Remembering

Today I share this video that I saw on the Archiving Angel blog.  I post this in memory of those who served in the past and those fall in the past. To my sons Peter (USMC) and Patrick (US Army) who both served in Iraq and to their friends who fell during their tour. Remember!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day. Hugs,

Finished Window Card

Earlier in the week I posted a Flower Soft window card topper card that I had no ideas as to how to finish it off and asked you all what you would do. I received a reply from Kelli at favor8favors that I thought would work wonderfully on this card. Vicki from stamped smiles also commented with a great idea that I am going to try on my next FS window card.

Thank you Kelli and Vicki for the ideas. AND thank you everyone who left sweet comments for me :o) your comments always make me smile :o)

Here is what I did with Kellis' ideas.

I added stickles around the curtains, pearls on curtains and window, a butterfly and stickles on the flowers to look like there is morning dew on them. I am not sure how well you can see the stickles on the flowers, but you can click on any of the photos to get a better look :o)

The layers are the same. The butterfly is hand made. I made a tutorial on how to make these here. They are much easier than they look.

For the inside I decided to use the other card topper sheet but only the first layer. I did add the stickles around the curtains and on the flowers on the inside too. I think if you click on the photo you might be able to see it. 

The sentiment is from my stand by SU set called Elegant Cheer. I just love this sentiment. I am not sure if it is retired, but I did not see it in the current catalog. Although the set comes with 6, I always use this one. The "Just a Note" makes the card usable for just about any occasion. This left plenty of room for a personal note.

I hope you like the finished card. I think Kellis' ideas were perfect for this one. I did think of adding pearls to the corners on the card, but decided not to. I am not sure why, I am still thinking it may have looked nice that way. I might go back and try it anyway. 

Have a super wonderful holiday weekend everyone!!!

Hugs,

Flower Soft: What I Have Learned So Far

Well, I spent yesterday playing with my new flower soft. I just received my flower pot kit and decided to "practice". I learned a few things I want to share with you in case you are wondering whether to purchase some or not.

• When fluffing, do it very gently. If you press to hard, it will not fluff and will ball up.
• The kits come with a white sponge to hold the wire flowers while they dry. It really doesn't work well. Green floral foam works much better.
• Their glue gave me hand cramps trying to squeeze out. I switched to Clear Gel Tacky Glue by Aleene's and it worked fine. It did take longer to dry, but my hand was happy.
• To add glue to card toppers, use a VERY small paint brush with a pointed tip. The smallest one I had was still a bit to big and it is really small!
• Squeeze glue directly to wire when making flowers. I wish the wire came in green instead of white.
• The FINE flower soft is perfect for the card toppers. The REGULAR is perfect for making flowers on the flower soft wire.
• REALLY let it dry well, lol
• You can burnish the flower soft on the cardtoppers gently, but not on the flowers made on wire
• To make a bouquet, make the flower wrap first. Then measure the wire a bit longer than the wrap before making the flowers. It is easier to fit them in that way.
• For card toppers, it is better to put the greenery on first, then the flowers. It is much messier and less pretty the other way around.
• Don't rub the glue on with the brush, dab, even for the greenery. It gives a more realistic look.
• White does not work well as a flower color for a card topper. I am not sure why their toppers have daisys on them but the white seems to get lost with the white paper. Even with the greenery. Maybe if there is some "fine" white it would work better but the regular white does not.
• You don't have to use the same color flower soft as the flowers on the printed topper. The flower soft covers the print anyway.
• It requires more practice than I thought. It is not as easy as the directions make it sound, lol. The flowers on the wire are easy to make though.
• It gets everywhere! Kind of like glitter. At least it did for me.
• I would never make my own with the styrofoam balls like some people do. To messy and would take up to much room to store. I also think it would be to chunky if I made it.

First toppers I made with white flowers. Here I made flowers first and then added greenery.

White flowers don't show up well.

Here is the one I added greenery first, then different colored flowers.

The next time I will make bigger spaces to make the flowers, I think the bigger flowers look prettier.

Flower bouquets. The one on the left is the first one I made. I had the darndest time making the paper tube thing. Certainly need more practice. I really think green wire would look much better. I did not make paper leaves yet which may cover up the wire, hopefully. They add some really thin ribbon in the kit which will be perfect for making a bow to add. I am not sure how I am going to use these since they are really small. Maybe make a tag with them and then add the tag to a card.
I hope this helps someone who may have the same questions I had about flower soft. It is definately addictive and I will definately be practicing using it.

Hugs,

Stitched Butterfly With Roses

Well, today (which is Tuesday as I write this) here in NH is another rainy day. After last week being rainy everyday :o(  I think the gardens are well watered and I am also, lol. Monday, the day I made this card, was another rainy day. I did not feel like doing anything, even play in my craft room.

But I forced myself, tee he he and this is the card I came up with.

I am not sure what I was thinking since I was just not in the mood at all, but I chose to do not only stitching, but coloring too.

I used DMC floss for the butterfly and DMC metallic floss for the antenna and flown path then added some Stampin' Up rhinestones. I chalked the background and adhered both layers with dimensionals.

This rose image is one of my all time favorites from Stampin' Up, which is long retired (So thankful for Ebay). It is called Stipple Rose. The stipple line has a few flowers including orchid, gardenia, hydrangea and a set of 8 smaller flowers. I own these 5 and am not sure if there are more, but if there are, I hope I find them some day. They are so easy to color. Especially on this Paper Temptress shimmer paper. The copic ink does not dry very fast giving you plenty of time for blending.

I finally found this Tonic Studios butterfly punch which I bought from Amazon. I have been seeing this butterfly everywhere and wanted it so badly. Since I just got it in, I simply had to use it, lol

On the inside I paper pierced the butterfly. It looks so pretty stitched or just paper pierced. I bought this pattern from Crafts U Print. They have just about everything one could want for paper crafts including digi stamps, iris folding patterns, teabag folding, paper piercing, printable 3D images, card fronts, templates and more! WOW, I love that site.

Well, I have a full day of freedom to play in my craft room and, being rainy again today I don't really feel like playing. I can't even think of what to do! Wonder what I will come up with. I think I may make some CAS cards today. They go so fast and it feels like I accomplished so much, lol

I am going to enter this card into the following challenges:
Daring Cardmakers: Song: Chasing Cars-Snow Patrol The lyrics can be found here
Terrifically Thrilling Thursday: Show us what you got: anything goes
Crafty Catz: Anything goes
Inspire Me Friday: Anything goes
Sweet Stampin': In the garden &/or sketch (must use stamp)
Dream Valley: Something old with something new
I Did It Creations: anything goes
Stamp & Fun =Creativity: Flower power
Woodware USA: Anything goes

Have a super day yourself :o)

Hugs,

Fluttering Fairies

It's time for a new Digital Tuesday Challenge. This weeks challenge is chosen by Amy. She would like us to add dimension to our project. Any kind of Texture: embossing folders, embossing powders, glitter, you name it...as long as it adds texture to your project.

Our wonderful sponsor this week it The Stamping Boutique. They are offering 5 digital stamps to the lucky winner. I was lucky enough to play with one of their fun images this week. I chose the stamp called Fairy and Butterfly.

I don't usually use silhouette images, but this one just grabbed me. Another thing I did that I don't usually do, is make a black and white card.

Isn't this so pretty. For the white paper I used my old stand by, white diamond from Paper Temptress. I printed the image on text weight and I just love how the shimmer shows through the ink.

Isn't this fairy cute, she looks like she is coming in for a landing, lol. Can you see all that shimmer!

WOW, it seems I am short on words today, lol. So unlike me! I hope you can join us this week. I really love to look at all the wonderful creations.

I am going to enter this into the following challenges:
Scrapbook Sisters: black & white
Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe: flowers, ribbon, bling
Word Play Weekend: wings
Paper Play: sparkle galore
Rainbow Lady's: lots of flourishes
Sparkles Forum: something metal
Paper Playtime: use charm
Stamps R Us: something digital

Hugs,

What To Do...Any Suggestions?

Grrr. I couldn't seem to get a straight photo of this card. Sorry for that. I bought this flower soft scene last week and just love it. The flower soft can be so addictive, lol. I love the scene, but could not come up with how to embellish the rest of the card. In my house, there really is nothing around my windows, so did not have real life for ideas. I have seen people add flowers around thier curtains, but with the flower soft, it just seemed wierd. Any ideas on what to would do?

The scene has 4 layers that you cut out and adhere with demensionals. It really is easy to cut out since most of the lines are straight. I only added the FS to flowers where the window that is open. I did think to add a butterfly but all mine are to big to match the scene. I am at a total loss.

I did use the totally stunning shimmer paper from Paper Temptress. The best part of the paper is that it is so pretty it seems to embellish itself.

I did not decorate the inside due to my lack of ideas. I would love to know what you would do to dress up this card and decorate the inside!

Hugs,

Paper Tole (3D) Sarah Kay

I love the Sarah Kay 3D images. They are quite simple, for the most part, since they are die cut. That means no scissors required. Maybe just some sand paper to remove the burrs from the edges, that is it. I have loads of them in little snack zip lock baggies waiting to be adhered together.

Can you see the glitter that comes already adhered to the image. If not, you can click on the photo to get a better look. It really makes the image so much prettier.

When I pulled this particular one out my first thought was "What am I THINKING!" There were so many tiny parts that I was not sure I could cut a dimensional that small. Just look at this tiny piece for the bottom of the flower pot!

Yikes! It took me 2 tries to get that on right, lol. After the first try I was wondering if I should just leave it off. It really is cute being there, though, so I am glad I gave it a second try. The shovel in her hand was another one that was really hard since it is long and narrow also. But...dimensionals CAN be cut that small, lol.

I used my flower soft again for this. I thought it would make a wonderful grounding for the image. I finally received my order and there is some of the fine flower soft with it. I am excited to try that. Maybe next week, I don't want to bore you with all flower soft cards, lol

The inside is really simple. I used a Fiskar border punch I purchased eons ago. I just really could not think of anything else to do with the inside. Kind of got a brain cramp thinking about it, tee he he. certainly don't need one of those, so I kept it simple.

I am entering this into the following challenges:
Crafty Emma: Embellish it
ECP: Pastel colors

HUGS,

Daydreaming

Here is another image from Inky Impressions. I love the images that are sitting, but am not fond of the Magnolia stamps. I am so glad that others are starting to make images sitting. This one is called Angelica's Daydream.

I pictured her daydreaming about butterflies in a nice quiet garden. I think this butterfly kind of gets lost in the flowers a little bit, but I just had to add it because it is so pretty and I wanted 3 of them on the front. You know, the uneven numbers rule, lol

I am not sure if you can tell, but I adhered the circle layers and image with dimensionals. I did not want the image to get lost among the dimension of the flowers. So glad I colored her a bit brighter to help out with this.

The paper and flowers are from Prima. I am not sure where I purchased these butterflies. I wish I could remember because I am almost out of them and they are so very pretty.

I used the Inky Impressions Challenge sketch for this card. As you know, I don't usually do sketches. I think this is the first time. I always thought I should since it would be easier than designing a card myself. BUT....I found this quite hard to do. After it was finished I was glad I tried it.

I am going to enter this into the following challenges:
Inky Impressions: Sketch
CCEE: Flowers
Craft Us Crazy: Something new and favorite embellie ( I just got this image in the mail within the past 2 weeks and flowers are my favorite embellie as well as butterflies)
Landscaping Challenge: Polka dots (no more than 3 other challenges)
Have a super weekend everyone!
Hugs,

Spring! With Shy Little Nickie

Yeah for spring! Although it has been rainy here all week, I am excited to see what the gardens, trees and hanging plants are going to look like once the sun comes out Saturday.

I decided that it would be fun to make a sunny spring like card as I wait. I used the super fun and adorable cling cushion stamp from Inky Impressions called Shy Little Nickie. This is one of the few site (well, actually, the only one) that I have been purchasing rubber stamps from lately. I just love their images. This is actually the first chance I have had to use one and it was so much fun to color.

I also finally purchased some flower soft. I found that they have instant downloads for backgrounds to use with it. The frame I used here is one of them. Isn't this just the perfect image to stamp in it!

This was my last sheet of the turquoise shimmer paper. What a great color, which, ended up matching everything else so well. After I made the card and went to put my stamp on the back, I realized that there was a butterfly stamped on the bottom of the sheet. Oh My Gosh!!! What was I thinking when I did that!!! To rectify this, I made a strip with a border punch to cover it up.

I am loving this new to me frame from Spellbinders. I do wish, though, that it came with a few more sizes. Then next size down is really to small for most images to be put inside. The butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch. I find her border punches do not punch card stock and was pleasantly surprised that this punch worked well. The paper I used was a scrap that I happened to emboss with the wrong embossing powder at one point. It was still kind of pretty, so I kept it in case I could ever use it. So glad I did.

We finally worked out the computer problem, but sadly had to wipe the hard drive first and bring it back to factory condition. We needed to reistall all the software and are still working on getting everything back to where it was before the problem. Though we backed up everything onto 2 external hard drives, it seems that all my favorites from when we bought this computer are the only ones that we can find :o) They have changed so much. Half of the book marked sites are either gone or I no longer visit. New ones are not there. So I don't have all the saved blogs I visit most often. Funny how much I relied on the book marks. Now I don't know most of them, since I would just hit the book mark and did not remember most of the blog names.

Soooo...If I do not visit your blog as I usually did, please leave me a comment so I can book mark you again :o)

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Anything Goes Challenge: Bingo...I went diagnonal to use punches/die cuts, flowers and lace/ribbon
A Spoonful Of Sugar: Anything goes
Clear It Out: Use not used in a long time coloring medium (I used some copic colors I don't usually use, Like for the pot, I hope that counts)
Paper Take Weekly: Something floral
Cupcake Crafts: In the garden
Make It Monday: Anything goes
Stamp Fairy: Use 3 embellishments (ribbon, pearls, flower soft)
Creative Belli: Anything that starts with an "S" (I hope the stamp name counts! and swirl ribbon)
Creative Card Crew: Cute and girly
Diva's By Design: For the girls
Flutterby Wednesday: Open...optional sketch, must have either a butterfly, fairy or angel
Penny's Paper Crafty: Anything goes
Truly Scrumptious: Anything goes

Hugs,

Super Reader

Welcome to this weeks Digital Tuesday Challenge. This weeks challenge is STARS. Our sponsor this week is the totally fabulous Doodle Pantry. Digital Pantry carries the mose adorable images and sets (some black & white, some both black & white and colored and colored images only), paper and some SVG files for instant download.  They are offering a $10.00 GC to the winner to use in their store!!! Whooo Hooo!

The design team was honored with being able to use the adorable set Super Birdie which is so cute and perfect for this weeks challenge.

I have to say that we have had some horrible computer problems. Our hard drive had to be restored to what software came on the computer from the factory. Sadly, not all of the software was replaced. For some reason the editing software we got from the factory is not there, though we backed up the computer on 2 external hard drives before restoring, we just can not find it. My Photo Shop Elements 8 needs to be reinstalled as well as loads of other software we added.

At first we thought we lost all my files, documents (including my gazillion digital stamps), photos (from as far back as 2004), etc. Finally we discovered that somehow they all jumped from my external hard drive to the familiy external hard drive. Phew....I was so paniced.

Since we were fighting with the computer, which took loads of time, I kept this weeks project quite simple. I made a bookmark. I appolagize ahead of time for the quality of the photos. All we have currently is the Paint software, which I know nothing about :o(

Isn't he soooooo cute. I printed 3 of him facing left. Then yesterday, before we wiped the hard drive, I copied 3 more images and rotated them facing right. Cut out all the images to adhere with dimensionls to make it 3D on both sides.

The paper comes with the set also. There are 3 designs, but I only used 2 of them for this project. I hand wrote Super Reader on both sides.

The design team made some fantastic cards using this image. So be sure to stop by the Digital Tuesday Challenge blog and check them out.

Hugs,