Elegant Elements of Style

Yesterday I shared my first project, a scrapbook page, that I had submitted for this years Artisan Award Contest. Sadly, I did not make the finalist list so that is why I am able to share all 10 of my projects with you here over the next two weeks. Today I'd like to share one of my favorite cards that I created for the contest.  

Since I love to water color and I feel confident with my watercoloring skills I thought this was a good choice. I used many favorites here...such as my choice of stamp sets & colors...I'm sure anyone who visits me regularly has noticed I LOVE purple! Maybe that's where I went wrong? Seems Stampin' Up!'s love affair with purple took a huge hit with the last color renovation, and I sure didn't pay attention to that huge detail when I designed this one! lol

I did pay attention to lots of other details tho...check out that paper piercing! It was all done without the ease of using the awesome new paper piercing templates too! You'd think all that old school piercing alone would score me points and impress the judges!

Stamps: Elements of Style & Teeny Tiny Tags
Card stock: Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder & Whisper White
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Black Stazon, Whisper White Craft & various other Classic Inks for water coloring
Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Labels Framelits, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Sponge Daubers, Jewelry Tag Punch, Basic Pearls, White Organza Ribbon, White Bakers Twine, Regals Button & Aqua Painter

Thanks for visiting today...stop by again soon to see my other (un)winning Artisan Award projects!

Medallion on Canvas

We finally got done with a bathroom remodel project and I needed a couple small pieces of art to hang above my towels next to each sink. After numerous shopping trips,  I either could not find the right size or the right color, or style I was looking for, so I decided to get out my stamps and create my own works of art!

I used a couple 8x8 canvases and basecoated them with my wall paint, which is kind of like a lighter shade of Baja Breeze. Then using acrylic paint I painted off a band of chocolate on the left side. I also used acrylic paints applied with a foam brush right on my stamps. The trickiest part was trying to get a nice clean image, because the canvas is stretched on the wood frame...so there is a lot of give. I found it easiest to place my stamp where I wanted it, and while holding it firmly in place, I flipped the canvas over and used my hands and bone folder to rub the canvas over the stamp. Stamps used: Medallion, Elements of Style & French Script background (retired)


Ater I had all my images stamped I antiqued it with some of the brown paint mixed with glaze. I rubbed it on and then rubbed off where I didn't want it as dark. I used an Antique Brad and some Chocolate Chip Scallop Dots Ribbon for the finishing touch. Here's what it looks like hanging in my bathroom.

I also have something, or I should say someone, else that is just so cute I have to share. Meet little Stevie. We just adopted him from the Animal Shelter, and while he's not much of a stamper or typist, he's the sweetest little thing! He meows until I pick him up to sit on my lap and then when he's bored with that he tries his hand, or I guess paw, at typing or running on my stamping table. He has yet to discover my ribbon...

Have a great day!

I'm Seriously in Love!

...with both the new Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper and the Four Frames Stamp Set! Does that make me involved in a love triangle? Seriously, I aint foolin'...(yes, today is April 1st so had to work that in somewhere) these are both must have items. Check out this card I made using the new paper and stamps.

I think my favorite stamp in the Four Frames set is the one I used here because it works so well with one of my absolute favorite stamp sets - Elements of Style. I also used the Watercolor Trio set for the sentiment. I hope that set makes it into the new IB&C...{LOVE} that set too!

Stamps: Elements of Style, Four Frames & Watercolor Trio
Card stock: Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White & Paisley Petals DSP
Ink: Black Stazon, Pear Pizzazz & various other Classic Inks for watercoloring
Accessories: Decorative Label Punch, Antique Brads, Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon, Aqua Painter & Nesties

The Four Frames stamp set and the Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper will be in the upcoming Idea Book & Catalog, but right now it's part of Stampin' Up!'s "Spring is Blossoming" April Special. If you want to know more about the Spring is Blossoming Special, you can read all about it right here.

Butterfly Birthday Wishes

I'm looking out my window this morning at a winter wonderland. It sure looks beautiful! Right now some of the biggest snowflakes I've ever seen are coming down...so slowly...so peaceful. However, I'm content to be inside where it's nice and warm! I think maybe I was longing for Spring when I created this birthday card for my Mom. I also think maybe I was trying to see just how many embellishments I could add to one card and still get it to fit inside an envelope! In other words, I think I got carried away...

I gave myself a little color challenge as I was creating this card for my Mom. It seems when I make her a card I tend to use the same colors...purples or golden yellow shades...or sometimes both. Also, I don't think I've ever colored this image from Elements of Style using shades of blue, so I chose Marina Mist, Certainly Celery and Crumb Cake as my color scheme. I watercolored the image using Classic Inks & my Aqua Painter. Then I used the Linen background stamp (retired) inked in Crumb Cake over the top of the design.

Stamps: Elements of Style, Linen & Watercolor Trio
Card stock: Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery, Marina Mist, Very Vanilla and Vellum
Ink: Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery, Marina Mist & various other Classic Inks for watercoloring
Accessories: Beautiful Butterflies & Scalloped Square Bigz Dies, Large & Scalloped Oval Punches, Victoria Crochet Trim, Basic Pearls & Antique Brads
My Mom loved the card, and I hope you do as well! Have a wonderful weekend!

Just Believe in Elements of Style Gift

The past couple weeks I've been busy preparing for our annual Halloween Party...working on costumes, decorating the house and creating our invitations...so my blog has become very neglected. I can't wait to show you the Halloween invites I made, but I just got those out in the mail a couple days ago and don't want to post those here yet because a few of my guests look at my blog from time to time. Instead I have a little thank you gift I made for a friend a while back and never posted.

I had a whole bunch of photos for her from our annual girls weekend along with some goodies from Bath & Body Works. So I stamped a large cello bag (from Bath & Body Works) using White Stazon and the pretty swirl stamp from Elements of Style.

I made a little box to hold the photos using a piece of Certainly Celery card stock which I also stamped with the swirl stamp from Elements of Style. I used the 1 - 3/8" circle punch to cut a notch in the top so the photos were easy to pull in & out of the pouch.

The label for the photo pouch and the little thank you card attached to the bag were quick and easy to make using the Just Believe set. I finished the gift by adhering some adhesive backed Rhinestone Jewels and tying on some Baja Breeze ribbon.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Vintage Elizabeth

My last post showed a masculine card using one of the new single stamps, so for this post I'd like to share a pretty, feminine card using another one of the single stamps...Elizabeth.

When flipping thought the Idea Book & Catalog for the very first time, this was one of the first stamps on my wishlist. I got it on my first order, but this is the first time I used it. Not sure why that is?! It's such an elegant and detailed image and it was fun to watercolor. I used my Aquapainter and Baja Blue & Crumb Cake ink. The sentiment is from Watercolor Trio and stamped in Early Espresso.

The Baja Blue background panel was stamped with the large floral image from Elements of Style and then the edges were sponged with Early Espresso. I accessorized Elizabeth with some Chantilly Lace, Adhesive Pearls and one of the gorgeous Antique Brads.

Thanks for visiting me today!

Elements of Style on Top Note

Thanks so much for the nice anniversary wishes. Got a kick out of the poster who said she got married 24 years ago and in the exact same dress as I wore...I agree on your good taste comment! 

With my hubby off on vacation the past two weeks, I haven't spent much time stamping. Here is a couple of cards I made for some special friends a while back but haven't gotten around to posting. I just love this set!

Here's a closer look at the Wasabi card...

And a better look at the Saffron version...

Stamps: Elements of Style
Card stock: Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, So Saffron & Wild Wasabi
Ink: same as above for watercoloring with aquapainter
Accessories: White Organza ribbon, Top Note Bigz die, sponge dauber to apply ink to humming bird, mat pack for paper piercing

Have a wonderful weekend!

Just Believe Trio

For these cards I combined two of my favorite new stamp sets: Just Believe and Elements of Style.

I inked up the floral image using both my markers and sponge daubers. I like the blended look that you can achieve using the sponges daubers. I also used them on the hummingbird to add a little shading and the color on his throat. I really like the color combo of Marina Mist and Pear Pizzazz. I also added Rich Razzleberry for an accent color.

I spritzed all of the images with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, but it doesn't show up too good in the photos. Here's a close up look to see the sparkle.

By changing out the sentiments using the Teeny Tiny Wishes set and the color combo, you could make a card for just about any occasion. Here it is in Perfect Plum with Pear Pizzazz & Marina Mist.

Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy your day!

Watercolor Elements

I had my eye on the Watercolor Trio set since the Summer Mini came out...what a pretty set! I got it with my first new catalog order and here's my first creation using it.

It's funny, before the color renovation, the Bold Brights color family was my least favorite. Now, the new and improved Brights Collection is possibly my favorite. I used the Brights Patterns DSP in Melon Mambo & Rich Razzleberry. It's so nice having a whole stack of pretty patterns in all the colors! I used Old Olive as the base. The cute hummingbird is from the Elements of Style set.

Accessories used: Rich Razzleberry Taffeta Ribbon, Brights Designer Buttons & Oval punches.

Thanks for stopping by...have a great day!

Cherry Pumpkin Delight

After all that cleaning and re-organizing of my stampin' space, I finally got in there to mess it up! Here's the first card I created using my new set Elements of Style. It arrived here in the middle of my cleaning frenzy and I've been dying to play with it.

I stamped the elegant floral image on Shimmery White card stock and used my Aqua Painter and Classic Inks to color the image.

Stamps: Elements of Style & Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card stock: Shimmery White, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler & Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Black Stazon, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie & Wild Wasabi
Accessories: Scalloped Square Bigz Die, Lots of Tags Sizzlet, Large & Small Oval Punches & White Organza Ribbon

I'm looking forward to a fun Fourth of July holiday today spent with family and friends at the lake. I hope you enjoy your day as well!