You Rock, Girlfriend!!!

This is a quick post on a card that I was asked to make for a lady that my husband works with.  She is girly and glamorous and a very hard worker.  One of her team members wanted to recognize her at their last staff meeting!
I cut the lady out with my Forever Young cartridge using flesh toned Prisma card stock.  The paper for her dress was from some American Craft paper that I had in my stash.  Her boots were cut out of platinum shimmer card stock.  The doily was cut from a Cherry Lynn Design die that I bought at a great local Paper craft studio called, The Cutting Garden.  The sentiment was from a Hero Arts stamp set (name unknown).  I punched the sentiment out with the Modern Label decorative punch from Stampin Up.
Thanks for peeking in!

~Mel~

Love is in the Air!!!

Hi All,
Here are a few Valentine's that I made for some of hubby's co-workers (for them to give to their spouses).  I used card stock for Recollections, and the patterned paper is from a K&Company paper pad that I bought last year at Michael's. The heart doilies, ribbon and floral sprigs are from Michael's as well.  I bought the butterflies and flowers were from our local Dollar store.  The valentine ephemera is from a pack I bought last winter.
The stamps are from the Stampsmith.  They are from Estelle's plate of rubber called, Darling Little Boys Art Rubber Stamps. I stamped the images out using Ancient Page ink (Black) on Ranger Glossy Paper.  I used my water color crayons and a water brush to add some color to these photo images.
I hope you like these cards.  Drop over and check out Estelle's site, her stamps are amazing!!!

Thanks for peeking in!
~Mel~

Welcome Little Man

Hi All, sorry that I have been MIA this month, life has been a little Chaotic.  I have done some creating but not as much as I like, or need.  Some days, when I don't do something creative, I feel unfulfilled, like something is missing in my day.
This card I created for a co-worker of my husband's.  She recently had her first baby, a wonderful little man!!!!
The paper is from a DCWV paper stack for 'Little Boys'.  I bought a package of vintage paper doilies from a local thrift store and I thought that it was perfect for this project.  The flower is from Prima and the stick pin was handmade with beads that I purchased at Michael's.  The bow is made of seam binding in pale blue.
The stamped image is from Stampsmith.  The image of the little boy is from Estelle's plate of stamps called, Darling Little Boys Art Rubber Stamps.  The sentiment is from the same plate of stamps.
I hope that winter is passing quickly for you all......

Thanks for peeking in!
~Mel~

My Final Christmas Card for the Season....Maybe....LOL

Hi All,
Ok, OK....I love Christmas stamps.  I LOVE them.  I would make Christmas cards all year if I could and a group of crafty friends were discussing this recently and have made a vow to make one Christmas card a month and that way, in December, we aren't panicked!
I made this card with another one of my Stampsmith Stamps.  This stamp is from Estelle's stamps from her Christmas Cards # 2 Art Rubber Stamps.  This card I turned into a gift card holder.  I used Recollections card stock for the entire card.  I stamped my image out with Black Ancient Page Ink on Ranger glossy card stock.  I cut out the image and outlined the image with a gold Sakura pen.  I used some water color crayons and water brush on the image to add some color to the scene.  I double matted it on card stock that I inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I added a poinsettia flower to the image with Martha Stewart punches and Recollections Bling.  I turned the matted image into a pocket and created a tag that was the length of the matted image to the edge of the patterned paper.  I added some red ribbon from my stash to the tag .  I stamped a corner stamp from a Recollections Holiday stamp set in all four corners and made 4 slits in the corners in order to add the gift card to the tag. The patterned paper on the front of the card was from a DCWV Seasonal pack from last year.  The inside of the card is tied together with the same card stock and patterned paper from the card front.  The poinsettias are made the same way as the one on the front.  The 'Celebrate' stamp was from the 1.50$ bins at Michael's last year.

Thanks for peeking in!
~Mel~

Happy New Year!!!

Hello All,
I hope that everyone had a wonderful and safe New Year celebration!
I have been trying to get my craft space tidied up and get back to creating but cleaning up in this room always means doing some 'purging'.  I donated a bunch of supplies to hubby's work (he works with 'at-risk' youth) and it warms me when he comes home telling me all the projects that the girls are creating!
For this card, I picked up one of my Sweat Pea stamps that I LOVE but never use.  I colored her with my colored pencils and orderless mineral spirits.  This is something that I love to do but need more practice.  I am very pleased with how she turned out.  I had a lot of fun doing this card that I created 3 others.  The paper was from the clearance section of a local craft store.  the lace I attached was from a thrift store in my area and the flower was from the dollar store that I painted with some homemade glimmer paint that I made last spring.  The stick pin was in my stash.  I used gold and platinum Stickles on her jewelry and the coins in her treasure chest.

Thanks for peeking in!
~Mel~

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Hi All,
Here is yet another design team project for The Stampsmith.  These cards were created after Christmas but the images were just too cute not to use this season.  The Stampsmith image is actually the sentiment that uses the last of the Twas the Night before Christmas. The image is from Estelle's holiday plate of rubber called Christmas Greetings Art Rubber Stamps.  I used Chocolate Archival Ink to stamp out the image.  The reindeer in the back ground is from a Tim Holtz, Collection called Merry Christmas.  I used the same chocolate ink to create the background paper on Kraft card stock.  Once all the deer were dry, I sprayed the card front with Sheer Shimmer Spritz by Tsukineko.  I adhered some Recollections Holiday ribbon to the card front and added the sentiment.  The bling is from Recollections and the poinsettias are from a Martha Stewart Crafts.  I inked all the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  The inside of the card was using up scarps of the card stock (all Recollections) I used for the card front.

Thanks for peeking in!
~Mel~

Dear Santa...

Hello All,
I was so busy the last several weeks that I haven't been able to work on some of my Stampsmith Christmas stamps.  I love the Christmas Cards # 2 Art Rubber Stamps from Estelle.  It was the first plate of StampSmith stamps that I ever owned.  I LOVE this Santa image.  He is so jolly and kind looking.  This stamp is so clear that you can almost see the twinkle in his eye.
I stamped this image using Sepia Ancient Page ink on Ranger Glossy card stock. I used my watercolor crayons and a water brush on the image.  I added some red to his lips and rouge to his cheeks and a bit of blue to his eyes to make them twinkle just a bit more.  I really LOVE this image.  The Kraft and red card stock that I used was from Recollections.  I used a piece of patterned paper from the Christmas Combo paper pack from DCWV (Last years collection).  I inked all of the paper with the new Distress Ink color of Gathered Twigs.  I think this is my new favorite color of distress ink.  My fingers are crossed that Ranger will eventually release the re-inker for these seasonal colors that they have released in the last few months.  The ribbon I used was from Recollections as well (Their Christmas collections).  I punched the poinsettia's from card stock scraps using my Martha Stewart punch and added some bling to the flower centres.  The stamp has Ho Ho Ho on it originally but I stamped out a sentiment from my stash.  The inside of the card is finished with scrap patterned paper and card stock along with another poinsettia.

Thanks for peeking in!
~Mel~