Lovely Time to Play

 

I used FDC by Pamela's Tumbling Scarecrow set; the paper is from Club Scrap and a package of papers I got at Big Lots from DCWV called Once Upon a time. I used nestibilities for the pumpkins and the mats. The ribbon is actually for crocheting but I loved the colors in it. The pumpkins were stamped using versamark and Memories black, then clear embossed. They were watercolored with Derwent watercolor pencils with an occasional use of markers to deepen the colors. This is a really fun sketch....thanks for dropping by!!

Cracked Glass

The idea for this card was borne last night while I was tossing and turning trying to fall asleep. I still had it in my head this morning and started on it early, early, early! I am still using the Fall Flowers set from FCD, but elected to use one of the sayings and a leaf this time. The paper is from DCWV, Once Upon a Time theme, and is gorgeous. The picture really doesn't do it justice. The best part about it is I found the package at Big Lots for $5.00 (8 12X12 sheets).....not bad! But I digress. :)
The saying was stamped with versamark and black ink, then clear embossed, cut out with a nestability. (Inked the edges to help it show up better.) Then I pressed the whole thing into versamark and Utee'd it. I did this 3 times, let it cool and cracked it. Some brown distress ink (Adirondack brushed corduroy) was added so the cracks would show up; then back into the vesamark and Utee one last time to seal it.  After cutting an oval donut with the nestibility I needed something to put behind the two, another piece of this paper had some writing on it and that was exactly what was needed to bring the two pieces together.
The leaves were stamped with versamark and embossed with Ranger Iridescent Ice, then I used a blue pen, then an embossing pen and some more "ice". I was trying to match the color of the swirlies on the paper. The bottom of the card is simply a piece of the paper border cut to fit, The stick pen was added to the bow just to see what it looked like, I liked it! I love the colors in this paper and I think the card turned out "just fine"! Thanks for taking a look!

Challenge #3

We (the design team) have a challenge this week to make a card using 2 solid colored papers, one printed paper, eyelets. brads or ribbon. No other embellishments. I have had so much fun with this Fall Flowers set this sounded like a lot of fun.

I picked my printed paper and then decided to make this card very bright so I chose two complementary colors. First I stamped the flower with versamark and ink several times on the printed paper and clear embossed. I hand sketched a flower pot and cut it out putting double sided tape on the back. After cutting the flowers out I arranged them on the back of the pot attaching them to the tape so they wouldn't move around while I was placing them. Using all of the flowers but one I was ready to add some pop dots to the back for dimension. You can see the placement of the various pieces of solid colors and where I put the potted flowers. I took the last flower and cut out several of the petals, placed them around to look like the flowers were naturally shedding.I decided to use a ribbon and since I didn't have the right sizes or color of brads, I used punches to made faux brads. This card was really fun to make. It's a little outside my normal "traditional" look but I really love the little bouquet! I hope you like the outcome! Thanks for dropping by!

The criss cross card for the blog hop was so much fun I decided to do another! This one is using Club Scrap paper for the base but the pattern paper is Girl Scout paper (imagine that!).  As you can see I am using the same versatile stamp from FCD's set Fall Flowers; did I mention how much I love this set! The gold leaves are from Michael's and the words are computer generated.  This technique used on the insert is from Technique Junkies, it is call al foil. (check them out, great techniques!)  As you can see this can produce pretty dramatic results depending on the inks you use. I really was happy with how everything came together and wanted to share it with you! I hope you like it!! Thanks for dropping in! :)

FCD Blog Hop: Greetings & Salutations!

The official start time of this Hop is Friday, at 8:00 AM (EST). If you arrived early, please be patient as all the links may not be live yet.

Welcome to the very first Blog Hop for the newly named Design Team. I am so excited about being here and hope you will enjoy hopping around and visiting all the sites, make sure you leave a comment at each of your hops because there will be a Prize awarded to one lucky hopper!

For this Blog Hop our inspiration was to make something with the theme "Greetings & Salutations". Since I am such a lover of Fall, I made a card to Welcome Autumn! It is called a criss cross card, I found the design on SCS and wanted to give it a try.

This is my first criss cross card and I think I will be making more of these! I am using FCD stamp set Fall Flowers, I love the daisy in this set as well as the pretty leaves. I also used the saying "Glorious Colors of Autumn" (part of the set), the words "Welcome in the" were hand written.

I did a little masking of the flower and stamped it on the back of some embossed vellum, hopefully you can see the embossing in this close up.           
I used markers to color and shade on the stamped side then mounted with the stamped/marker side down. I think it gives it a water color effect and softens the stark coloring. Using Spellbinders nestibilities to cut the image as well as a mat which was mounted on the insert card. To dress the criss cross effect up just a bit I used a border punch and attached before taping the base together, finishing it all off with a ribbon.  So that's that, hope you enjoyed your visit, now it's time to read the rest of the hop information and find your link to the next blog ....Melisa.... where you will find some amazing art!

This is a “circular blog hop” where the only beginning is wherever you start!! You will know you are at the end of your blog hop when you’ve come back to the blog you’ve started from! (It’s not a huge circle…so it should be easy to remember where you started.)

The winner will be chosen from a mystery blog hostess that we don’t even know who it will be until the hop is over…so that’s why you’ll want to leave a comment on EVERY blog, so you don’t miss out!

**To find out if you’ve won… you will be contacted by Pamela via e-mail (so be sure to leave it with your comment.) and you can also find out on Pamela’s blog after the blog hop ends on Mon, at 8:00 PM (EST).**

Now, to continue the circle, you will need to hop on over to...... Melisa
and keep going until you’ve come back to where you’ve started! Thanks so much for playing along with us and we hope you have a great time!

PS:  Shhhhh, here's a peek at the prize some lucky hopper will win. Now you need to hop over to .... Melisa's
     Good Luck!

An Indian Blanket!

 

Look closely, do you notice anything different about this card? Yeah, the colors are really very "autumn" but I was referring to the leaves, acorns and yellow paper.....it is from a paper napkin! Our guest designer at FCD for Sept is Lydia Fiedler ; she had a tutorial on SCS yesterday for making this "felted cardstock" using a paper napkin, plastic wrap, newprint paper and an iron. Check out her blog for a link to SCS or to watch her video there! The rest of the paper is from Club Scrap.

The flowers are from FCD, these stamps are just so versatile; today it's an Indian Blanket.  Indian Blankets are wild flowers that grow in Texas where I grew up. Sometimes you see a field with just thousands of Indian Blankets and sometimes they would be mixed in with Texas Bluebonnets. This stamp does an excellent job in making this flower a beautiful Indian Blanket! I hope you enjoyed it! Give this "felted cardstock" a try, it's great fun!

Thanks for dropping in!!

Reminder on the Blog Hop - It's Almost Here!

This Friday, beginning at 8:00 am the FCD Blog Hop will get under way! This is the new Design Team's first hop, so be sure to come and join all the fun! We look forward to having you visit, catch a look at the cards made with Pamela's awesome stamps and continuing on to the next "hop" in the hopes of winning a prize! Mark your calendars, set you computer to remind you and hop on in!!

A Card for Paige

I was visiting some of my favorite blogs yesterday and ran across a story about a young girl who is going through some difficult times due to a serious boating accident. It just touched my heart and I wanted to participate with all the card makers involved and send Paige a card to help let her know there are folks all across the country pulling for her recovery. This is the card I'm sending, if you would like to send a card or read about Paige's accident please go either  to My Creative Rumblings or Scrap Stamp and Be Merry! If you send a card to Paige, make sure to link your blog post on Erin's (Scrap Stamp and Be Merry ) blog. She has some fabulous blog candy up for grabs!
Here's Paige's address:

Paige Welch
Boston Children's Hospital
300 Longwood Ave.
Boston, MA 02115

BLOG HOP is COMING! soon!!

stay tuned for information!

Welcome Autumn

I have made another card with this awesome set from FCD, Fall Flowers! This card was made for a DT challenge where we picked one of Pamela's sketches and then used our stamp sets; I just loved this particular sketch. This time I tried to get the feel for a Black Eyed Susan. I stamped the flower on orange card stock and embossed it, the I punched various sizes of circles and used the negative for stencils and rubbed ink in varying shades; darkest on the outer edges to lighter in toward the flower. You can't see it very well in this picture but I used a bronze ink to put rays of color out from the flower face. Then I used a white gel pen to highlight around the stamped images to add some more character and depth. With main part of the card finished I took the khaki colored stock and versamarked the stems onto the paper and heat set. The leaves are from the same set, Fall Flowers, which were stamped on gold metallic paper with versamark and heat set, this gave the leaves an almost scorched look; then attached using pop dots. The card with the verse is a scrap from the main card and the ribbon is something I picked up at Walmart last fall. I have had that ribbon laying around for almost a year and this is the first time I have found the perfect place to use it! That tells me to never pass up ribbon when it is on sale!! The bottom of the card is just a piece of the orange paper I stamped the images on with ribbon from my stash. The little gold adornments on the wide ribbon are from a kit I had from Club Scrap, I think they are actually "ribbon holds", imagine that!  All in all I like the way this turned out, I love the flower and the fall colors. Welcome Autumn!!

Full Moon Flower

This is my very first post as a Design Team member for FCD, this set is awesome and has all kinds of possibilities! I wanted to project a flower being illuminated by a full moon so I inked the background to appear like a night sky with a huge full moon. The mat is done by using a technique called Polished Stone from Technique Junkies. The little pearl dots were used to draw your eye to the flower and I just had to use a photo corner die cut to further dress it up and of course the ribbon. Take yourself over to FCD by Pamela and check out all of her wonderful designs. I think you will love what you find!
Thanks for stopping by!!

New Designs for Sept from FCD by Pamela!

The newest stamp designs, aren't they fantastic!!! Go to FCD to see all of Pamela's stamps!
                                
                         Theater Lights

                                                              Leading Ladies

                                                             

Firecracker Designs by Pamela - Design Team announced

This company carries great stamps with outstanding selections, has wonderful customer service and the owner is all about pleasing her customers. Now you just tell me where you can find all that in one company---at Firecracker Designs by Pamela that's where!! Pamela has just named her new design team for the next 6 months and I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time! I am thrilled pea green! :) I can't wait to get started and share these stamps with you.

Each month you will be able to preview her new stamps here or at the company site, or any of the other Design Team members listed on the right side of the page. Visit their sites for some great eye candy, you will be impressed with their talent.

Firecracker Designs is also a sponsor of Technique Junkies where we like to share cards and ideas. If you are not familiar with FCD by Pamela, do yourself a favor and check out the store, if you are familiar you will want to see the new stamps, they are wonderful!