Puttin' on the Ritz for Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!  My mom and I spent all of Thursday together doing a "ladies who lunch and shop" day, and then yesterday, with my brother and sister-in-law, we took my mom and dad out for dinner at Chili's.  (I had the Santa Fe Chicken salad which is super delicious and has lots of zip.)  So today is just a normal day around the house for us:  a little laundry, a little cleaning, and meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner.

I love making easel cards but I don't think I've ever made one for my mom, so that's what I decided to do for her mother's day card.  The central image from Artistic Outpost was colored with Prismacolor pencils to coordinate with the rich Bo Bunny papers.

I hope you're having a wonderful day!  Thanks for dropping by my blog.

Supplies:
 Black cardstock by Bazzill; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; image and sentiment by Artistic Outpost; black Stazon ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; patterned paper by Bo Bunny; oval and lacy oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; Martha Stewart border punch; oval and scalloped oval punches from Stampin' Up; pumice stone distress ink; brass embellishments by K and Company; pop-dots.

Leonardo's Horse of a Different Color - ATC

I decided to just play around a little last night (when I should have been making a mother's day card!), and ended up making this ATC using a new rubber stamp and distress stains I picked up this week when my mom and I did a little shopping together.

I rubbed two distress stains on my nonstick craft sheet, spritzed a little water, and then dragged my ATC blank threw it several times, drying with a heat gun between layers.  Once I liked the background, I stamped the horse, colored it with pencils, added some dots with a gold metallic pen, and then coated the entire horse with a layer of Crackle Accents.  I finished the  card edges with a dabbing of black acrylic paint and gold leafing pen.  Try as I might, I could not get the scan to match the colors of the original card.  The background isn't quite as bright a yellow as it may appear here. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend.

Supplies: 
Strathmore white ATC blank; wild honey and vintage photo distress stains; black Stazon ink; Da Vinci horse image by Stampendous; Da Vinci signature stamp by Just for Fun; Prismacolor Premier Pencils; Recollections gold metallic pen; Adirondack gold acrylic paint dabber; Krylon gold leafing pen; Crackle Accents.

You're the Bee's Knees

I created this card to send to a dear friend for her birthday.  The central image by Artistic Outpost was colored with Prismacolor pencils.  Do any of you recognize the Dew Drops that were all the rage a few years ago?  I bought just two little bottles of the things, and I swear they multiply when I'm not looking because the level on the bottle doesn't seem to have gone down any.

Have a fabulous day!

Supplies:
Black and white cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by Authentique; stamp from Artistic Outpost; black Stazon ink; round and lacy round Nestabilities by Spellbinders; pumice stone distress ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; aqua Dew Drops; mini black buttons from Michaels; Martha Stewart border punch; corner rounder punch; white flowers unknown (maybe Prima); mini black brads.

2013 Art Calendar Challenge - May

Like most of my attempts to keep a diary or journal, my attempt in 2012 fizzled out after less than three months.  But you know the old saying:  If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!  So when I came across the Strathmore Visual Journal in which I had started my 2012 art calendars and found a background all ready to go, I decided to give it another try.

The background was painted with watercolors.  In honor of the flower seeds we sowed today, I used a round scalloped punch for the days of the week, adding the numbers and some doodling with markers to make each punch look like a flower.  The bright colors are making me happy.

To see other art calendars a la Kate Crane, please hop over to The Kathryn Wheel. 

Have a great day and thanks for dropping by my blog.

Congratulations, Graduate

Our neighbor's daughter is graduating from high school, and we've been invited to a party in the park next weekend.  I just hope the weather has improved by then!  We've had more rain than we need (and we were in a drought).

This card features the graduate's school colors of navy blue and silver and some glittery chipboard embellishments by Reminisce.  I used my Cuttlebug star folder to emboss the white background.

For the inside of the card, I computer-generated "Reach for the stars" and chose Kunstler Script for the font. 

Thanks for popping in!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
Navy blue cardstock by Bazzill; shimmery white cardstock by Stampin' Up; silver stationery paper from Target; sentiment stamp by Stampabilities; black Stazon ink; mortar board and diploma chipboard embellishments by Reminisce; Cuttlebug star embossing folder; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; corner rounder punch. 

A Wisp - Moo

I created this moo using bits and pieces from my scrap basket.  The beautiful woman is from an early 1900s penny postcard. 

After I was 3/4 done, I noticed that my base (a piece of watercolor paper), was wonky; that is, not quite cut straight.  C'est la vie!

Happy weekend!

Left Behind - Inchie

Some days a girl's just gotta create, even if it's only an inchie!  I'm still in the process of sorting through and organizing my craft supplies in the aftermath of the wet basement.  Last night, I worked on a plastic bin that had a variety of paper scraps in it.  While separating vintage sheet music and vintage book pages from newer patterned papers, I found some pre-cut inchies and a picture of a World War I soldier named Albert.

I colored the background with distress inks, adhered Albert, added some words cut from a book, and lined the edges with a gold leaf pen.  Easy peasy and I got my artistic fix for the day!



Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great Friday.

Supplies:
Patterned paper; wild honey and crushed corduroy distress inks; Micron sepia artist pen; charcoal pencil; vintage book text; photocopy of vintage photo (reduced); gold leaf pen.