CHA here I come

I had resolved myself to not going to summer CHA this time and had loaded my phone with reminders for all the online Prima classes next week and 2peas  to still feel a part of things.....

I got a call from my LSS owner YESTERDAY  asking me if I would like to go along since someone cancelled.  A few minutes of begging and pleading with hubby and I'm going to Chicago!  I'm beyond excited since it's so unexpected.  I even get to take the sold out Teresa Collins/Paperlife class & see the new stamp machine in action and her new product lines before CHA.

Can't wait to see all my online friends, beautiful samples, and all the new products... but most of hanging out on a road trip with the EMI gals.  They are so fun.

I'll have lots to post on the blog now.  Well I am out the door....

IPPITY STAMP Sale

All my in stock Ippity Stamps are on sale now to clear out what is left & make room for the to die for new releases next month.  Click here to shop now... remember I ship free to USA/APO & give allowance for international shipping.

I've been so neglecting my poor blog... I'm so sorry.  Our house is still a construction zone with the master bath and sunroom slowly being remodeled.  Chaos just seems to suck the creativity out of me... I like organization and everything being just so.  To top it off the pages/mini books I've been working on are all about my sons... and you all know that gives them "power of veto" when they don't want current things shared about them... oh how I miss having little ones with no say so lol.  I've also been trying to submit to CK and other card magazines which means no sharing that project online prior - why aren't they easy like the Trends?  So if they don't get picked up I'll have quite a few to share with you.

Also my sister is finally home from the hospital - wow almost a month was unbelievable.  She's recovering at our parents house.  Thanks so much everyone who sent her hand made cards - y'all are awesome and I can't tell you how much it encouraged her.  Thank you thank you thank you!

Well gotta run I promise to post something tomorrow

Card Frenzy for Everything Scrapp'n'

Well I guess you've heard the news that Everything Scrapp'n' is going out of business.   Heather needs to focus on family & can't give the business the attention it needs.  So everything is on sale right now - head on over for the best selections as there is still lots of the latest/greatest new products left.

I have been making lots of cards lately so that is what I will be sharing with you....
Note not all of the supplies are in stock at ES anymore.

My sister has been in the hospital for almost 3 weeks so she has been getting quite a few of these cards.

She wanted a funny card & I've been crazy about turquoise/green/orange color combo lately...

Distressed Inks are a favorite supply since you can do so much with them....

They make it so easy to get the antiqued look to plain inexpensive white cardstock

I always here scrapbookers say that they can't make cards because they don't have stamps... well using the tag paper from Pink Paislee you can easily make a quick card without any stamps.

I'm totally obsessed with these paper "yo-yo's" right now.  They are super easy to make by according folding a strip of paper then gluing down to a circle.  I love the subtle stripe by Echo Park in the Sweet Summertime line.  It matched well with the Pink Paislee line.

More Echo Park Sweet Summertime... It's such a fun line.

I cut out the strip of circles which reminded me of the gum balls in the stamp.

More paper "yo-yo's"  I hesitated to post this one since it's a bit of disaster....

I cut out circles from the Echo Park patterned paper & covered them with Diamond Glaze.  Being the impatient gal that I am they were dry to the touch but when I turned them over to add adhesive the glazing cracked so I'll be making them again (that's why they aren't adhered down) and how in the world did I stamp the sentiment wonky when I was using the Stamp-a-ma-jig?  Leave it to me....

I know it isn't Valentines Day but these paper doilies were hanging above my desk calling to me to do something with them.  They came from the Dollar Tree so I figured I could play around with them without feeling wasteful.....  I think it would be a great anniversary card.

I just used liquid glue and adhered it to red cardstock then cut out around the edges & trimmed the extra part of doily in the card crease which I added a ribbon to disguise. 

I cut the center part of the doily out of a second heart & adhered it to white cardstock then stamped my images & sentiment and inked edges.  I attached it to the card with pop dot adhesive.

Another super simple card with a doily on it.

The more I look at it the more I think it needs a sentiment on the front doesn't it?

Thanks so much for visiting today.  Don't forget to check out the going out of business sale at Everything Scrapp'n'.  I know there is still lots of good supplies still in stock so get to shopping by clicking here.

Everything Scrapp'n' Monthly Challenge & Design Team work

It's challenge day at Everything Scrapp'n'... I hope you will join us for a fun challenge with a super duper prize (Pink Paislee - Starlight paper & Tattered Angels Marshmallow Glimmer Mist.

Click here for all the details.

Here is my layout for the challenge (which is to use Red, White & Blue in a non 4th of July way).

I love anything Pink Paislee & have had a lot of fun working with the Starlight line.  It's great for layouts about my guys - so I'll be going back for more since good masculine lines are hard to come by.

I made my own distressed letters inspired by the Pink Paislee ones that were the wrong color for this page.

The sticker sheet for this line is filled with borders, journaling spots & embellishments.  They add a touch of shimmer to them but not too much that it distracts in any way for those who aren't glitterers

Supplies:   Paper (Pink Paislee - Starlight Bright, Pink Paislee - Starlight Dazzle, Pink Paislee - Starlight Glow, Pink Paislee - Starlight Shine, Pink Paislee - Starlight Spark); Stickers (Pink Paislee - Starlight Sticker Embellishments); Punches (Stampin' Up, McGill, & Marvy); Diecut Letters (Making Memories Slice); Spinner & Brad (Tim Holtz); Ribbon (Offray); Clip (Paper Studio); Thread (Coats & Clarks); Twine (Making Memories); Stickles (Ranger - Antique Linen Distressed); Buttons (stash); Alpha Stickers (Cosmo Cricket - Tiny Alpha Cream); Adhesive (Diamond Glaze, Tombow & Glue Arts)

I love ledger paper for my backgrounds, journaling, ANYWHERE goes.  This is a great one to add several pieces to my stash.

Pink Paislee - Starlight Shine

I also made a couple cards.

The first is made from scraps of the layout above.  I just love that subtle flourish on the background paper.

Supplies:  Cardstock (Paper Resources); Paper (Pink Paislee - Starlight Bright , Pink Paislee - Starlight - Glow, Pink Paislee - Starlight Shine, & Pink Paislee - Starlight Spark); Ribbon (Offray); Punch (Stampin' Up); Diecut (Making Memories Slice); Brads (Heidi Swapp); Stamp (Ippity Stamps - Fall for You & Unity Stamp KOTM); Markers (Copic); Ink (Hybrid)

My second card mixes October Afternoon (another one of those companies that makes my heart sing) with the Pink Paislee & some Webster's Pages scraps... I should have named this post scrapping with my favorite companies lol

I've been wearing out the Tim Holtz Bird & Cage Die by Sizzix lately.

Supplies:  Cardstock (Bazzill); Paper (October Afternoon - Thrift Shop Good Junk, October Afternoon - Thrift Shop Collectors Item, Pink Paislee - Office Lingo & Webster's Pages); Die Cut (Sizzix - Tim Holtz); Stamps (Unity Stamp KOTM & My Sentiments Exactly); Ink (Ranger - Tim Holtz Distress Ink Broken China & Tattered Rose & Hybrid); Ribbon (Vintage hand dyed stash);

This is the paper with the music on the back.  For my card I used about an 8th of the sheet - there are many different songs.  It's a must have for your stash so stock up.

October Afternoon - Thrift Shop Good Junk

Well hope you have a fantastic day & make sure you enter to win those great prizes at the ES blog.

Paperclipping Festival

If you've been reading my blog for more than a week then you know I love Paperclipping (*no eye rolling please lol*) so I will not bore you with my bragging on Noell... too much.

Being a member has really helped me to refine my style & understand why a page "works".  The tips & techniques aren't limiting by saying do this or that but just general principles & tips that can be applied to any project.  I feel like I have been thru design bootcamp after watching all the episodes.  The most miraculous thing happened... I credit Paperclipping with speeding up a slow poke scrapper since I now have confidence in my design element choices I no longer agonize over them & even enjoy the process more.  No I'm still not a speed demon but I can have an idea in my mind & not pull out tons of product to audition it.  I even look at my supplies in a different way since I know I can change them up with paint, ink, or even how little/much I use them in a project.  Since becoming a member my creativity has been sparked like never before.  With so many LSS closing down & we just don't have the opportunity to take classes like we did in the past Paperclipping is really filling the void for so many of us by educating us & creating a community of scrapbookers.

As far as deign I could credit half a dozen episodes for this page (Designing with Lines, Hand Made Embellishments, Flexible Template, Visual Triangle, etc)  but I want to highlight some videos you might not think of at Paperclipping.  For this particular layout I also used the techniques learned in the episode about Working with Levels in Photoshop  & Fix Bad Photo Lighting to salvage not so good photos & make them shine.

While at CHA summer last year the day we left I was able to go to the Disney animal park.  I had never been there & love zoos so I knew I would like this.  The safari ride goes by pretty fast so it was look to the left... look to the right & the heads of the people sitting near you were in the way so I held up my camera & clicked not knowing what I would get.  I was in the shade of the tram & it was a super sunny day so the lighting on my photos were horrible.  I didn't know a lot about Photoshop other than auto fix which just wasn't cutting it so these photos went unprinted.  After watching the videos I was able to play around with the levels, lighting & shadows to make them photos worthy of being printed & scrapped.

Don't you love that camera stamp by Unity Stamp Co... retro fun

The lighting on this photo isn't as good but I know some of you like to read journaling & it was a cloudy day so I had to flash.

Design Team work for Everything Scrapp'n' online Scrapbook Store

Supplies:  Cardstock (Bazzill); Paper (Pink Paislee - Starlight Glow, Pink Paislee - Starlight Shine,  Pink Paislee - Starlight Spark, Pink Paislee - Starlight Bright, Pink Paislee - Starlight Dazzle, October Afternoon - Thrift Shop One of a Kind); Sticker Letters (Cosmo Cricket - Tiny Type Cream); Diecut Letters (Making Memories Slice); Punch (EK Success); Journaling Spots (Little Yellow Bicycle Journaling Tablet & K and Company); Ticket (Pink Paislee - Starlight Diecut Sheet); Stamp (Unity Stamp Co); Markers (Copics); Rub Ons (Heidi Grace); Brads (Heidi Swapp)

So if you aren't already a member I hope you will become one.   Check out Paperclipping here.
It's an investment in your creativity. 

There's still time to enter the Paperclipping Monthly Challenges winner's work & a short interview is spotlighted on the Paperclipping site, Lesley Oman's blog & here on my blog.

And don't forget to join Noell for the live shows on Tuesdays at 9:30 pm EST here.

Guest Blogging

I'm guest blogger over at the Everything Scrapp'n' store blog today sharing my latest projects.

Hop over there to check them out.

Heads Up... don't miss this free class

 

I know I already posted today & no I'm not suddenly turning into a multi-poster (y'all are lucky if I post at all lately it seems).

I was reading thru my emails & came across one from Jessica Sprague.  The site is celebrating their 3 year anniversary (wow sure doesn't seem that long).  They offer really great classes filled with helpful tips and goodies.  I even made an entire journaling prompt book during one of them (they provided all the pages all I did was print & embellish - it had to have been over 50 pages).  I know you are going to enjoy this FREE class.

Just last week I purchased some items from the store.  The "kits of paper" were terific and not flat feeling in any way & the embellishments once printed didn't look home made in any way.

Since I am trying to incorporate more hybrid items into my scrapbooking this is perfect timing & I'm excited to take this class.

For more details click here.

Chaos & Mess

I know it's Everything Scrapp'n' design team day.  But, I don't have anything to share today I will be posting on Wednesday.  Instead Teresa is inspiring us.  So go check the store blog for details.  (Heads up I saw another shipment of Glimmer Mist in the store yesterday... including the new Heidi Swapp colors - hurry over I know they will not last long).

Ok now to catch you up on what's been going on.....

My life has been extra chaotic since buying a foreclosed house we are smack dab in the middle of major home remodeling.  Yes I've been taking photos of the bad along with the good so I can remember the process on scrapbook pages.  It will make me appreciate the finished product more in the end since I can see on a page all the sweat & work that went into it.

We knew the tile in the bathrooms were nearing the end of usefulness (not to mention they were ugly).  But we had hoped it would last the year & not be a huge undertaking... That would have been true if the appraiser didn't ask the bank to repair or we wouldn't be able to buy the house.  Well they did some cosmetic things & the way they did it made everything worse...

So now this is my master bathroom

yes I can see the downstairs thru that hole since we are taking it down to the rafters & pulling down a bit of ceiling in the family room.  It is overwhelming to think about but I keep saying it will be great when it is done.... like a new house.

The construction isn't just confined to the master bath, the hall bath shares that wall & the floor in there is also rotted which is causing the toilet to leak in there.  Which I closed & placed an X of blue painters tape so no one uses it.  The tub/shower in there is the only place we can shower right now.  But to go to the bathroom it means going down a flight & a half of stairs... that is going to get old in the middle of the night lol.  I'm going to Lowes today to buy some fast set mud to lay tile & put that toilet back in.

On top of that y'all know about the sunroom that the contractors are not taking my calls & I wrote certified letter demanding them to stand behind their work.  So all that conflict has been stressing me out.

I took out some of that stress on the weeds in the yard.  Pulling them out gave me a sense of control over something in my life.  Does that sound crazy?

 Then Andrew decided to paint the concrete floor in his apartment area of the house (hi-jacking my cameras in the process in an area that can't be walked on until Monday night).  Usually Andrew is a mega procrastinator but this time he jumped right in the day he thought about it buying the supplies but without making sure everything needed was out of the "dead zones" where we can't walk.  I guess I'm proud of him for tackling it... I guess watching HGTV for hours is paying off lol

I've been helping doing the light stuff while hubby & son are doing the heavy stuff.  It's so exhausting, dirty, depressing, overwhelming & expensive......

So this is my life right now... I have to smile while shaking my head... it'll get better

I'm Going Hybrid...

I have tried digi layouts in the past & wasn't thrilled.  But today is a new day.  I don't have to do all digi but just use digital elements.  It doesn't hurt that I can find high quality products out there....

There are still pros & cons to it...

I LIKE:
Image can be used over & over
Customize for my project by changing the color or size
Very economical & "Green"


I love the idea of being able to scrapbook anywhere.  There is no mess to clean up.  If I don't like the color of something I can change it with a couple clicks then everything will match perfectly.  Designing a project is super easy.  No more cutting a piece of paper wrong.  I love the undo button.   There really are some great companies out there & even if I don't print the paper it is easy to make my own embellishments.  

CONS 
Quality of many of the image designs available


Recently digital images have come a long way.  There are still many out there that don't have the depth of color and pattern on the "papers" that is what I am drawn to in a piece of pattered paper.  My Photoshop skills are OK (could be better... could be worse) so I guess  I need to be working on this.  I usually don't even type my journaling (unless it's a long story) so I guess it's just that I need to get into the habit of using the computer for scrapbooking.  The bottom line is... I just LOVE the traditional scrapbooking products & making the mess.

Hybrid Scrapbooking allows me to take the best of both worlds & still make my paper mess while creating.  I will be printing more elements for my pages to save money, personalize them & still do pages my way.  That's the great thing about scrapbooking - no rules... do it your way.  We change, evolve & learn new things that is all part of creativity.  I sure wouldn't want to be doing the same thing the same way 3 years from now - change keeps it fresh.

Here is a page I made with a digi element from House of 3.  Thanks Heidi Swapp for helping me make a fun quick page.

I am participating in the summer challenge there to do 3 pages a week for a total of 50 pages completed by the end of summer.  They are encouraging us to create pages that are more simple & less time consuming.  I'm a slow poke scrapper but this one actually was finished within 35 minutes.  I think a lot of my problem is dragging out lots of supplies to audition them before committing & making a decision.  I am trying to resolve to trust my first instincts more & just go with things.  Every page doesn't have to be a well thought out masterpiece to be a great page... right?

So killing 2 birds with one stone I combined this with the Ippity Stamps weekly challenge to use some fabric on a project.

Everything is better with Ippity...

I used this set of Ippity Stamps (on sale this week on my selling page above or here)

Don't forget to enter the giveaways over at The Paperlife this week for my spotlight.  There are some great prizes up for grabs.  Click here to leave a comment.

Prize Update with Photos

 Lots of prizes up for grabs.  

We'll have 4 winners........

Prize #1

Paperclipping Premium Membership

($55 Value)

Winner will receive 6 month membership & have access to the huge archives of Paperclipping video tutorials.

Courtesy of Noell Hyman owner of Paperclipping.com

Prize #2

Unity Stamp Company Prize Pack

$75+/- Value

I believe these are available only in retail stores

Courtesy of Angela Magnuson owner of Unity Stamp Co.

Prize #3

2 sets of Ippity Stamps & Goodies Kit

 2 great sets of Ippity Stamps & a huge kit filled with supplies for creating (including 2 mini albums, tons of embellishments, 50 sheets of 6x6 designer paper, 3 magazines, adhesive, ink, Prima Journaling Paper & lots of journaling spots)

Courtesy of ME

Prize #4

$10 Gift certificate to Everything Scrapp'n' Online Scrapbook Store

Courtesy of Heather Turner owner of Everything Scrapp'n'

To enter leave a comment over at The Paperlife post here.

All in stock Ippity Stamps are on sale this week in honor of my spotlight.  

Click here - shop early for best selection.

I'm in the Spotlight....

I am so tickled to be in the spotlight over at The Paperlife website this week.  I was so nervous about the podcast part because I'm so shy & hate the sound of my voice when it's recorded.  But when it comes to scrapbooking I'm not so shy & will try anything... once.  I don't even remember most of what I said so I hope I didn't embarass myself & I tend to go on & on or get off topic so hope I didn't lol.

I really love listening to Amy each week since she has such a wide variety of papercrafters that are interviewed.  Amy is great at bringing out the best in each of them & making them shine.  Talking to her was like talking with a friend.  So she set me at ease & reeled me in when I was "chasing rabits" as they say in the south.

I have some fantastic prizes that my friends have allowed me to give away.  I'll post photos tomorrow since I'm out & about today.  Blogger was causing me grief last night & not only did it not post what I staged but it corrupted it & will not allow it to post this moring when I just clicked post? grrrrr what's up with that?  I'll just be a name dropper..... Premium Membership from Noell Hyman at Paperclipping, a HUGE stamp prize from Angela at Unity Stamps (even new Donna Downey ones drool), a gift certificate from Heather at Everything Scrapp'n' (she has Glimmer Mist y'all) and from me 2 sets of Ippity Stamps that I'm selling now & a kit of goodies to make mini albums/cards/scrapbook pages.

I know you will want to enter for these prizes so head on over to The Paperlife & leave me a comment here & listen to the podcast.

Paperclipping Monthly Challenge is UP

We need your help....

The challenges are posted at the Paperclipping form.  Lesley (hungryheffy) is offering a giveaway to you for helping get the word out....  Here is her post

Are you ready to have a bit of fun?! Then hop on over to the paperclipping forum, the crop circle. I am really excited to be hostingthis months challenge, and the challenge topics give a great variety so that even those of you which are a little pushed for time could easily be able to enter a quick layout.

There are SEvEN topics to choose from, and you only need to touch upon one of them to enter your creation into the challenge! AwEsoME!!

The challenge is open from 1st June to 30th June giving plenty of time to create something wonderful to share with us.

AND you can enter up to three times in each month!!!

The winner will be showcased by Noell from www.paperclipping.com,a huge honour, and a fantastic way to get your name out in to the world of crafting. The winner will also be showcased here on Hungry Heffy Crafts, and on one of the other judge’s websites, Crafty Suz.

So check out the challenge by going to this post, and you can even see a few examples that i have put up to inspire all you crafty peeps out there.

Get crafting….get paperclipping!!

And don’t forget to tell all your friends to join in too!! ♥

And because I am feeling generous….

A little something to make it interesting……

Anyone who posts the following into Twitter or Facebook, or on their Blog will be entered into a little drawing to win a mystery prize from me, which includes brads, flowers and a stamp! :0)  Drawing will take place on 6th june, and I may even hold more drawings after that for extra stuff!! International entries welcome! ♥

One rule, make sure you leave a comment on Lesley's blog here with a link to your post.

[Copy & Paste into Twitter / facebook etc]

Join us for Paperclipping’s monthly scrapbook challenge. Check it out here –> http://bit.ly/csLugG

ANd aBoVE, aLL ReMemBeR tO HavE LoTS oF FuN!!

♥

Thanks so much in advance for tweeting/FB this!

The Winners Are.....

Wasn't that an inspirational blog hop?  With my busy weekend I had to hop in bits but I think that gave me the time to really read the posts & gaze at the variety of talented cardmakers.

Thanks so much for all the great comments & follows.  It really means a lot.

As a thank you to everyone who visited & left a comment during the blog hop.  I'm offering 15% off all {ippity} orders over $20.  Remember I always offer free USA/APO shipping.  Just type OWH HOP in the comments & I will refund 15% of your Paypal payment back to you.  Shop HERE.

Winners selected by:  Random Integer Generator

The winner of the Lucky Me Mini Album Kit

courtesy of Susan Moore - Owner of EMI Scrapbooking Store in Cumming, Georgia.  She also has an online Etsy store called creativekits4u where she sells these kits to customers all over the world.  This kit features Little Yellow Bicycle Lucky Me papers.  MSRP $22.

Here are your random numbers:

17

Timestamp: 2010-06-01 12:27:35 UTC

 Paula said...

Oh my gosh, what great cards. I love how you incorporated the lined notebook paper. Thanks for sharing the story of your personal heroes with us too. Wonderful post!

May 29, 2010 5:00 PM

and

The winner of the {ippity} Stamps sets courtesy of me is:

Here are your random numbers:

4

Timestamp: 2010-06-01 12:33:37 UTC

 2 Worlds said...

Thats a good cause thanks for the giveaway Suz

May 29, 2010 12:39 PM

Congrats Paula & Jana!

Please shoot me an email with your snail mail address (sgray110 at gmail dot com) & I'll get your prizes out to you.

Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop

My name is Suz Gray.  I love all things paper & am known on the web as "craftysuz".  Welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop.  This is my 2nd year participating in this hop & wow has it grown.  Have you been enjoying the hop?  If you are one of my regular readers or just stumbled onto me I'm sure you will want to start from the beginning to see all the beautiful cards, be moved by touching stories, learn some new cardmaking & stamping techniques.  You can even enter to win some prizes along the way too.  The OWH Stars & Stamps blog is the beginning... find it here.  It starts at 10 am EST on Saturday & goes thru 6 pm EST on Monday.

The reason I support OWH is because it is a great way to use something I love to do to make it easier for our troops to stay in touch with their loved ones at home.  I feel like every card I make is a little thank you for the huge sacrifice they make for us.  I love the OWH blog posts where soldiers share what this organization means to them and their families.

We've had quite a few members of our family serve our country over the years.  Currently my cousin has a daughter & son serving in Afghanistan & Iraq.  I pray for Kayla & Vinnie's safety as they serve in dangerous places.

Spc. Vincent Hoover, a tanker with 1st Bn, 72nd Armor Regiment was awarded the silver star last October for his valor & quick actions when a grenade was thrown into his vehicle.  He threw it back out & all the lives in vehicle were saved.  See story here & here.  Our family is so proud of him!

Thank you to each service person & their families who sacrifice so much to serve our country.  On this Memorial Day I ask that you join me in saying a prayer for those families who have given the ultimate sacrifice of a loved one that they are comforted by the heroic way they lived & blessed by memories along with those who are currently in harms way.

===================

Now to share some cards.  I made a couple keeping with the Red, White & Blue - Missing You card theme requested by OWH.

For this card I used a Cuttlebug dry embossing folder to create the dotted texture on the kraft cardstock.

Supplies:  Cardstock (Bazzill & Bo Bunny); Paper (Pink Paislee & Making Memories); Punch (Stampin' Up); Die Cut (Nestabilities); Ink (Palette); String (Making Memories); Stamps (Ipppity Stamps & Unity Stamps); Trim (Wrights); Dry Embossing (Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Folder)

For this card I stamped on the plain navy background with Versamark ink & a flourish stamps by Ippity to give a subtle watermark look to the paper - in person it looks great and added a lot of interest.  I like to cut out stamped images like the butterfly here.

Supplies:  Paper (Creative Imaginations, K&Company, & The Paper Studio); Stamps (Unity Stamps & Ippity Stamps); Bling (Paper Reflections); Ribbon (Michaels' Dollar Bin); Ink (Palette & Versamark); Die Cut (Making Memories Slice - Think Pink)

I also did a photo tutorial showing how to make the layered watercolor flowers in the next two cards.  If you would like to see the tutorial please go to the next post.  I did this so people who didn't wouldn't have to scroll thru all those photos & instructions.

This flower is stamped multiple times then cut apart.  I used foam dimensional adhesive to add depth.  I dressed up an office supply tag with layers of stamping & distress ink.

Supplies:  Cardstock (Bazzill & Watercolor Paper); Paint (Grumbacher); Ink (Palette & Ranger Tim Holtz); Stamps (Ippity Stamps & Hero Arts); Die Cut (Nestabilities); Ribbon (American Crafts); Tag (Staples)

This card uses the same flower & watercolor painting but it is just a flat image.  The paint shading helps to give depth.  I stamped the leaves on canvas fabric for interest.

Supplies:  Cardstock (Bazzill & Watercolor Paper); Paint (Grumbacher); Ink (Palette & Colorbox); Stamps (Ippity Stamps & Unity Stamps); Twine (Making Memories); Canvas (Joann's); Dry Embossing (Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Folder)

===================

To thank you for stopping by... I have some prizes to offer you.

One winner will receive this "Lucky Me" mini album kit courtesy of Susan Moore - Owner of EMI Scrapbooking Store in Cumming, Georgia.  She also has an online Etsy store called creativekits4u where she sells these kits to customers all over the world.  This kit features Little Yellow Bicycle Lucky Me papers.  MSRP $22.

I sell Ippity Stamps (see tab at top of the page or click here for Memorial Day sale prices) so I am offering these 2 sets to one winner.

Leave a comment for your chance to win - sorry but open only to USA residents only due to shipping costs.  (make sure you leave an email address or way to get in touch with you).  Comments close at 6 pm EST on Monday & winner will be drawn by random number generator soon after that.

===================

Now head on over to the next stop on the blog hop.  Sharon has some pretty cards to share with you. 

3D Layered Flower Tutorial

This is a tutorial for the flowers I created for my cards on the OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop.  To keep my post from getting too long I thought I would do a separate post for the photo how to tutorial so those who wanted to see how I made them could look & those who didn't wouldn't have to scroll thru so many photos.

Here's the finished card showing the layered dimensional flower

Ok now I'll show you how I made them.

Step 1 - Gather Supplies:  Watercolor Paper, Stamp that can easily be cut apart once stamped (I used Ippity Stamp's Now & Always kit which I sell here); Watercolors (I used the cake style artist quality ones); Paintbrush; Waterproof Black Ink (I used Palette Hybrid Ink); Scissors or craft knife.

Step 2 - Stamp your image.   My stamp has 4 different sections so I will stamp it 5 times (in case of error you have a spare... I learned from experience)

Step 3 - Cut out your layers. I like to use micro tip scissors for the best detail.  But, you could also use a craft knife.  It is ok to cut outside the line leaving extra white since we are watercoloring and it is a casual technique.

These are the different types of watercolors that can be used that I had on hand.  Watercolor crayons (might be too think for this stamped image); watercolor pencils & water brush ( would work well for this since you could get in small places); watercolor paint in tubes (this would work well but I was being lazy not wanting to get out a pallet)

and finally the artist quality cake watercolors (which I chose to use for this project).  A fine round brush is helpful to keep control and still get good coverage.

Note:  You'll see I'm no expert on watercolor painting I just do my own thing.

Step 4 - Painting the layers.  I find it best to wet the paper lightly first then layer the color on in stages.  I start with lighter coverage and build intensity of color coverage as I go.  You can use a paper towel in between to blog & "erase" mistakes.

You can either paint choose to paint the next smaller layer in or leave it white.  The reason I paint it is because when the layers are assembled with dimensional foam adhesive it looks better.

Notice  I didn't do all the shading with different colors on this example.   The thing I like about watercolors is you don't have to be neat.  You'll see it will come together nice even when it looks like this lol.

Step 5 - Shape Petals.  To add interest & more depth I curled the petals by putting my index finger in center of each petal then squeezed it with the index finger and thumb on other hand.  Pinching & working it until I  get the desired curling.  This is best done while the paper is still damp.

Step 6 - Adhesive.  I added foam adhesive squares to the back of each layer making sure I only put it toward the center of each layer.  This allows the petals freedom to move & curl further.

Here's the finished flower ready to go on any project.

The coloring could be done with Copic markers, craft makers, colored pencils (blended with gamsol or left natural).  But I like that watercolors are translucent so the stamped lines show thru.

Here is another card where I did not cut the layers apart but just painted the stamped image whole.  The shading with different colors helped to give it depth.  I stamped the leaves on canvas fabric for interest.

So I hope this gives you some ideas of different things you can do with your stamps.