Valentine Defined tree

Good morning, crafting friends... The last day of Sale a Bration is today :)

Just popping by to share a bright cheery card with you. A tree image that I had stamped in Old Olive ink. Patterned paper in the background is from the Ice Cream Parlor DSP which is a Sale a Bration item.

Striped Daffodil Delight 1 1/4" grosgrain ribbon wrapped around the card front and a Designer Big Button to finish off.

Enjoy the warmer weather outside for those of you who live in a different climate than us here :)

Happy stamping,

Liza

Baby Tees 2

Hello there, crafting friends... Are you feeling the excitement of Sale a Bration? Tomorrow is the last day :) I have been so busy.

Here are a continuation of the Baby Tees coloring. I had been having so much fun, playing around with markers in a new way. I don't have that many outline stamps, you see :)

A stripy baby boy one.... with fabric brad from the Sew Suite line.

A polka dot pink :) The dots are soft suede. I also find that I lately I like to wrap that 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon on my cards. It gives such a texture, so pretty... I then covered up the back of the card front with a piece of plain white card stock to hide the ribbon ends.

Another girly one... Melon Mambo and Pink Pirouette. Love playing with bright colors lately.

Thank you crafting friends for taking a peek today. Have a wonderful week to you.

Happy stamping,

Liza

Baby Tees welcome

Good morning, crafting friends...

I have several baby requests coming up, so I am looking into my baby stamp images :) Plus, dare I say it?, I have wanted to get out of my comfort zone and color a stamped image :) Haha!!

So, here is one colored baby tee, simply filled in with markers. No shading, nothing. Just super simple.

The image comes from Baby Tees jumbo wheel that I had rolled out on a whole 8 1/2 x 11" Whisper White card stock in Early Espresso ink before, in an attempt to make my own patterned paper but never got to finish.

I punched out one of the tees and colored it in: Baja Breeze, Daffodil Delight, and Bashful Blue markers. It is actually quite fun. I punched out several more baby tees and colored them with whatever colors I feel like and put them aside.

Then I finished it into this card.

I had cut a rectangle of Daffodil Delight card stock, dry embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder and then, this is the fun part for me, I sponge daubered the edges and the raised embossed image lightly with Soft Suede ink. I really love that look :)

Thank you for peeking...

Hugs,

Liza

Sweet Summer

Hello there, crafting friends...

Just popping in with a card using the Sweet Summer stamp set, which is a Sale a Bration stamp set and currently running until March 31. So, 3 more days :)

One of my favorite technique and I find it relaxing is making my own patterned paper. I got to pick the color combo and the images :) and have incorporated all the images in the Sweet Summer stamp sets into this one. The best part is that I did this while my girlfriend Dolly was visiting one Saturday evening. We chatted the night away in my craft room after I put the kids to bed and our husbands hung out on the couch outside. What a lovely time we had!!

Happy stamping,

Liza

Punch Bunch

Happy Sunday, crafting friends... Hope your weekend was restful. Our family went away for spring break to Bali. We returned yesterday: really tanned and having much yummy Balinese food :) and had some precious time meeting and catching up with friends and family who happened to be in town that week as well.

These are projects that I had made before we left for vacation but haven't posted.

I have played with the Punch Bunch stamp set (which is a free Sale a Bration item that is currently ongoing until March 31, so there is still time if this interests you).

The cutest owl family is coming :) I had stamped them in various colors, then simply punched out with my Two-Step Owl XL Punch and arranged them in group of 3.

Here is a quick tag using another stamp in the Punch Bunch stamp set, lovely flowers that I had colored with markers, punched out with 1 3/4" scallop circle punch. And mounted with the 2 3/8" scallop circle punch and (again! I am such a fan :) ) a piece of doily.

The Designer Big Button in Early Espresso finished off my banner shaped tag. Everything is sponge daubered with Soft Suede ink.

Ok, crafting friends... I wish you a good week coming ahead. The kids are back to school tomorrow.

Happy stamping,

Liza

Love life... live life

Hello there, crafting friends... I thought that sentiment stamp is a good one! It comes from You're a Gem stamp set which is in the Occasions Mini catalog.

I have paired Riding Hood Red with Night of Navy. Added a stacked flowers from the Fun Flowers die and a hemp twine to finish it off.

Here is another one in the same Riding Hood Red, Night of Navy combo. Adding a Pink Pirouette die cut bracket and a Bashful Blue flower.

That is left over polka dot paper from the Love Letter DSP that I had over stamped with the damask image from the Bliss stamp set (which is a Sale a Bration free item- until March 31, 2011).

I hope you like it. Thank you for peeking in today and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Hugs,

Liza

Artistic Etchings altered books

Hello there, crafting friends... A friend asked me to make 3 altered books, and I have looked into the Artistic Etchings and Notably Ornate stamp sets for inspiration for this one.

Making altered books are a fun project and you end up with something beautiful to keep or to give away, so why not... :)

I have enjoyed embellishing the book too: Love Letter DSP, Brights Designer Buttons, hemp twine, Basic Pearls, Basic Rhinestones, Chantilly lace...

Here is another one, using the color palette in the Springtime Vintage suite that is in the Occasions Mini catalog. A very pretty and very feminine patterned paper, that reminds me of Laura Ashley dresses - called Springtime Vintage DSP.

Matching stamp set called Baby Blossoms set. Paired with Antique Brad and a sliver of grosgrain ribbon. I made the square scallop die cut into a tag.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Happy crafting,

Liza

Growing Green

Hello there, crafting friends... I hope your week is going well. Next week is spring break here, so we will be away for a family vacation. Look forward to just do nothing!! :)

Growing Green is the name of this stamp set. It has that clean organic lines that work for masculine projects too, because I know it can be hard sometimes to find ideas for masculine cards.

The "ruffles" underneath the focal image was inspired from a dress my daughter owns :) I have translated it into a card and was able to use some scrap strips for these. I love it when I find ways to use up DSP scraps. I ruffled up the scallop paper strips for dimension and inked the edges for depth.

I have also enjoyed lately working with spring colors. It feels so refreshing...

I have enjoyed pairing pink and orange (Pretty in Pink and Peach Parfait). Yummy... Scallop Circle die cut, dry embossed with the Elegant Lines embossing folders, inked the raised surface of the embossed circle with Soft Suede ink. I love that look, as well.

Happy spring, crafting friends... Thank you for stopping by.

Hugs,

Liza

Newsprint DSP

Good morning!!

I just got this Newsprint DSP and quickly ripped it open and played with it. I love that look of old newspaper. I am also crazy about edging everything with the Soft Suede ink and sponge dauber.

Those little scraps of paper from the Brights Designer Series Paper stack, I cut them up to make banners and punched into flowers.

Hemp twine and sentiment from level 2 hostess Apple Blossoms set finish off the card. The sentiment was stamped in Rich Razzleberry.

Next is a quick card from the Sew Suite line (in the Occasions Mini catalog): Sweet Stitches DSP, Sweet Stitches Designer Big Buttons, Sew Suite stamp set and wrapped with Pumpkin Pie striped ribbon.

Love this cheerful line and the bright candy colors :) Yum...

Happy stamping to you all.

Liza

Nature Walk sympathy

Hello there, crafting friends.... Ugh... We needed not one, but two! sympathy cards last week. As much as I love making cards, this one is definitely not easy to make.

I picked out the Nature Walk stamp set and its matching Botanical Gazette suite line for this one: Botanical Gazette DSP, Nature Walk stamp set and picked my color combo from the DSP: which is Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso. I added the Pumpkin Pie striped ribbon for a pop of color.

The Spiral border punch make a nice edge for the focal point, and the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Happy stamping...

Liza

Sew Suite

Hello there, crafting friends... good morning!! What have you made this week? Today I wanted to blog about 3 different cards that comes from the same focal point/ my own hand made embellishments. I find that I love making my own embellishments!! Have you tried it? It is so much fun :)

I started with the button card image from Sew Suite stamp set, stamped it on a piece of Naturals Ivory card stock in soft Suede ink. Inked the edges. And then, just arranged some buttons from the Brights Buttons pack. That becomes my home made embellishment. They look like this:

Then, I got working with the cards. That ruler measurement stamp at the bottom makes a nice border :) This color combo is: Pacific Point, Peach Parfait (In Color DSP Stack), Pear Pizzazz (In Color ribbon) and Rich Razzleberry.

Here is another color combo:

Real Red, Blushing Bride, Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive.

And last is a sweet soft color combo of Blushing Bride and lots of Very Vanilla and Black. Must be because I am a pink girl.

Finished off with Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

Thank you for peeking, crafting friends... Enjoy the rest of your week.

Hugs,

Liza

Fun Flowers die

Hello there, crafting friends... I have seen Natasha's sketch last week from the Clean and Simple stamping blog but haven't had time to play :) So here it is now...

The color combo is Old Olive, Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride, Elegant Eggplant, and Real Red. All the pieces are left over from my scrap bin and die cuts that I had cut earlier :) So this card comes together super quickly.

Thanks for peeking, crafting friends.

Hugs,

Liza

Easter Blossoms

Good morning and happy Sunday, crafting friends... So happy to be able to play in my craft room again after a whole week of being busy! Ugh...

Here is one quick and easy card with the FTL130 as my starting point. The sketch above is what I jotted down on paper.

Then it comes to this:

A piece of Naturals Ivory card stock that I had stamped with the branch image from the Easter Blossoms set. I love that Asian look. So I will probably be using it year round :)

I pulled out a Tangerine Tango card base, Elegant Eggplant ink for the background stamped card stock panel, a Pear Pizzazz ribbon and a Daffodil Delight Designer Big Button. The sentiment panel is a left over Top Note die from a past project that I repurposed for this one.

Sentiment is from You're a Gem stamp set which is in the Occasions Mini Catalog. I love that font :) It was stamped with Elegant Eggplant ink.

Happy spring, crafting friends...

Hugs,

Liza

A Texas birthday card

Happy Saturday, crafting friends... Are you pottering about with your craft supplies this weekend? I definitely do :)

I made this birthday card in honor of our youth pastor who is (you guessed it) from Texas. I don't know if you can see that Texas flag in there? This is a big accordion card that his wife will have all the youth sign :)

I love that First Edition Specialty DSP (available in the Occasions Mini catalog) that I had used as a background, it is the kind of paper that goes with everything and every style. Masculine, cutesy,... you name it. Plus it has 24 sheets in a package so that goes a long way.

I also find that the Scallop Squares Duo is a useful die. I usually die cut a bunch of those squares and tuck them in one of my vintage glass jars and they are ready to go whenever I need one for a card or a project.

Next is another card that I made with the Bliss damask image stamp as a background. I love the look it creates. I then wrapped a Night of Navy striped ribbon and the sentiment from Engraved Greeting set. I am still going through the big stack of doilies that my friend Annie gave me (I think the package has 250 pieces of them!!). I sponge daubered (is that a word?) the edges with Soft Suede ink for that antique look.

And those Designer Big Buttons from the Occasions Mini is certainly useful to finish off a project and give it a bold look. I am about depleting my supply now. I know the Designer Big Buttons are made to coordinate with the Sew Suite line and the Springtime Vintage line but I don't always put them to use that way. Once you break out of that kind of thinking, they really are useful for a variety of other projects and one big button adds so much. So I love my big buttons :)

All righty crafting friends... time for family time now. Thank you for peeking in. Enjoy your weekend!!

Hugs,

Liza

Choo Choo

Happy Wednesday, crafting friends... how has your week been? It is already March and just to let you know that the Stampin' Up! annual Sale a Bration 2011 is still going on until March 31, 2011.

My friend Ellen came by last week and we wanted to make something for a boy. Hmm... so I pulled out this Choo Choo stamp set and lined them up in Night of Navy, Tangerine Tango and Wild Wasabi. Ah... boys' colors are needed sometimes, right? I know some of you have boys, so hopefully this is a good idea to have.

The sentiment banner was so much fun to make by snipping off a corner of the Crumb Cake card stock and crumpled it up a little bit. The sentiment stamp is from the Something to Celebrate hostess level 2 stamp set in the Occasions Mini Catalog.

I then added that piece of Night of Navy card stock that will be "ground". I had stamped it with the Dot dot dot stamp set in Versamark ink. The Dot dot dot stamp is a Sale a Bration 2011 gift with a $50 purchase. And then, Night of Navy 1/8" taffeta ribbon to finish off.

Thank you for stopping by, crafting friends. Enjoy your evening.

Hugs,

Liza