilded Lily I Want It All Bundle from FotoBella is so gorgeous, and really takes you back in time! I imagined getting a fancy invitation, and came up with this project, where I made the envelope with a punched flap.

     It's not that hard and with different types of punches you can get so many different looks. Just click on the FotoBella Blog to see the full tutorial!

Americana Stitched Flower Tutorial ~ Red Rubber Designs DT

     Recently celebrating our independence here in America, inspired me to make these flowers on a card that I made for a dear friend of mine.

     Please visit the Red Rubber Designs Blog to learn how to make them, and to see the rest of the card with stamps from Red Rubber Designs. Here's another teaser for you!

Have a great day!

Blue Vase Birthday Card ~ Red Rubber Designs DT

     I had a lot of inspiration while making this card, using some fabulous stamps from Red Rubber Designs!

     

     I was first inspired by this beautiful sketch # 126 @ Cardabilities, which I flipped.  

     Then came the vase which was inspired by The Mixed Media Card Challenge #13 to use the color blue, with an optional vase element. 

     I cut my vase out of white cardstock with my Cricut Expression using the Serenade cartridge. Then I stamped the blue design using two shades of blue and the Victorian Embellishments stamp. To give it some shine, I applied the rest of my Glossy Accents, afraid it wouldn't be enough, which along the top of the vase I did miss a few spots. But it makes it look aged, so in this case it worked fine! 

     I also used white cardstock for the background, and started with the Script Background stamp. Then I used a stencil and some gesso to create the horizontal stripes behind the vase. Once that dried I used three different blue mists to spray all over the card. Next came the leaves, which I embossed with Ranger Blue Glass embossing powder, using the Happily Grateful stamp, which I also used to make the flowers. So that you could see more of the leaf design I decided to hand-stitch more stems to attach my flowers to. I added some light blue bling to the centers, and darker blue bling to the punched flowers along the right. The sentiment was also embossed onto blue vellum using the Darling stamp. 

Stamps from Red Rubber Designs:

Happily Grateful

Victorian Embellishments

Script Background

Darling

Challenges:

Cardabilities Sketch #126

The Mixed Media Card Challenge

Love Rubber Stamps Challenge Blog #158 Celebrations
Crafty Cardmakers and More #141 Sentiment

Thanks for looking!

Basic Grey South Pacific Layout ~ FotoBella DT

      These adorable, older photos of my little sister have been sitting in a box just waiting for the right papers to come along, which happened as soon as I saw Basic Grey's South Pacific Collection from FotoBella!

     I created a diagonal design with the square photos, matting my fave to the pink (Fiji) paper, and machine stitching it to the yellow (New Caledonia) paper. Then I used my paper cutter to create the fringe on the bottom, which was really easy to do by following the lines on the paper, and cutting in between them. To enhance the fringe a little more, I lightly went over it with Distress Ink (Vintage Photo).

     From the pink ribbon that comes in the Ephemera, I made a loop, and added the white buttons, that also come in the Ephemera.

     

     To make the flowers, I used the same pink paper that I matted my photo with, and embossed them with the Enjoy The Journey Clear Stamp using Ranger's Sea Foam White Embossing Powder. Then to give them some more depth, I colored part of them with a darker pink marker, and curled my petals up. I finished it up with the title that I made from stickers. 

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

South Pacific "Hawaiian Rainforest" Layout ~ FotoBella DT

     This is one of the few photos I have of myself in Hawaii, at age 14, looking a little annoyed and bored because I wanted to be at the beach instead of hiking though this beautiful rainforest. Teenagers! Lol!

     I don't think I could've found a better collection to go with this photo than Basic Grey's South Pacific Collection from FotoBella! It's full of tropical colors and patterns that can go with any island photos, old or new. I started by misting the green paper with Lindy's Stamp Gang Spray (Cathedral Pines Green).Then I created the leaf border on the bottom with the Enjoy The Journey Clear Stamp, using two different shades of green ink. I also stamped HILO and the date on the banner sticker, with some old stamps. The ribbons, floral die, and buttons are from the Ephemera, which has been hand selected exclusively from FotoBella. I used the stickers to make my title, cutting and inking the rectangle alphas into a banner.

     

     For some added texture I added the burlap from my own stash, and hand-stitched the dark green border under the photo. Then I popped up the floral diecut to finish it off!

Challenges:

June Tic Tac Toe Challenge (I used the bottom row across.Summer theme, mixed alphas, and buttons)

Thanks for popping by yourself! 

Father's Day Golf Card ~ Red Rubber Designs DT

     Hello! I'm back today with another Father's Day card, this time for my dear husband. With some plain cardstock and mixed media, this is what I came up with.

      I took my design inspiration from sketch #125 @ Cardabilities.

  

     I started by applying some gesso onto black cardstock with TCW (Well Rounded) stencil. Then I sprayed it with Distress Spray Stain (Brushed Pewter), Lindy's Stamp Gang (Cathedral Pines Green) spray, and Glimmer Mist (Forest Green). I also used Distress Reinker (Pine Needles), dripping it in between the gesso. The green sprays were also used to make the banner where I embossed the golfer using the Hey Life stamp set. The smaller green banner was inked with Distress Ink (Pine Needles and Mowed Lawn) onto white cardstock. Then I used water to stamp the circles using the Background Soup stamp. For the other banner, I sprayed some more Brushed Pewter onto silver cardstock, and stamped it with the Vintage Background stamp. I embossed the Sentiment with green and black embossing powder, using the Contemporary Greetings stamp, which along with the other stamps, can all be found at Red Rubber Designs. 

      Challenges:

Cardabilities Sketch #125

Anything But Cute (Make it masculine)

Fantasy Stampers (Your favorite color) green

Red Rubber Designs Stamps:

Hey Life

Background Soup

Vintage Background

Contemporary Greetings

Thanks for visiting, and have a great day!

Happy Father's Day Card ~ Red Rubber Designs DT

    I hope you had a great Father's Day! Here's the old world card that I made for my dad using stamps from Red Rubber Designs.

     I used white cardstock and brown ink to stamp the maps using the Ancient Map Background and Ship Collage stamp sets. Then I colored them with Distress Inks, watercolor pencils, and some mists, and popped up the ship image. I cut the helm with my Cricut Expression using the Life is a beach cartridge, and inked the edges with some more brown ink. I stamped the sentiment using Contemporary Greetings, which covers all of the major holidays throughout the year, and more.

Challenges:

June Card Challenge (Father's Day) @ Scrapbook.com
Crafty Cardmakers and more #141 For a man or boy

Thanks for stopping by!

Take Pride Sneak Peak ~ Red Rubber Designs DT

          I think my love for elephants really shows with this awesome Take Pride stamp set from Red Rubber Designs! I used it along with the Mountain Scenery stamp on a card I made for my son, with a background I created with Distress Inks. To see how and to view my card, please visit the Red Rubber Designs Blog. Here's a sneak peak!

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Thanks for looking!

South Pacific Stamped Card Tutorial ~ FotoBella DT

     Here's a fun, any occasion card, with a tropical flair, featuring Basic Grey's South Pacific Collection, with fabulous goodies hand selected exclusively from FotoBella!

     For a step by step tutorial on how I gave this stamp a quilted look, please visit the FotoBella blog! This is my entry for Anything Goes at Eclectic Ellapu, which I just happily discovered.

Thanks for looking!

Mammoth Cave Heritage 2 Pager

    I did some more work on my sister-in-law's album with this 2 pager I made with these fabulous, old photos!

     I kept it neutral, starting with the stone and wood papers from KaiserCraft. To make the trees in the background, I used my Cricut Expression (Serenade cartridge) to cut them out in different sizes. I masked them with some mists onto cream cardstock, and went over them with some Distress Inks. Then I used the negative part to stencil them again with brown inks.

   
   
     I tore and water distressed the paper edges, machine stitching them down. Along the bottom I added some cheesecloth that I had already aged with some mists and reinkers. I stamped the title and date, and added the handmade flowers which I had leftover from a previous project. To give it a personal touch, I added buttons to the flower centers, which  I inherited from my husband's late grandmother. She's the beautiful one posing by the car!

I'm entering this into the Monochromatic Challenge at Frilly and Funkie. Thanks for stopping by!

Grateful For This Day 2 Pager

     It felt really good to finish this 2 pager for a family album I've been working on for my sister-in-law! These vintage photos of her and my husband's grandparents start with their wedding photo, which I centered in the fussy cut circle. The other photos are through the years celebrating their anniversary. I cut strips from the places and dates that were already written and labeled along with the photos, inking the edges with Distress Ink.

          On the left side of the circle I included the wedding booklet that has their marriage certificate inside, along with a small envelope of rice. I didn't want to glue the book down, so I sewed some corner holders out of sheer, pink ribbon to hold it in. I used Bo Bunny's Floral Stamp to make the flowers, coloring them with Distress Inks to match the ones on the book. I got my design inspiration from the May 2 Page Sketch Challenge @ Scrapbook. com. using papers by Bo Bunny's The Avenues from FotoBella.

     I fussy cut the bottom edge of the blue (Trellis)  paper and added some pearls to the ends.
         

Thanks for your visit! 

Forever Young "Oahu" Layout ~ FotoBella DT

     The bright, tropical colors in Bo Bunny's Forever Young I Want It All Bundle, from FotoBella, were just made for this photo that my sister took from her lanai when she was living in Hawaii.

     I started by masking the polaroid from the Noteworthy pack onto the cloud paper that I got from the 12 X 12 Collection Pack with Black Soot Distress Ink. The pineapple, pink hibiscus diecut, and green paper with the title, also come in the Noteworthy pack. Then I angled the Chipboard  palm tree image over my masking, and added the Pistachio Burlap Flower from Petaloo. I just LOVE these new flowers, and the colors match this collection perfectly, so I also added the Fushia one on top!

     The chevron paper was fussy cut, and then I outlined it with some black hand-stitching, extending the zigzag along the bottom. I added some Buttons on the corners, with some white yarn in between to mimic the clouds. Then I strung some black and white twine from my own stash through the banner buttons. To make the title, I used the Alpha Stickers, alternating the black and grey letters.

Thanks for looking!

Inspirational #221 ~ Red Rubber Designs DT

     It's time to shape up, with Inspirational #221, at Red Rubber Inspirationals! I'm hosting this week and would love to see any type of stamped shape. I used circles for both of my examples, starting with this card that I made for a few other challenges as well.

     This sketch at Viva La Verve was perfect to try the Bokeh effect for the first time for the May challenge at House of Cards!

     I started with some white cardstock, and inked the background with yellow, black, and grey Distress Inks. Then I used a circle stencil with some white ink, and stamped the smaller circles using the Background Soup stamp. I used Circles of Love to emboss the silver dots, and for the buttons, which I popped up and added some brads to. The circles overlapping the image in the middle are cut from white and silver vellum. I used some grey ink to create the road, and stamped Tree Silhouettes along the sides, taking inspiration from this photo used for the May Stamping Challenge @ Scrapbook. com. 

     For my next card I also used the Background Soup stamp, but with yellow paint, to create the small circles. All of the papers are from an older Bo Bunny (Flower Child) collection. I used Butterfly Flourish to stamp the butterfly and flourish. The butterfly was colored with Distress Inks and a coat of Yellow Stickles, which gave the wings a natural curl. Unfortunately, my sentiment got a little smudged, but it kinda goes with the distressed, shabby look I was going for, so I just left it alone. I stamped "Happy" using Sophisticated Sentiments, and "Mother's Day" using Contemporary Greetings. 

      I finished it up with some more Stickles to the flower stickers, and flowers on the stamped flourish. 

Thanks for your visit, and have a great day!