Simply Lit

We've lived in our house for over 10 years now, and during that time we've relied on our super lawnman, both for his hard work at keeping our property looking decent and for his friendship. He recently gave us a lamp (his landlord gave it to him, and he decided he didn't need it, and he knows I do a lot of crafting that strains my eyes) and yesterday I finally put it together and it's perfect! So I decided to make him & his wife a special card. I was literally finishing it up when he came by... my husband spoke to him while I finished it up! I wanted to keep it really simple yet elegant & fun, and I'm pleased with the result.

Due to a embossing tragedy, this plastic embossing folder has a big dent in it; but I really like its "electric" design, so I went ahead & used the embossing folder on a piece of letterpress paper and then cut an aperture with a circle die. I backed it with another piece of letterpress paper before inking it.

I inked a Hero Arts gradient background stamp with drops of Sunshine alcohol ink, spritzed it, and stamped directly on the piece several times.

The light bulb was cut on my Silhouette Cameo from glittery blue adhesive vinyl; I added the heart-shaped element using SCAL software.

The sentiment is from the Let It Shine set from Verve Stamps (you can see my many uses of this set here), and I inked it with QQ Navy chalk ink & TH Faded Jeans distress ink to give it full coverage over the yellow ink.

Had lots of fun with this project, and my new lamp really helped too!

Inspiration/Challenges:
Country View Crafts' Challenge: 30 mins or under
Less Is More #317: Sketch 19
Ooh La La Creations: Embossing (dry)

Thank you for visiting,

Purple with Crafting with Dragonflies

Our theme this fortnight at Crafting with Dragonflies is Purple. I made this shaker card featuring teapot & cup dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs.

It's one of my favorite colors, so I pulled out some of my favorite purple papers. The coffee beans & bottom cup are inlaid & paper-pieced and the sentiment (SU!) is stamped directly on the the front piece. The two top cups & the spoon are cut through the front piece, paper-pieced, and made into a shaker with acetate & purple microbeads.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Kreativeinkauf Challenge #48: Monochrome
Ooh La La Creations: Die Cuts
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge:  Anything Goes

Thank you for visiting, 

New with the UnstampaBelles

The UnstampaBelles February challenge is Anything Goes with the twist of a Use Something New. You can make whatever you like without using any stamps.

I decided to use a a relatively new-to-me-technique along with my newest craft splurge: adhesive vinyl. My crafty neighbor & I got it into our heads that we needed to buy & cut vinyl, not that we need new projects or more stuff, but it's just fun!

I used a Cricut file to cut this from three glittery vinyl sheets. My mom used play a game with me based on the song "A Bushel & a Peck" so I made this for my parents for Valentine's. They loved it! Granted, Dad ate some of the chocolates from it before noticing that I'd decorated it, but I got a nice neck squeeze from Mom!

The jar is an old recycled jar that started out as a gift of pickles from my Aunt Cookie, and has held many homemade goddies over the years, including homemade cheese. DOn't worry, it's well-washed! I decorated the lid with gold embossing powder, purple packaging mesh, and gold ribbon. The pillow top is covered with a scrap of a well-loved quilt Mom made us.

I'm entering this project in the following fun challenges:
Aud Sentiments Challenge #173: Love Sentiment
UnstampaBelles: Anything Goes + Something New
A Vintage Journey: Words That Are Special

Be sure to check out the fabulous projects by my teammates and hope you'll join us this month at UnstampaBelles!

Thank you for visiting,

Pilin' on the Monsters and/or Fairies

The theme this fortnight at Pile It On is Monsters and/or Fairies. The only really rule is to be inspired by more than one papercrafting challenge. We're sponsored by Pink Gem, and I adapted their Beer Monster to make this creepily cute card.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Cardz 4 Galz #41: Cardz 4 Teenz
Crafty Awesomeness: Anything Hand-colored
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper: Anything Goes with Patterned Paper
Scrapy Land Challenges: Add Texture (Flowersoft) + die sold by Scrapy land (Sizzix border die)
Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: X is for Extreme
Star Stampz Challenge: 2 Or More Patterned Papers

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting! Hope you'll join us at Pile It On,

Recycling at International Art & Soul

Our theme this fortnight at the International Art & Soul Challenge is Recycling. I had lots of fun using one of my favorite themes!

The rosette is made with a TH die & cardboard packaging (frozen popcorn chicken); the black border is part of the packaging & happily influenced the overall design. It's inked with QQ chalk ink & two purplish Liquid Pearls. 

I made the background with Technique Tuesday's "Good Vibes" Planner stamp set. I used double-sided tape to stick the whole set (on the packaging plastic) onto a stamping block, and inked it with a Recollections ombre ink pad. Easy background stamp!

Inspiration/Challenges:
Fab 'n' Funky: Bingo (middle column: Flowers, Die-cuts, Pearls)
International Art & Soul Challenge: Recycling (cardboard packaging, plastic mesh)
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Florals
Sunday Stamps: Getting Sketchy

Thank you for visiting! Hope you'll join us at International Art & Soul,

For the girls with Crafting with Dragonflies

Our theme this fortnight at Crafting with Dragonflies is For the girls. This card was inspired by global Women's March and the sea of empowering pink Pussy Hats.

I made this at the papercrafting store Scraps of Love in Peoria, Arizona, while visiting Mom last week. They have a craft room, so I got to shop and create! The base card is a double-sided paper from My Mind's Eye's "Meow" Collection. The front is just black-and-white; I colored it with a pink chalk pen & doodled in the other rows with a green Sharpie pen. The strip in the middle is from American Crafts. The front panel is from Crate Paper's "Cute Girl" Collection.


Inspiration/Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp: Cute
Show us Your Pussies - Cat Only Challenge: Kitty Love (celebrating the Women's March)


Thank you for visiting, 

Love is in the Air at International Art & Soul

Today begins the first International Art & Soul Challenge! I'm so happy to be a part of this fun new challenge team! Our theme this fortnight is Love is in the Air.

I made an Easel Card featuring this adorable couple stamp from Art Impressions. I used Glossy accents to write "love" on the acetate background, and carefully covered it with baker's twine. The sentiment stamp is from Fiskars.

Thank you for visiting! Hope you'll join us at International Art & Soul,

Pilin' on the Hearts on Fire

The theme this fortnight at Pile It On is Hearts on Fire (Hearts, Fire, or Red/Orange Color Scheme, Chinese New Year of the Fire Rooster). The only really rule is to be inspired by more than one papercrafting challenge. We're sponsored by Pink Gem, and I used their cute Little Millie with Heart Balloon printable to create this quick but oh-so-cute card for a special little girl.

I printed the card front image on cardstock, edged it with a pink marker, and put it on a pink card base. The dog & balloon were printed on glittered cardstock & fussy cut. I added a bit of white flocking to the dog. I glured paper flowers in the corners & wrote Rosa's name on the little tag image. I added detail with a red pen & shimmer to the border with a ZIG glitter pen.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Crafty Friends Challenge #50: Girly
Crazy 4 Challenges #370: Animals
Creative Corner: Perfectly Pink
Creative Knockouts #179: Birthday Wishes
In The Pink #112: With Love
Mod Squad Challenge: Hearts and Flowers

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting! Hope you'll join us at Pile It On,