warmest wishes

Hi Everyone!  I have a card to share using the adorable Milly Cuddle Time image from Lili of the Valley.  Milly is so cute and I just love her little pets!  The sentiment is from the A5 Verses stamp set.

I stamped the image with tuxedo black memento ink on copic x-press it cardstock and colored her with copic markers.  I used these marker colors: E55, R11, R12, R14, W1, W3, W5, W7, W9, E53, E55, E43, R30, BG32, BG34, E23, E25, E27, E29, E31, E33, E35, E37, E000, E00, E11, E13, BG0000, BG000, colorless blender.

I cut the image out with a labels eight nestability die and used some patterned papers from the Lime Twist: Life of the Party paper pad from My Mind’s Eye.  I finished off my card with some hemp twine from CTMH, some baker’s twine from my etsy shop, and a couple sparkly pink buttons.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Niki

Let it Snow

Hi Everyone!  It’s my turn again today to share a card over on the Stampavie design team blog.  I was looking through my stamps to choose an image to use and decided to pull out one of Gillian Roberts’ older Christmas/Winter images called Snowman.  I love snowman images and this one is absolutely adorable!

I stamped the image on copic x-press it cardstock with tuxedo black memento ink.  Then I colored it with these copic markers: R20, R22, R24, R27, R46, YR04, YR07, G94, G99, W1, W3, W5, W7, C1, C3, BG15, E25, E33, E35, E37, B00, B000, B0000, colorless blender.

I used some patterned papers from Cosmo Cricket’s Jolly By Golly paper pad.  I added some white fun flock to the snowman’s hat and some polar white flower soft to the snow beneath them and on the tree.  I used a sentiment from Tina’s Wenke’s new Merry Christmas stamp set and finished off my card with some flowers (4mm deep red closed rose buds, white aster daisies, and 20mm deep red open roses) and some 5mm pearls (that I colored a darker red with a copic marker) from Wild Orchid Crafts. My sketch came from the current Wild Orchids Crafts challenge which is also a Christmas theme.

Hope you’re having a great weekend!

Niki

Waltzingmouse Stamps September Release Blog Waltz

Welcome to the Waltzingmouse Stamps September Release Blog Waltz!  There are four new sets releasing today: A Cottage Home, Say It Loud: Winter Holiday, Hocus Pocus, and A Cottage Christmas.   The design team is having a blog hop to celebrate the new release and to share some sneak peeks at the final set, A Cottage Christmas.

I hope you have been working your way along the Blog Waltz and leaving comments along the way.  You should have arrived here from Laurie's blog.  You have until September 22 to comment on as many of the Design Team blogs as possible because a winner will be selected at that time from one of the Design Team members’ blogs to win a Waltzingmouse Stamp set of choice. The winner will be announced on the 23rd on Claire’s blog.

I thought that the new A Cottage Christmas set would be perfect to use to create some tags that you could attach to package and homemade goodies.  I started by cutting out some 5" long tags using my Cricut and the Art Philosophy cartridge from Close to My Heart.  Then, I stamped the cottage and sentiment using tuxedo black memento ink.  I colored parts of the houses using some copic markers and a white koh-i-nor pencil (like a prismacolor pencil).  I love the look of white pencil colored on kraft cardstock.  Then, I finished off the tags with some white seam binding, baker's twine, and red buttons.

Okay, now it's time to hop on to Anya's blog to see what type of wonderful creation she has made to share with you today.

Happy Hopping!

Niki

Waltzingmouse Stamps September Release Day 3

Welcome to Day Three of the Waltzingmouse Stamps September release sneak peeks!  The new sets will be available on the 19th.  Today, we are showcasing the Hocus Pocus set.  This is such a fun set!  I love the great sentiments and that old fence is perfect for creating creepy Halloween scenes.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the great fence stamp in the Hocus Pocus stamp set was to create a spooky scene for a Halloween card.  I started by stamping Cicely from the Cicely at Halloween stamp set.  I stamped her again on Eclipse Masking tape and cut her out to create a mask.  Then, I masked her and stamped the house and the sidewalk from the new A Cottage Home stamp set (also available on September 19th).  Next, I stamped the fence and ravens from Hocus Pocus and the bats from Cicely at Halloween and Gracie at Halloween.  The sentiment is also from Gracie at Halloween.

After coloring the image with copic markers, I masked the house, yard, ground, and Cicely and used a grey copic marker and my air compressor to spray the cloudy night sky.  I punched a circle from a piece of eclipse tape, tore it in half, and used the upper half for my moon partially hidden behind the clouds.

This has to be one of my favorite cards that I've created in a while.  Everything just came together so well and I love how it turned out!  I didn't want anything to take away from the scene I created so I didn't add any embellishments and simply added it to a black card base.

Okay, now it's time to continue hopping around to see what the other ladies created with the new Hocus Pocus stamp set:

• Anya Schrier
• Belinda Chang Langner
• Claire Brennan
• Clare Buswell
• Jennifer Holmes
• Julia Aston
• Kate Whelan
• Kelly Schirmer
• Laurie Schmidlin
• Lynn Mercurio
• Sandie Dunne
• Sarah Martina Parker
• Tosha Leyendekker

Have a wonderful day!

Niki

Waltzingmouse Stamps September Release Day 1

Welcome to Day One of the Waltzingmouse Stamps September release!  There are some really neat sets releasing this month and the design team can't wait to share some sneak peeks.  The four new sets will be available for purchase on Sept 19th.

Today, we are sharing sneak peeks of the new A Cottage Home stamp set.  Claire added so many intricate details to these houses!  They are just amazing!  I love that little walkway stamp that you can add in front of the houses.

I love the look of images stamped on kraft cardstock without any coloring.  (Of course, the houses would look amazing colored, too.)  I stamped the house on kraft cardstock with black ink from Close to My Heart.  I used some patterned papers from My Mind's Eye's Lost & Found Market Street line.  I added some stitching around the edges and finished off my card with some crocheted lace and some pearls from Close to My Heart.

Hop on around to see what the rest of the designer's created with this set:

• Anya Schrier
• Becca Feekan
• Claire Brennan
• Jennifer Holmes
• Julia Aston
• Kate Whelan
• Kelly Schirmer
• Laurie Schmidlin
• Lynn Mercurio
• Sarah Martina Parker
• Tosha Leyendekker

Have a wonderful day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Niki

Christmas Wishes Sent to You

I started this card last week and finally had the chance to finish it up yesterday.  Things have been really hectic since my kids started school.  Hopefully, we’ll settle into a routine soon.

Anyway, this adorable image is called Twinkling Star and is one of the new images that Lili of the Valley released earlier this month.  I used some patterned papers from Echo Park’s Life is Good line (not a Christmas line, but I liked these papers for a Christmas card).  I used some cream lace from my etsy shop along with some brads from my stash and some seam binding that I dyed.

It’s so easy to dye white seam binding to any color you need.  Just add a little water to a small container, add some drops of reinker, and stir.  Cut your seam binding to length and drop it into the container and swirl it around (I used my paper piercer).  You can add a few more drops of reinker to get it just the color you need.  I used sweet blush and creme brulee dye reinkers from Close to My Heart.  Then, remove the seam binding using your paper piercer so you don’t dye your fingers.  Set it on a paper towel and fold it in the middle to help remove the extra moisture.  Let it dry a bit and add it to your project.

I colored my image with these copic markers on copic x-press it cardstock: R46, R20, R21, R22, E33, E35, E37, E23, E25, E27, Y35, E000, E00, E11, E13, R12, BG10, colorless blender.  I used a sentiment from Lili of the Valley’s Christmas Circular Sentiments set.

(Sorry, this isn’t the best photo.  I’m hoping you can see the sparkle and flocking I added to the image.)  I added some white fun flock to her clothes, some white flower soft under her feet as snow, some glossy accents to the falling snow, and used a Sakura Gelly Roll pen to add some sparkle to the stars.

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Niki

Teacher

Hi Everyone!  It’s hard to believe that summer is about over and school is starting up again.  My two little ones started last week.  With school starting up again, it’s time to create cards and projects to let those special teachers in our lives know just how much we appreciate everything they do for us and our children.

I decided to use the adorable Just to Say image from the Laurence Collection for my card.  I used some patterned papers from October Afternoon’s Schoolhouse paper pad and added some stitching before adhering them to my card base.  Then, I die cut my image with a labels 8 nestability die, stamped the sentiment (from my School Time Additions set that I illustrated for Papertrey Ink), wrapped some baker’s twine around the bottom, and stitched a few buttons in place before adhering my image with foam adhesive.

  
I stamped the image with tuxedo black memento ink and used a combination of promarkers and prismacolor pencils to color my image.  The first photo shows just the promarker coloring.  I used these Promarkers to color my image: warm grey 3, ice grey 1, pale pink, buttercup, putty, sandstone, caramel, burnt sienna, blender.  I have a limited number of promarkers and I wanted more depth to my shading.  So, I used prismacolor pencils to add more shading like you see in the second photo.  I used these Prismacolor pencils: cool grey 50%, french grey 50%, french grey 90%, sepia, yellow ochre, henna. 

Have a wonderful day!

Niki