paper piecing challenge

this weeks challenge on southernbreezes.com is paper piecing. this card technique is "faux quilting". i used scraps of paper, slicing the pieces into 3/8 inch wide strips. i cut a 1 inch square and then started placing the strips around the center square .... working from the inside to the outside. i trimmed the edges that were uneven and mounted it to a card front. i tried to choose coordinating colors from my scrap box....added some sheer ribbon and a bit of bling to the center.

i think the pinks would make a perfect baby card.....no sentiment yet, as i wait to put those on until i know exactly where and why the card is going. and since i had so much fun with the pinks, i moved on to the greens...i used my CB embossing folders on the card fronts to add some texture as well

another criss cross card.

this one is not sealed on the bottom, so it doesnt become an envelope card. the belly band slips on and off so the card can stand on it's own.

criss cross card

this is an easy card to create even though it looks complicated.....i found the instructions online by googling criss-cross cards. try one !

spotlight technique

the "spotlight" is made by stamping the image in black on a card front and leaving it uncolored. next step is to stamp the image again on cardstock and choose a small area of the stamp to "spotlight". this is done with a 1 inch circle punched out of a part of the image, and matting that on a black cardstock 1 1/4 inch circle .....coloring only that small piece and placing it on the larger image with a pop-dot (over the same area). for extra dimension i added a jelly circle....but you could also use crystal accents to give it a shine.

this, and many of the techniques i use, can be found on splitcoaststampers.com in the resource section.

a hoppy frog !!

image: penny black
colored with copics and sprinkled with diamond dust....

easter bunny

Pat Thorpe (southernbreezes.com) was the inspiration for this cute bunny. he is made of 1 1/4 and 1 inch circles, an oval nestie for his feet and a leaf nestie for his ears. his little tail is a small flower punch sprinkled with diamond dust. the green grass is made with the CB sticks embossing folder inked with color box grass green ink. CS from Nana's nursery stack....girls. sentiment stamp from PTI mailboxes set

Z fold card

I used the "crafty individuals" stamp by Magenta and selected one portion of the stamp for this card. image was colored with copics and highlighted with a bit of diamond dust and 2 jelly circles. Cardstock from "Once Upon a Time" mat stack....the message flower on the inside was made with a flower nestability die

challenge card for southernbreezes

the challenge: make a window card.....
i used my oval nestability die to cut the oval window, then cut a size larger for the frame (inked and sprinkled with clear glitter). placed a scrap of printed acetate on the inside of the window and then stamped the roses with dark gray memento ink and colored with copics. i stamped and cut out additional roses....added pop-dots to give them more dimension ...finally added a bit of bling to the centers with stickles and diamond dust to parts of the roses. the rose stamped on the inside can be seen through the printing....

sentiment from PTI green thumb set

inked cuttlebug textile embossing folder

for this project, i used the CB textile embossing folder, inked the side that has the black printing with warm red chalk in and ran it through my cuttlebug. this put a bit of red on the background that you see under the stamped image.

the image was stamped with memento black ink and colored with copics. i then added some shine to the tulips with crystal lacquer. the leaves have an added layer of green twinkling water applied with an aqua brush.

you can also put ink on the other side of the folder for yet another effect. give the inked CB folders a try, experimentation will show you what folders and inks work best for the type of effects you want.

double cuttled card

forgot to upload image ! you can tell i am new at this

march 20....easter card

This Easter card is "double cuttled". I ran the pink CS through my CB using the birds and swirls folder, then again using the diamonds folder. I did an ink to paper with chalk ink which highlighted the diamonds and birds. Then i stamped with a darker pink using a mesh background stamp. I made this stamp using a rubber texture mat made for clay !! A prima flower with a button mini brad and Easter sentiment from PTI set...mailboxes. Spray in back of the flower made using a Martha Stewart punch of a branch.

Since I am a newbie at blogging, I forgot to describe the cards I just posted. Hopefully, I will improve with time and give a few details about each card.

I will try and post a few cards each week. I participate in a few weekly challenges, so I will try to post my offerings here as well.

I follow several blogs and find inspiration in all of them, so I hope something in my blog sparks your creativity or puts a smile on your face.

The kitty pictured is one of our two cats.....Mugsy and Xeena. This picture looks like our Xeena. They are rescues from the Humane Society and are 10 years old. We love them dearly. Our two human children are grown and living in New Hampshire and Maryland. We have three grandbabies and six grand-furbabies. We love all of them dearly too !

Visit when you can and leave a comment if you wish.

march 09 cards

here are some cards i made in march, 2009