A "Tea"-rific Birthday!

Here's the card I made for my grandma's birthday...
Her drink of choice is a cuppa tea, so I knew exactly which stamp set I wanted to use - Morning Cup! :)













Inside: "Hope you have a tea-rific birthday!"

I love the clean and simple layout of this...love the designer paper, and that in using it, I used retired product (Parisian Breeze DSP)! yay! :)  Those of you who are demonstrators know why this excites me...well, those of you who are DSP Hoarders like myself. ;-)

There are other designs in the pack I like more, but this one spoke "Grandma" to me. :)

I stamped the image with Stazon ink onto our FABULOUS watercolor paper, then colored with our markers and aquapainter.  Finished it off with chocolate chip touches - the ribbon, the main image frame, and the scallop at the bottom.

Well, what do you think?

The Small Print (All Stampin' Up)
Stamps: Morning Cup
Ink: Stazon Black
Cardstock/Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Watercolor, Parisian Breeze
Accessories: Chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, SU markers, Aquapainter, Scallop Edge punch
Technique: Watercoloring

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

Snowflakes...and Bling!

Here's a card I recently made with some new product...and yes, I realize it's a Christmas card.  ;-)

NEW (Holiday Mini): Northern Flurry Embossing folder, Extra Lg. Decorative Label punch

NEW (Idea Book & Catalog): Adhesive Rhinestones, Marina Mist cardstock

"How To" on the Ribbon = I layered our 5/8" white satin with some homemade Marina Mist taffeta, then tied them together with white taffeta. Make sense? ;-)

"How To" on the Punch = I stamped the sentiment on Whisper White, then punched it out.  Punched another label out with Marina Mist cardstock, cut it in half, and mounted it behind the white layer.

"How To" on the Snowflakes = I embossed the Bashful Blue cardstock with the Big Shot, then applied white craft ink to each snowflake with a sponge dauber.

Well, what do you think?

The Small Print (All Stampin' Up)
Stamps: Christmas Greetings
Ink: Classic Marina Mist, Craft Whisper White
Cardstock: Whisper White, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Big Shot, Northern Flurry EF, Rhinestone jewels, 5/8" white satin, White taffeta, Sponge dauber, Dimensionals
Techniques: Dry embossing

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

GCK - Be Mine, Valentine

Welcome to Day 4 of my Greeting Card Kids Series!
This is the LAST one....(yay, they say!)

GCK #4 - Be Mine, Valentine















I really like this one. A simple design, yes. I now see the angle on this makes the lace look funny on one side, but oh well.  Yup, handmade 'lace' if you want to call it that.  It was really quite fun to finally try this technique.

The main image is watercolored using my SU markers and aquapainter, the little white petticoat showing under her dress dressed up with liquid applique.  I punched out a strip of Poppy Parade cs with our Eyelet Border punch. Ran it through the crimper, then adhered it to the back of the circle.  The paper I used is called "Pawsitively Prints II", and I think this particular sheet is just perfect for this card! :)

Well, I suppose that is all.  Hope you've enjoyed my series...
Dare I ask what you think? :)

The Small Print (All Stampin' Up)
Stamps: Greeting Card Kids
Ink: Black Stazon
Cardstock/Paper: Poppy Parade, Watercolor, Pawsitively Prints II
Accessories: SU markers, Aquapainter, Eyelet Border punch, Sticky strip, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

GCK - Merry Christmas!

Welcome to Day 3 of my Greeting Card Kids Series - Merry Christmas!

I LOVE Christmas.

I love the reason we celebrate Christmas!  In a nutshell:  God sent His son Jesus to this earth in the form of a baby, in order that he later suffer on the cross - so that we might have eternal life!  What a great gift!

Beyond that, I also enjoy the sights, smells, and sounds of Christmas!  Spending time with my family, baking, singing carols, hunting for the perfect tree, a fresh blanket of snow...and the kiddos playing outside in it.  Speaking of kiddos playing outside in the snow....

GCK #3 - Merry Christmas!

I know, it might seem kinda weird to have snowflakes embossed on chocolate colored cardstock...but I kinda like it (and it's fun to emboss with the Big Shot)! :)

I watercolored this one too. ;-)  The sweet lil' girl pulling the sled is decked out in her warm winter gear...complete with fluffy white trim (click on the pic and you should be able to see it's actually got dimension!)

I punched out the image with our new large scalloped circle punch, then layered another (real red) scallop behind it.

Well, what do you think?

The Small Print (All Stampin' Up*)
Stamps: Greeting Card Kids
Ink: Black Stazon
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Watercolor
Accessories: XL Scallop Circle punch, SU markers, Aquapainter, Hemp twine, Big Shot, Northern Flurry EF, Heat tool
Techniques: Watercoloring, Dry Embossing
*Other (non-SU): Liquid Applique

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

GCK - Happy Halloween!

Okay, before I get to Day 2 of my GCK (Greeting Card Kids) Series, I need to admit a little something.

I'm not the biggest fan of Halloween (gasp - I know!). I mean, I let the kids dress up in something cute and say "Happy Halloween" to their grandparents and other relatives, but beyond that, I think this is a holiday that can be very dark.

Sorry if I offended anyone, but I feel like I needed to put that out there first. :)

On the flip-side, since I'm doing this series on the Greeting Card Kids, and this (mighty cute) image is a part of that, I felt like it need to be included (even though I'd rather she was a ballerina or something).  I'm actually quite pleased with how it turned out.  Except for ONE thing...read on.

GCK - Happy Halloween!













I just REALLY had a hard time with placement of the sentiment!  I moved it multiple times, multiple places!  AGH!!!  I'm still not incredibly happy with it...love everything else about how the card looks.

Here's the deets: The card base is Basic Black, the next layer is Old Olive run through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder. Cut a circle of Rich Razzleberry cardstock out with my Circle Scissors Plus and sponged it with same color ink.  Added some black brads.  Colored the cute lil' pumpkin with my markers and aquapainter.  I also added a splash of color on the 'happy halloween' pieces. :)  Oh. And the main image is up on dimensionals...of course. ;-)

Well, what do you think?  Yesterday's card only received 3 comments -YIKES!  Everyone must be outside enjoying the weather, eh? ;-)

The Small Print (All Stampin' Up)
Stamps: Greeting Card Kids, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Stazon Black, Rich Razzleberry
Cardstock: Basic Black, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Watercolor
Accessories: Black brads, 5/8" Black grosgrain ribbon, SU markers, Aquapainter, Big Shot, Square Lattice EF, Dimensionals
Techniques: Dry embossing, Watercoloring

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

GCK - Back to School!

Well, I'm back today as promised...with a series of cards!

I've labeled this series "GCK" or...Greeting Card Kids!  Each card will feature one of the stamps from the set...a cute lil' set from the catalog that my friend & I like to call "Campbell's Soup Kids." You'll soon see why, lol.

I've had such fun with these - they're so fun to color (watercoloring is my fave way to relax when cardmaking)!

We'll start with Back To School...well, because it just makes sense since that's about the time of year it is right now. ;-)

Day 1 - GCK - Back To School!













I used the Pawsitively Prints II DSP as my starting point. Love the bright cheery colors!

I then watercolored the boy & girl image using my markers and aquapainter....ahhhh...did I mention that I *love* watercoloring?! :)

Mounted it on a piece of Poppy Parade cardstock, added a little scallop border of the same color, and colored my white taffeta ribbon to match. :)  The main image, of course, is mounted up on dimensionals. ;-)

It's a pretty CAS card, I'm itchin' to add a little somethin' to it...to me, it screams "I need a couple of brads!"
Well, what do you think?

The Small Print (All Stampin' Up)
Stamps: Greeting Card Kids
Ink: Black Stazon
Cardstock/Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Poppy Parade, Watercolor, BAB Pawsitively Prints II
Accessories: SU markers, Aquapainter, White taffeta ribbon (colored), Dimensionals
Techniques: Watercoloring

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

Blog Candy Winner!

Ready to find out the lucky winner of my 1 Year Blogaversary Blog Candy?

Not yet. ;-)

FIRST, I want to say "thank you" to all of you who commented. Oh, how you brought smiles to my face, daily! :)  It was so fun, and so nice to read your sweet words to me.  Hmmm...maybe I should offer blog candy every day! lol 

OK...now I'll announce it. :)














Using Random.org to find the winner...

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 21
Result: 8

LUCKY NUMBER 8!

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Carol said:
Congrats, Crystal! Happy Blogaversary! I am already a follower of your blog and enjoy seeing all your lovely projects. Thanks for the inspiration and thanks for the chance to win.

September 17, 2010 5:46 PM
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Congratulations, Carol!  Please email me (click contact me tab at top) your full name & mailing address, and I'll send that blog candy off to you! :)

Please come back tomorrow, Y'all!  I've got a whole new series of handmade cards to show you, which I am sooo excited about! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal