Hello Life, Goodbye Eleanor!

My title sounds like an indignant breakup, when actually I'm just featuring some favorite retiring items again today. The "do more of what makes you happy" stamp from Hello Life is awesome! When first seeing this set I had plans to use it on some scrapbook pages, but I still have yet to use it on a page. Need to put that on my "to do" list! Anyways...today I have used it on a card.

I have used our gorgeous set of five retiring In Colors to create my watercolor background. I'm really going to miss these rich colors...especially Blackberry Bliss! If you want to try this watercolor background technique I shared this free tutorial a while back. It's a really fun, easy way to achieve the watercolor look.

I used the same background technique on a small scrap as well. Then stamped a flower from the Everything Eleanor stamp set. This is another set I have really loved...especially the swirled flourish. I used that on the corner where I attached the flower.

When I stamped the "do more of what makes you happy" image I had a little boo boo with the ink smearing around the "p" & "y". I hate when that happens! To make it less noticeable...hopefully you didn't notice it?, I added a little texture using the little honeycomb stamp from Butterfly Basics.

The Tangelo Twist card base is stamped using the textured polka dots from Timeless Textures...love that set!

Have a wonderful weekend..."do more of what makes you happy!"

Love Canvas

Here's a special little Valentine gift I made for my hubby. I started with an 8x8 canvas, but everything else I used (besides a paint brush) was Stampin' Up!

To color the canvas I used a wash of re-inkers blended into each other. After that dried I sponged some hearts onto the background using the Heart Decorative Mask and a Sponge Dauber. Then I stamped some swirls from Everything Eleanor using the Aquamarine Chalk Ink and "tried" to add some of the tiny honeycomb  designs from the Basic Butterfly set to the background as well. Most of those didn't turn out like I wanted, so I blended them in with a damp sponge as best as I could. The background got a little muddy at bottom due to this, but I didn't want to start over so I went with it.

I wanted to add Pool Party to the color combo and that was easy using the two DSP packs I chose...both Typeset and Stacked With Love DSP have black and white patterns that makes it easy to sponge to fit whatever color scheme you can dream of. See the little Calypso Coral colored banner at the top of the canvas...that was sponged to add a pop of color.

The various sized hearts, cut using the Heart Framelits, the Tea Lace Paper Doily, and paper rose created using the Spiral Flower Die all add a romantic touch which is perfect for Valentines Day. As is the pretty font used for the word "love" in the Hello Life set that I used on the banner to the right of our photo.

I printed the photo in a sepia tone and then added a little Pool Party sponging to the background behind the palm trees and a little Crisp Cantaloupe and Crumb Cake around the edges as well. The photo is popped up with layered dimensionals.

When painting the canvas, I continued the color to the sides as well. The ribbon and Bakers Twine from the banner are continued around sides and secured in the back. I colored the rhinestone in the center of the Something Borrowed Embellishment with my Coastal Cabana Blendabilites Marker to finish off my canvas with a little sparkle. I may also add a few rhinestones as well.

Have a nice weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day!

Irresistibly Yours Butterfly

One of my favorite techniques is emboss resist...heat emboss an image on light colored cardstock using a light embossing powder and then using a sponge or brayer add darker color inks over the top of  it to reveal the design. The Irresistibly Yours DSP that is FREE during Sale-a-Bration this year has a glossy design that is wonderful as is...OR you can use the same technique described above to make those fabulous designs pop like magic...I LOVE it!

Check out my quick 'n easy & bright 'n cheery card using the Irresistibly Yours DSP.

The multicolored strip that the butterfly is resting on is one of the 6 designs included in the Irresistibly Yours pack. I sponged it with Coastal Cabana, Pear Pizzazz and Calypso Coral inks. I stamped the word HELLO three times using Black Memento Ink and the Hello Life stamp set. I must say...I am really loving the photopolymer stamp sets for making it so quick & easy to line things up. Using wood mount or clear mount rubber I would for sure had to use my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line the words up.

The butterfly was cut from Whisper White card stock using the Butterfly Thinlits and then sponged with Bermuda Bay and  Black Memento Ink.

Hope your day is bright & cheery! It is supposed to be a balmy 35 here in Michigan today. Here's hoping we see the sun!

Hello Love

Valentines Day is only 10 days away, so it's about time I share a Valentine card! This one uses the Hello Life set from the Occasions Catalog.

I used this weeks great sketch from Mojo Monday and the Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack,so this card went together rather easily. The heart and the beautiful script "love" phrase were stamped in VersaMark ink and embossed with Black Embossing Powder.

Thanks for stopping by!