dragonflies

Stampin' Up has done it again! Designed the most wonderfully perfectly eye-poppingly delicious stamp and die Dragonfly Dreams bundle. I can't get enough of it and so I keep on and on using these dragonflies On EVERYTHING!! The card (above) has a water color background and if you look closely you can see I used Wink of Stella on the dragonfly as well as the Congrats. (Below) Is an example on a single layer direct-to-paper design with an embossed dragonfly and then masking and sponging.

primary colors by Karly

My niece, Karly, gave me permission to post several cards she's made lately. I could have gotten lots more from her and would have gladly, but time was limited:(
Here you see what she created using the same style but totally different themes. Don't you love that when you can do that? Use the same idea for several different occasions?!
What really grabs me is the mix of precise clean shapes and clear primary colors with the unexpected grunge of the background and inked up edges.
Nice work and Thanks, Kar-with-a-K!!!

my shoulder is yours

I absolutely love that sentiment. This card was a combination of embossing, stamping, sponging, masking, coloring, and anything you can think of! I love using Timeless Textures for the edges and subtle hints of background design.

i'm here for you

I just love this sentiment. It's so caring. So this whole post is full of cards that tell you "I'm here for you!"

Besides challenging myself to use DSP, the following card has the added interest of holes punched in it and butterflies on the INSIDE of the card!

and drink coffee!

I don't know what to say about these cards except I used a mixture of different brands of product on them. There's just something so comforting and earthy about a good cup of coffee and a good coffee card!

emboss resist celebrations

At first it may be a tad difficult what these two cards have in common, but I stamped, embossed, and inked both of them at the same time. The balloon card was sponged while the leaf card was "aqua-paintered"! (Don't you love my new word?) And one little tip I TRY to remember when doing cards like these is to take a darker marker (WOW! Rhymes!) and outline one side and underneath each image to create a shadow effect. If it shows up, it's nice to outline the opposite sides and top with white gel pen to create a light effect.

Just For You/Botanicals and a New Friend!!!

 I cannot DESCRIBE to you how blest I feel that my friend Linda introduced me to Stephanie! I have a leeeeetle feeling that's what Stampin' Up does for us doesn't it? Helps us find new friends and friendships! Anyway, that's Stephanie's card you see up above! She loves embossing and shading and brayering SAME AS ME!!! We had such a fun afternoon creating and talking a mile a minute. I wonder how many topics we covered!

Here are mine. Let's see, how many techniques did we use? Emboss resist. Sponging. Die cutting. Anyway, I can tell you my two absolute favorite SU products right now are two new items found in the Occasions Catalogue. Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush...canNOT be without this one! Check out the photo below. Do you see the gently subtle shimmer on those petals? BeaUtiful! And far easier to use than loose dry glitter and glue. (Page 24 of the Occasions Catalogue)

And I'm completely in love with the Big Shot Die Brush, page 19 of the Occasions Catty. It WORKS, people! It WORKS!!! Even my fave 5-yr-old friend appreciates it!

And I'm soooo enthused about a new friend! (Hi Steph!!!)