HOC Inspiration Photo "Kindness"

Spring has finally arrived and with it the sweet sound of the birds chirping in the morning.  I am finally able to sleep with my windows open and just love hearing the sound in the mornings.  Then I take my coffee and spend a relaxing "ME" time in my hot tub outside for 20-30 minutes before my day becomes too hectic.  Between you and me the hot tub also manages to get those old bones moving as well.  So when I saw the "Inspiration Photo" for our House of Cards I could hear the little bird just calling to me while I was having my morning coffee.

There has been a lot of watercolour put forth lately and I thought that I would give it a try with this sketch.  

I started by fussy cutting out two feathers, at least I hope they look like feathers, onto watercolour paper.  Then using various shades of the purple (although it came out pink) I washed the side of the feather and then did the same with the yellow on the opposite side.  In order to give the feather a little more character I used the finest brush I had and gave it a vein down the centre with black.

I used the ink splotches from French Foliage and again my black ink and lightly accented the background.  

I wanted to keep the background light and airy so that the feathers would be the centre of attention.

Although this card may appear a little girly I plan on giving it to my husband "just because" he has been killing me with "kindness" these past few weeks with everything that we have been trying to accomplish between looking after my Dad, both of our kids moving within a few weeks of each other and the multitude of other things we have been trying to accomplish.  His words are always so encouraging and kind and I cherish each and every word.  

I hope you like what I have come up with.  What do you see, hear, think of this great inspiration photo.  Show us your stuff and don't forget to join in on the fun over at House of Cards.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

TST #152

Don't know about the rest of you folks but "are you tired of snow yet!".  Over the past couple of days while I was making this card we managed to obtain at least 18 inches and as I type out this blog post it is snowing yet again.  Maybe that is why I decided to take todays Try Stampin on Tuesday and make it a Clean and Simple card with a punch of colour.

Our twist today with the sketch is to make it "Well Worn", however, I missed that part when I was putting my card together, but if you consider all the shovelling that I have done lately I would say that would be my "Well Worn" portion!

I had a couple of attempts at this card.  First I thought I would use the new Pantone colour for 2014 a shade of purple, but then couldn't get the effect that I wanted for the card so then I decided to venture through my various stamps and found "Meadow" which I purchased last year and loved the look of it when I bought it be haven't used it.  I really do need to go through my stamps and have a garage sale of the ones I don't use.

My punch of colour comes with the sun.  I punched out a circle on a Post-it note and sponged the sun.  I had originally planed on only having this as a white card but then when I was stamping the sentiment I slipped and the image doubled itself so round two I trimmed out the original card and mounted it on the yellow CS.

Clean and Simple, quick and easy - unless you slip!

Hope you like what I have come up with, now it's your turn.  Need more inspiration, hop on over to the TST site and see what the other Great Designers have in store for you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one!

HOC C&S Inspiration Photo "may all your WISHES come true!

House of Cards this week has an Inspiration Challenge.

When I look at this picture I not only see the colours I can almost picture the special occasion going on at the table.  Would it be a Birthday Celebration? a Romantic Dinner for 2? or a Special question being asked?  That was my inspiration for the card.

I started with my trusty Post-it notes and created a mask to run my Very Vintage wheel through. Then I sponged the background before removing the mask. 

Next my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig to the rescue and I stamped the "wishes" through the sponged area. Again with my jig I reinked only the smaller sayings and aligned them at the top and bottom of the sponges area. Then just in case that Special question was asked I added a little touch of bling!

What do you see when you look at the inspiration photo.  Colours or .....  Show us what has inspired you about this photo.  Then make sure that you share it with us over at House of Cards.  Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

"Kindness"

I'm on a roll right now.  With a few days off and needing to switch my focus from looking after my Father to other things I have decided to play along on a couple of different challenges today.

The first challenge is a colour challenge at 4 Crafty Chicks.

The second challenge is from Clean & Simple Stamping.

I found the sketch challenge first and then decided on the colour challenge.  Next came the stamp set to use.  I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve and needed just the right stamp set to accomplish it.  I love clean and simple cards and enjoy making them, but don't do it enough.

Starting with a little math and using Post-it notes I masked off the top and middle where the sentiment would go.  Next, again using the Post-it notes I started with the individual lines.  Each line is 3/4" wide with a small space between them.  I inked up my stamp set starting with the lightest colour first and then randomly added the additional colours.  Once the area had been stamped I then coloured in the area with a sponge.

Once I had all the stamping and sponging done I removed the masked area for the sentiment and using the Stamp-a-ma-jig I stamped the Sentiment.

 

The inside of the card has the same stamp used just across the bottom corner but with no sponging.

I have not taken part in either of these challenge sites before so I hope that I have done them both justice.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

Showers of Happiness

                                                                                    

I had a special request from a co-worker for a shower card so here is my attempt at a quick and easy card.

Starting with a piece of CS that I had used to cut out one of the Labels Five Nestabilities I used the other half of the cut out as my card front.  This is adhered to a piece pink DSP.  The umbrella image from Rue Des Fleur was stamped onto the DSP and then I stamped a second image on a piece of white CS.  Then I cut out the top portion of the umbrella and popped it up with dimensionals.  The different points of the umbrella ends were accented with jewels and the handle was accented with a small bow.

The sentiment was stamped using my Stamp-a-ma-jig.  I stamped the "happiness" first and then centred my "wishing you" ver the centre of that.

Simple and quick.

Hope you enjoy.

Nancy

I love hear your comments so please don't forget to leave one.

May All Your WISHES come True!

So I have another co-workers Birthday coming up.  This particular person is not a frilly or over the top kind of gal so I decided to go with something plain yet a little fancy.  The flower is made from a combination of Fun Flowers Die and Daisies #2 die.  The stem of the flower is stamped omitting the smaller wording and using them as the leaves.

I know she will be pleased.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

TST#46

I have been asked by CherylAnn Robinson to be a Guest Designer this week on Try Stampin on Tuesday.

The challenge is this...

So after a bit of thought process this is what I have come up with.

I started by printing out a scaled sample of the card.  Then using sticky notes I measured and cut out the different shapes.

Starting with Elegant Eggplant I sponged the smallest rectangle horizontally. I covered that one and then sponged the next one with Rich Razzleberry vertically.
Covering this one I went on to the last one and sponged it again using Elegant Eggplant.

Once I was finished I stamped the snowflakes using my favourite snowflake stamp set (sorry not a SU one and can't remember who it is by). I blended the two colours across the stamp set and laid it across the card.  Added a little bling in the center of the snowflakes...you are done!

The illusion is that when you look at it it actually looks like there are three different layers on the card but actually there is only one and it is all done with just the inks.  When I brought the card to work, which will end up going with the gift for our department lead, the girls actually thought I had made it on the computer.  They were amazed that the layers looked so real.

Lastly...don't forget your envelop as it is also part of the great gift that you are about to give.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

Another Wreath

A few days ago I showed you how to make this little wreath using the MS Branch Punch and the SU Northern Snowflake.

With my sample I decided to make this simple card.  I cut a slice in the card and ran the ribbon through the snowflake and around the top of the card so that it also showed on the inside.  Then added a simple bow.  Embossed it with the Cuttlebug Iron Works and then stamped the sentiment using SU Heard from the Heart.

It is always great when you are able to use up what you already have and sometimes we have more scraps than we know what to do with.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy