Running With Scissors…

This little angel from Flourishes’ O Christmas Tree is meant to be a tree topper, I believe, but she looks sweet all on her own, too.  She reminds me of my own angel that decorates my dining room table every year at Christmastime.  Little vignettes like this about the house bring Christmas to every corner and add such a homey feel.

There are two stamps in the main image, the angel and the package.  All the individual stamps in this set allow endless variety for Christmas cards.  I masked the angel and overstamped the package.  All the coloring and shading is done with my Stampin’ Up! markers.  The grounding, however, is done with Stampin’ Pastels, Stampin’ Up!’s name for soft chalks.  I traced over her halo with a clear glitter pen for some Heavenly sparkle.

The sentiment is from the set, too, and the little ornament that I embossed with gold tinsel EP and hung from the ribbon is one of many that can be used to decorate the tree.  For this card I used the tree boughs to pattern the card base.  The red panel is Stampin’ Up!’s Dotted background and the plaid is nearly ancient — one of my first designer papers from before they even called it anything so elegant as designer paper.  It’s been in my scrap drawer for years.

More details:

Stamps:  Flourishes O Christmas Tree, Stampin’ Up! Dotted background

Paper:  Handsome Hunter, Real Red, Whisper White, designer paper (unknown)

Ink:  Handsome Hunter, Close to Cocoa, Real Red, Versamark, markers

Accessories:  Ribbon, gold cord, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape, 1 3/8″ and 1 1/4″ circle punches, Stampin’ Pastels

A little note about clear stamps:  I’ve never met a clear stamp yet that didn’t benefit from a brisk rub with an eraser before its maiden inking.  I like to mount several stamps on one of my larger blocks and condition them all at once.  After they’ve been rubbed I blow off the eraser crumbs and give them a scrub before I peel them off and put them away.

The black mat in the photo is a piece of 3 mm craft foam that I place my paper on before stamping.  Both the eraser conditioning and the cusion make a world of difference in the quality of the image when using clear stamps.  I know this isn’t new information for many of you but, gosh, we do forget how much we’ve learned along the way and how new this craft is to others.  I hope this helps someone who’s found themselves disillusioned with their clear stamps and has been wondering what in the heck is so great about them.  To tell you the truth, I only recently learned this, myself.

I’d like to finish up with something simple and sunny that I made with Flourishes Fantasy Floral Garden and some Wild Asparagus designer paper.  The 4 1/4″ square card is a size I like when I want quick and sweet.  I enjoy the square format on a card that fits in a regular envelope and doesn’t require extra postage.  The dots on the flower are done with a glitter pen.

Stamps:  Fantasy Floral Garden

Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Apricot Appeal, Whisper White, Wild Asparagus DP

Ink:  Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa, markers:  Certainly Celery & Apricot Appeal

Accessories:  Eyelets, ribbon, slot punch, Fiskars scallop scissors, Sakura clear glitter pen, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

Thanks for hanging in there with me today through this long post!  I’d better get started on my next project.  I’ve got several birthdays coming up and you know how time flies.  See you again soon!

Stella’s card today uses one of the many quote cards I have.  This one is by My Mind’s Eye — called a Kaleidoquote because it’s made to coordinate with the Kaleidoscope line of MME designer papers.  I love to stamp but when I use ready-made components it sometimes doesn’t leave much room for stamping so since these quotes, intended for scrapbooking, are a bit large for cards I generally cut them down in some way to allow myself some play room.  In this case I cut off the top with some decorative edge scissors and matted it on Regal Rose that I’d stamped with the small Baroque Motifs flower.

This is the first time I’ve cut into this particular sheet of Stella Ruby.  The large floral pattern was one I didn’t want to cover completely so I nestled the quote into it with a little Baroque Border wheeled on linen as an accent.  It’s finished off with organdy ribbon, copper cord and brads and a double row of faux stitching down the side.

You can probably imagine this was one of those quick cards but it was quicker, still, because the Linen panel was from my scrap drawer.  When I stamp a background, even if I intend to use only a small piece of it, I always stamp a quarter sheet of cardstock.  The left over Linen pieces are the ones most frequently used — I love that background, especially in River Rock since it’s so subtle and easy to use with everything.

I really appreciate that you took the time to stop by for a visit today.  Reading the comments from so many of you who have become familiar to me is more heartwarming than you can imagine.  And seeing a new name now and then, well, I hope I’m making a new friend.  The world seems a lot smaller, friendlier and more managable when we get together like this.  Have a very Ruby Tuesday!

Stamps:  Baroque Motifs, Baroque Border wheel (both Stampin’ Up!)

Paper:  Stampin’ Up! Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Regal Rose and Very Vanilla, BasicGrey Stella Ruby designer paper

Ink:  Regal Rose, Close to Cocoa, River Rock.  Chocolate Chip marker for the faux stitching.

Accessories:  Retired Stampin’ Up! Celery narrow organdy ribbon and copper cord, copper brads, decorative corner rounder, mat pack for faux stitching, Fiskars decorative edge scissors, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

I finally broke the seal on my Le Jardin paper to pair it with my new Illuminations set, both from Stampin’ Up!.  There I go with the swirls again – there’s plenty of them in this stamp and the paper.  It’s been a busy, busy day so I’ll make this a quick post before I hit the hay.  Most everything about this card is self evident and will be listed in the ingredients, below.

The first thing I thought when I had this set in hand is how easy it would be to cut out and pop up the big letter.  I stamped the image twice in More Mustard on Very Vanilla cardstock.  One image became the panel that I lightly sponged with So Saffron ink.  I cut out the “C” from the other image, pressed it into my Versamark pad and clear embossed it.  It looks very nicely glazed in real life, but the effect is unfortunately lost in the photo.  The letter is mounted on little cut-up pieces of Scotch brand mounting tape, my favorite product for adding dimension to cards.  It’s firm, holds fast, is available in rolls of varying widths and can be easily cut to any size or shape.

That’s it in a nutshell.  Sorry to rush off but, darn, it’s late and 6:00 comes mighty early.  I sincerely hope you had a wonderful weekend.  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Illuminations

Paper:  Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Le Jardin double sided DP

Ink:  So Saffron, More Mustard, Versamark

Accessories:  Ribbon, pearlized brads, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape, clear embossing powder

I promise I’m going to post a card later tonight.  But, dang, isn’t this pretty?  I just had to share it with you.  I was trimming the spent blooms from my hydrangeas today but this particular hydrangea aged so beautifully.  How can I call this a spent bloom?  It’s exquisite!  This is why it takes me so long to get anything done in the garden.  I get lost in things like this.  There’s a Georgia O’Keefe quote I have in a stamp:  “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it is your world for a moment.”  She is so right.  Back to my other world now…sigh…

Just a couple of garden photos I took this morning.  Gee, September must be pink month.  I do have blue, white and coral out there, too, but this is what caught my eye.  These look a lot like lilies but they’re Amaryllis, commonly known as Naked Ladies — so called because the stems have no leaves at bloom time.  In early Spring the leaves will fill their garden spot, then gradually die away over summer.  In late August Plum colored stems emerge bearing the buds that open into these lilac-pink pretties in September.  I think these are pretty common.  Maybe you have some, too?

The next photo is Autumn Joy Sedum.  It looks great all summer while the buds are green, but in late August/early September they open all soft and fuzzy pale pink, turning gradually darker as the season advances.  These have been open for a few weeks.  Can you believe it’s the middle of September already?

Back to stamping shortly…have a fine day!

This was a very vivid dream…

I really had no idea this was going to turn out so bright.  I know it’s possible to exercise some control over your dreams but this one just got away from me.

I started out with this flower, one of the largest stamps in Flourishes’ new Fantasy Floral Garden, and I thought the look of it was perfect for coloring with Radiant Pearls.  Do you know about Radiant Pearls?  They were all the rage a while back.  Quite a while back.  They’re similar to Twinkling H2O’s but, honestly, much more shimmery.  They take longer to dry but the heat gun fixes that right up and, again, the shimmer is remarkable.  The tiniest bit of Radiant Pearls goes a long way — one little jar will outlive your grandchildren.

The most amazing thing about Radiant Pearls, that which sets them apart from other coloring mediums, is that they’re embossable.  For this image I first black embossed the outline, then painted the flower with the only three colors of Radiant Pearls I own.  I sprinkled with detail clear embossing powder and heated until it was shiny and smooth.  I thought the result was so cool the first time I saw it — a multicolored embossed image!  It’s very much like cloissonne, especially when the outline is embossed in gold.  One thing, though — Radiant Pearls will virtually never dry on a non-porous surface, such as glossy cardstock.  But…the extra slow drying time afforded by the glossy cardstock comes in handy when you wish to emboss because you can paint to your heart’s content and the embossing powder will still have something wet to stick to when you’re done.  Just remember to use the RP very sparingly.

I wish I knew if these were even sold anymore.  I did turn up this site when I did a search.  There’s a phone number for ordering, but I have no personal experience with the site.  If you’re interested you may have more luck searching than I did.  Actually, I’d appreciate any info you find.  I may have just rekindled my own interest in Radiant Pearls.

Back to the card — The part that shocked me a little bit when I was done is the nearly neon Green Galore that I watercolored and sponged around the flower image.  Geez, is that bright enough, you think?  I’ll confess I sort of like it, though.  The panel behind that is Summer Sun with two more of the Fantasy Floral Garden images randomly stamped in Marigold Morning.  The word that I stamped up the side is also from the set, and the designer paper is BasicGrey Fusion.

Last (but not least), I’m celebrating my new watermark.  See it?  Yes, that’s me, Leslie Miller.  One of my very generous SCS/blogger friends made it for me because I was too helpless to do it myself.  Thank you, Sherry!  I love it!  Have a great weekend, everyone!

Stamps:  Fantasy Floral Garden

Paper:  Basic Black, Summer Sun, Whisper White, BasicGrey Fusion

Ink:  Versamark, Green Galore, Vivid Black, Marigold Morning

Accessories:  Radiant Pearls, ribbon, swirl clip, black EP, detail clear EP, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

There are so many pretty images in Flourishes’ new Fantasy Floral Garden – 23 in all – and as I was looking over them trying to choose something to share I kept getting drawn back to this sweet little Lily of the Valley with its delicate nodding bloom.  In the end I decided to go with my inclination and use these two stamps from the set — the flower and the “Hello”.  You can view the whole set here and while you’re at it, you may want to check out their Fantasy Floral Combo Kit which includes a pad of BasicGrey 6×6 Infuse designer paper and two yards of ribbon — a great way to get started, especially since the stamps and paper combine so beautifully.

For my card I used BasicGrey Lily Kate paper which is also carried in the store. I purchased my Lily Kate ribbon collection from Jacksonbelle Embellishments some time ago so I was happy to have the opportunity to use it now.  It is available at Flourishes, as well.  The blue trim is Lily Kate and the pink taffeta is from Stampin’ Up!.

Once I stamped the flower image on a scallop punched oval I added a little color to it, then pressed it into my Versamark pad and embossed with ultra-thick embossing powder (Stampin’ Up!’s Glassy Glaze).  I repeated the Versamark/Glassy Glaze process two more times, then placed the oval in the freezer while I went back to the card.  The plain oval was lightly sponged with Brocade Blue, pressed into the Versamark pad and clear embossed with ordinary embossing powder.  I then used my piercing tool to scratch the edges and rubbed over it with Creamy Caramel ink.  It gave it sort of a cracked look.  It’s not as good as the real thing, but I ran out of Glassy Glaze and had to improvise.  I was now ready to remove my flower oval from the freezer.  I immediately bent it in several spots to crack the glaze, then rubbed over it with Creamy Caramel.  The ink colors the cracks and adds to the aged look and excess ink can be wiped from the rest of the image with a tissue.

More particulars about the card’s ingredients are listed below.  If you browse Flourishes’ Designer Gallery you can find more cards made with this set and their other sets, as well.  I hope you enjoy, and have a wonderful day!

Stamps:  Fantasy Floral Garden

Paper:  Brocade Blue, So Saffron, Whisper White, BasicGrey Lily Kate designer paper

Ink:  Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue, So Saffron, Versamark, markers and chalks for coloring

Accessories:  Lily Kate trim, pink taffeta ribbon, Glassy Glaze (ultra-thick embossing powder), scallop punch, oval punch, brads, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

I’ve been meaning to do this card for a long time so I thought I might as well combine it with Ruby Tuesday.  It’s another one of those ideas that’s been stuck in my head, although the image in my head was a lot more perfect than this.  At least it’s not in my head anymore.

This is made up of three images from Watercolor Minis and the pot from Fun Filled, both retired Stampin’ Up!.  They were all stamped in Versamark and colored with Stampin’ Pastels soft chalks.  It required quite a bit of masking and lots of different colors.  Just in the background there’s Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink, Creamy Caramel and Perfect Plum.  The table top is Really Rust, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron and Chocolate Chip.  I could go on listing the colors of the flowers and pot but it would be a pretty long list.

This coloring process with Versamark and pastels is one of my favorites for solid images.  It’s such a soft look and allows for quite a lot of shading of the image that would be difficult with ink alone.  Just start by stamping the image with Versamark.  Then pat a little chalk onto it and watch the image come to life.  You can control the color intensity simply by the amount of chalk you apply.  Shading can be added by applying a darker color or by adding more of the same color.  For instance, I used Pretty in Pink on the roses.  They were actually a little darker than I intended so I dabbed over them with white to soften the look.  The little touches of darker coloration were added using Regal Rose.  I use not only the tiny applicators that Stampin’ Up! sells, but a variety of sponge tipped make up applicators with my chalks.  When I’m sure the image is finished I always spray with a matte sealer.  After I sprayed this I saw some spots I sure wished I’d done a little touch up on, but……too late.

I don’t know if you can see it very well, but I stamped Weathered on the Close to Cocoa mat under the main image to give it a wood frame look.  There’s a conspicuous absence of ribbon and sentiment on this.  That’s a rarity for me, but I didn’t see how it would be right for the look I was feeling.  I did raise the main image panel on dimensional tape.  The BasicGrey Stella Ruby paper in the background completes the look of a painting on an old, weathered wall.

I hope to have a chance to do a little more stamping this week.  I’ve got something new to play with so we’ll see what comes of that.  Have a great week!

Stamps:  Watercolor Minis, Fun Filled, Itty Bitty Backgrounds

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, BasicGrey Stella Ruby designer paper

Ink:  Versamark, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel

Accessories:  Stampin’ Pastels, spray matte sealer, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

There are a few cards I’ve had stuck in my head like a song playing over and over (but less annoying).  It’s not that they’re so extraordinary, but they’re extraordinarily stuck, some of them for months now.  For one reason or another I’ve been stamping everything but these cards and I think it’s time to clear my head.  The beauty of this is that, once I get them down on paper, I’ll be free for the next few to move in and take their place.

Just for fun I’ve started a new category called “Stuck In My Head”.  You can see my list of categories over there in my right hand sidebar.  You’re probably familiar with those cartoons depicting a person with the top of their head opening on hinges and all their thoughts flying out in the form of images.  Well, if you opened the lid on my noggin this is what would fly out.

This is one of the more recent ideas that began playing in my head when I noticed the similarity of the leaves in this Apple Cider paper and Doodle This.  See the leaves on the panels with the River Rock pattern?  The other sheet with the flower motif in the diamond pattern is close enough to echo the Doodle flower, too.  I wanted to keep the look of this soft and delicate so I chose some of my new favorite colors, River Rock and Groovy Guava.  The big flower is watercolored with Bordering Blue and Blue Bayou, the leaves with River Rock and True Thyme and the little flowers with So Saffron and Groovy Guava.  You can barely see the Soft Sky shading around the image — it shows more in real life.  The edges of the Naturals Ivory panel are sponged with Blush Blossom which seems to be the third tone of the Really Rust/Groovy Guava/Blush Blossom family.  The flower and leaves are dotted with a Souffle pen — like little dots of paint — very cool.  I picked up my pens at a local department store that has a tiny craft department (Bi-Mart, for any local folks who might be reading this).  I never know what I’m going to find there but they do surprise me sometimes.

The sentiment up the side says “You’re Absolutely Fabulous”.  It’s part of a Stampin’ Up! set called Absolutely Fabulous.  The ribbon is SU!’s Ribbon Originals — Sherbet.

That’s one less card stuck in my head now.  I’ll try to get to the rest of them as my free stamping time allows.  I hope you’ll enjoy them and maybe some of them will put ideas in your head…oops…sorry!  Have a wonderful day!

Stamps:  Doodle This, Absolutely Fabulous (both Stampin’ Up!)

Paper:  River Rock, Groovy Guava, Naturals Ivory, Apple Cider double sided designer paper (all Stampin’ Up!)

Ink:  Timber Brown Stazon, Bordering Blue, Blue Bayou, River Rock, True Thyme, So Saffron, Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip

Accessories:  Stampin’ Up! Ribbon Originals - Sherbet, pewter snap, Sakura Souffle pens, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

It’s been a while since I shared a garden photo.  In fact, I missed the whole month of August when the Oriental lilies were in bloom.  I took this photo when these Coral Bees first opened but I just never got around to posting it.  They’re done now and the September show is underway.  I have no garden photographs yet this month, although I did spend most of today in the garden.  It’s winding down for Fall but there’s still a lot going on out there.

It’s early evening where I am on the Oregon coast.  I’m going to have a little dinner and then finish a card I started last night so I’ll be back later.  See you then!