a happy little box of HOME with Crafter's Companion

holy wow, chickens.  LOTS going on in my personal life right now, and i've got some HUGE hurdles to clear, but i'm confident it's all going to work out as it should and i'll be okay.  yesterday i received some big (and bad) news, but i also celebrated 10 years since the day my husband and i met.  we're off to NYC in a couple of hours and i'm SO excited, but it's bittersweet coupled with the other stuff.  still, i'm determined to enjoy myself, and his company, and it's going to be a nice little escape.  :)

today, i've got a post that was shared on the Crafter's Companion USA Facebook page yesterday - yet ANOTHER little box created with my Ultimate Tool (and i just got another of the embossing boards, so there will be many more forthcoming!):

this one's a simple box, the perfect size for some little trinkety goodness.  the nice thing about the box feature is that as long as the papers are the exact same size, you don't have to worry about the actual measurements.  just score, snip and stick. 

the floral stamp is from Sheena Douglass - "Lily of the Valley", stamped on Ultra Smooth Premium White cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  i colored this and select areas on my sentiment cut with my Spectrum Noir markers:

leaves - LG2, LG3, JG1
flower petals - TN1, GB2, LY3
flower centers - TN1, TN3, TN5
other (on sentiment panel) - GB2, CR7

some bits and bobs to fill the white space, everything coming from the Paper Issues Swag Bags, and voila!  a cute way to give someone a gift welcoming them into their new home!  or returning from a trip.  or just finding a way to relax and enjoy some down time with loved ones. 

have you signed up for the Crafter's Companion newsletter?  there's always something good coming to your inbox, and there are some awesome new stamps available from Sheena Douglass and Scruffy Little Cat!  ANNNNND, there's a whole new line of Die'sire DIES available, too!  sign up now and get all the latest news and deals hot off the press!

another Sheena card - LOVE the Henna stamps from Crafter's Companion!

hi again, chickens!

back with another Sheena Douglass card - the Taste of India stamps from her A Little Bit Sketchy line are gorgeous, and i can totally see myself making my own patterned paper and doing some embossing and MAYBE even some watercoloring, but LOOK!  are they not stunning?

i stamped on Ultra Smooth Premium White cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and colored with my Spectrum Noir markers:

GB3, OR2, OR3, BP2, PL3, PL5, TN3, TN4, CT1, CT2, CG3, CG1, BT2, BT4

the sentiment is a Cosmo Cricket hybrid of two separate stickers, and the bling is super fun and very purple, but it didn't photograph well (sorry about that - still working on sorting out my camera issues!).

whatcha think?  check out the Crafter's Companion USA Facebook page for loads of inspiration from the Education and Inspiration teams, and don't forget to play along with the monthly challenge - this month's theme is Tags, Boxes or Bags and as long as you incorporate a Crafter's Companion exclusive product (the rules can be found with the challenge HERE) - besides just Spectrum Noir markers or blendable colored pencils, you could win £30 or $30 to spend at the Crafter's Companion USA or UK store!  

another Crafter's Companion BOX, using the Ultimate Tool!

i know i've mentioned i'm loving my Ultimate Tool from Crafter's Companion USA, and the many embossing boards that come with it, or are available separately, but OH MY GOOMIE, this one could be my fave!  (until my next order comes, that is!)

this project, up on the Crafter's Companion USA Facebook page today, uses the Ultimate Tool with the Ulti-bags embossing folder for a totally cute and functional PURSE!  everything just fits together so well, and i added a handle and decorated to make it super girlie.  behold!

i coloured up the flowers and leaf from Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy - "A New Leaf" EZMount stamp set with the following Spectrum Noir markers:

flowers - BT1, BT2, EB1, OR1, BG3
leaf - GB3, TN3, BG2

this ALSO happens to fit our current Tags, Bags and Boxes challenge!  CLICK HERE to play along, and use any of your Crafter's Companion USA or Crafter's Companion UK stamps, or our other exclusive products (the full rules list is posted - read carefully!).  projects MUST incorporate more than just Spectrum Noir markers or blendable colored pencils to qualify.  good luck!

blending my Spectrum Noir colored pencils!

good morning, lovely chickens!  

time for another Crafter's Companion Facebook page project!  

i thought i'd play with my Spectrum Noir blendable colored pencils, and actually BLEND THEM!  using my paper stumps with the blending solution, the colors just seem to melt into each other, and i absolutely LOVE the effect!  check it out:

i used "The Butterfly Effect" from Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy EZMount stamps, and the following Spectrum Noir pencils:

 4, 15, 20, 89, 91, 95, 117, 119, 120

blended them up and added some flicking in for a bit of texture, and this is what i was able to achieve:

whatcha think?  :)  i love the butterflies in this line to begin with, but now i just love coloring them more.  CLICK HERE to see what's new and exciting at Crafter's Companion, and if you don't already subscribe to the newsletter, you're missing out!  you get the first news on sales and sneaks!  here's how you sign up at the main Crafter's Companion page (in the left sidebar):

announcing Spectrum Noir BLENDABLE COLORED PENCILS - they're HERE!

well folks, we've been talking about 'em.  and talking.  and talking.  and now they're HERE! 
announcing the Spectrum Noir blendable colored pencils from Crafter's Companion!  WOO HOO!

i have been busy getting acquainted with my new pencils, and i'd like to share my first release card with you today...  CHECK ME OUT!

here's what i used: 

Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Sketchy EZmount stamp set - True Colors
Everyday Sentimentals EZmount stamp set - Imagine
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Radiant Neons Electric Orange ink
Ultra Smooth Premium White cardstock
Spectrum Noir markers and blendable colored pencils:
markers (base layer) - LY1, OR1
pencils (on top of the the markers) - 015, 020, 022, 024, 027, 109, 113, 115

that's really all there is to it.  i went VERY lightly with the pencils but it helped that i had put down a base layer to make the colors bolder - i am getting used to them and the pigments are LOVELY with lots of different intensities!  you're gonna love 'em.  CLICK HERE to check 'em out and be sure to visit the Crafter's Companion blogs *USA and UK* and the Spectrum Noir blog to see all the GORGEOUS creations using these lovelies from the design teams!

more of Sheena's lovely butterflies at Crafter's Companion!

hellooooooo chickens!  i'm headed for Washington, DC this morning and will be chaperoning a bunch of high school students for their chorus competition - wish me luck!  ;)  last year was Seattle (the OTHER Washington), and it was my first time going, both to Seattle and on the chorus trip.  it was AMAZING and there were so many fun things crammed into our stay!  while DC is much closer, i don't imagine i will have less fun!

today, i'm up on the Crafter's Companion USA Facebook page with a brand new card using the gorgeous Sheena Douglass sets - this one's from her A Little Bit Sketchy line and the set is called True Colors...

isn't the butterfly stunning?!  i colored it up using the following:

Spectrum Noir markers - CT1, PP1, PP2 in order to establish a base
Spectrum Noir blendable colored pencils - 005, 009, 024, 027, 028, 029, 031, 033, 071, 073, 093, 094, 111 and 116.

the butterfly and sentiment are both stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Ultra Smooth Premium White cardstock.  i also used the Petite Floral embossing folder (also by Sheena!) and inked it with Electric Yellow and Electric Coral Radiant Inks.  splattered with some Memento Fireworks spray in Bahama Blue, because it looks fab with the blue in the wings!

a few minimal embellies, and voila! 

i love the sentiment and think it's an awesome little message to someone in need of some encouragement - maybe someone going off to school, starting a new business endeavour, or taking a big leap to try something new.  regardless, LOVE IT.  and have i mentioned how much i am loving these Sheena butterflies?  :)

it's a SHEENA DOUGLASS HOP at Crafter's Companion!

WELCOME!  the brand new (utterly stunning) Sheena Douglass "A Taste of India" release is NOW.  we are HOPPING!  we've been waiting for this day, and it's finally here!

we've shared lots of sneak peeks over the last week and these gorgeous new stamp sets AND embossing folders (!!!) are all available NOW at Crafter's Companion!

there are 8 prizes to be won.  EIGHT!  so be sure to comment at each of the blogs to maximize your chances to win, and you have until Monday, April 21st at midnight EDT to get in on the action!  winners will be announced on Tuesday at the Crafter's Companion US blog.

if you've arrived here from Giovana's blog, you're well on your way (with only a few more stops to go!)...  if you've randomly arrived, that's great too!  but here's our full hop list, just in case:

Crafter's Companion US Blog

Kendra Wietstock

Allie Gower

Chrissie Tobas

Christiana Reuling

Jenn Cochran

Jennifer Ingle

Laurel Beard

Mary Dawn Quirindongo

Tenia Nelson

Trena Brannon

Wendy Price

Stephanie Severin
Annette Allen

Giovana Smith

Leah l'Orange (you are here, natch!)
Lori Barnett

Roxanne O'Brien

Swarup Murthy

the Inspiration and Education Teams have rocked out some seriously amazing creations to showcase this beautiful new line, and i've got a card for ya!

i LOVE Indian patterns and all the gorgeous bright colors they incorporate into the designs, so this fabulous image from the Henna Mango set really grabbed me.  the trim on the bottom is from the Mandala set - everything works so wonderfully together, you'll want them all!  i shared my first sneak for A Taste of India on Saturday, so click here to see several of these new sets in action!

zoom on my card!

i love the little details!  i combined my Spectrum Noir markers and Spectrum Noir blendable colored pencils using the following:

Markers: LY2, LY3, OR2, CR7, PP3, BP2, BP4, BT3, BT5, TB5, CG1, CG2
Pencils: 008, 026, 030, 038, 061, 066, 088

the images were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Ultra Smooth Premium White cardstock and i went for clean and simple for maximum POP! 

so JOIN US in celebrating this fantastic new release at Crafter's Companion from the brilliant and talented Sheena Douglass by HOPPING!  enjoy the eye candy, and thanks for visiting!

 

Sneaks of Sheena and India and Spectrum Noir!

hey there chickens!  did you see the big EVENT going on at Crafter's Companion right now?!  we're promoting an upcoming Sheena Douglass release that could, quite possibly, be my favourite ever.  yeah, i know i've said that before.  ;)

the new sets are from Taste of India, and they will take your breath away!  Sheena has outdone herself with this gorgeous new art, and i'm super pleased to share my card...

this is "Marching Elephant" - the image...  but i've also added the sentiment from "Tiger Tiger" and accents from "Henna", "Henna Mango" and "Mandala" to show how awesome all of the sets work together.  are they not AMAZING?!

my Marching Elephant is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Ultra Smooth Premium White cardstock, and coloured with Spectrum Noir markers AND blendable pencils...  here's what i used:

Spectrum Noir markers:
elephant - BGR2, BGE3, GG1, GG2
tusks/hooves - FS2, GG1
blanket/flowers - OR1, OR2, GT1, GT2, DR5, DR6, PL2, PL3

Spectrum Noir colored pencils:
shading/texture (elephant) - 114
shading (blanket) - 097

just pencils for a bit of added texture and depth, but you'll see more of them in upcoming projects!  the background was made with a stencil and i inked some Electric Orange and Electric Purple Radiant Neon inks...  here's a little zoom:

(okay, a big zoom)...  LOVE this elephant.  and i need to get the tiger coloured up too, because he's just beautiful!  CLICK HERE to check out the rest of the sneak peeks on the Crafter's Companion blog (we're featuring this new set all week - starting yesterday!) and see what my utterly talented teammates have done!

one more for the road:

and i love it.  clean and simple design (for a change!) and some gorgeous Sheena Douglass, coming soon!!

Sheena has these lovely FLOWERS at Crafter's Companion!

told you i like my Sheena Douglass stamps!  

i'm up on the Crafter's Companion Facebook page today with a new card, and it's all about Sheena!  this gorgeous flower comes from another of her new sets from the A Little Bit Sketchy line - the set is called Bloomin' Beautiful (the sentiment comes from Only Words - Through the Rain) and i'm kinda LOVING this card...

i used a bunch of things i don't typically use, including some Smooch ink, those paper flowers, some Ranger liquid pearls and those AWESOME gold hexagon sequins...  the rest are basic staples (the doily, vellum and loads of pop dots!).

the Sheena flower is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Ultra Smooth Premium White cardstock and colored with my Spectrum Noir markers:

flower center - LY1, OR1
petals - CR1, CR7, CR10

the sentiment is also stamped with Tuxedo Black, and the flower is shaded with colored pencil (coming soon!).

so, no, this is NOT my typical style, but i love how it turned out!  there's a shabby/gritty feel while still being feminine and (i hope) kind of elegant at the same time.

and from another angle, to show the yummy gold:

pop over to the Crafter's Companion store to see the new stuff (more Sheena coming next week, and i can't WAIT to share!), and if you haven't already checked out the new StazOn midi inks and the Radiant Neons, what are you waiting for?!

the OAK from Crafter's Companion!

you've seen me use this stamp before - it has SUCH a presence on a card, and the sentiments are simple but LOVELY.

here's my new card for Crafter's Companion today, featuring Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy - "The Majestic Oak":

nice and simple, this one, but with a stamp this big, it does all the talking!  all i needed to add (or had room for!) were a sentiment, and little backing panel and a couple of little pearls.

The Majestic Oak and sentiment (from same set) are stamped with Memento Luxe ink (Espresso Truffle) - have you tried these inks?  they're all the fab colours of Memento with lots of juice on a cushier inkpad.  PERFECT for covering large areas and for sponging backgrounds and such.  it's a thicker formula and i'm rather smitten!  check out the whole range of colors HERE!

drop by the Crafter's Companion Facebook page to see this one and all the other gorgeous creations from the Inspiration and Education teams - there are SO many products to show off, so we're constantly sharing there!

utterly BEAUTIFUL new Sheena stamps from Crafter's Companion!

wow, so, seriously!  Crafter's Companion might just have some new releases - like, a TON of them - and i love these new sets from Sheena Douglass!  i was SO excited to ink them up and colour away with my sweet Spectrum Noir markers.  check THIS beauty out!

the stamp set is "True Colors" from the new Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy series - in this particular set, there are two BIG, beautiful butterflies, and 5 fabulous sentiments, and trust me, when you start colouring them, you can't STOP. 

stamped both the image and sentiment on Ultra Smooth Premium White cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, coloured with the following Spectrum Noir markers:

LY1, CT3, CT4, GB3, OR1, OR2, CR8, BG4, BG7, BG9, True Black

die-cut my sentiment with a Nesties die and inked around the edges with one of the new StazOn Midi ink pads (coming soon!) in Orange Zest (my fave, of course!) and added some bits and bobs here and there.  :)

and i used the sketch at the lovely Lesley Croghan's blog, Always Playing With Paper for the #3 challenge...  here's the sketch:

there are some differences, but this is what inspired me for my card design, so there you go.  :)

and that's all she wrote!  hope you have a fantabulatious hump day!  we got MORE snow, and to be honest, it's not going to interfere with my need to go out with the hubbin for some frozen yogurt this evening!  hee hee.

Crafter's Companion has a HUMPHREY and now I do, too!

morning, chickens!  and happy HUMP DAY to you all!  hope the week's been treating you well so far - i have a LOT going on and have to share my computer with the hubbin as he's taking graduate courses, so i don't have an issue chillin' in my craft room instead to while away the hours.  ;)

i'm up on the Crafter's Companion Facebook page today (where you'll happen to find some awesome deals, HUGE giveaways, and loads of inspiration from my talented teammates!), and i have a sweet little critter to share.  since people everywhere seem to be having BABIES, i figured i ought to build up my stash because these cards will go quick! 

this one features the sweet little Humphrey, from Crafter's Companion.  i used the Welcome Little One stamps from the "A Year With Humphrey" line, and i love the versatility of this set!  good for a boy or girl, new baby, baby's 1st birthday, or, heck, just use the flowers for a cute little thinking of you card...  loads of options!  heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Humphrey!

the sentiment and flower are from the same set - cute, right?  and that fab embossed background?  that's one of the new Sheena Douglass embossing folders - "Petite Floral" - and i love how it goes so well with the flower stamps!

i stamped Humphrey using Memento London Fog ink, then coloured her (!) up with my pencils on plain ol' business card stock (i liked the added bit of texture i got from it):

stamped the sentiment with StazOn Jet Black ink, punched it out, added some little scraps behind the sentiment, tied my ribbon and added just a HINT of yellow Wink of Stella to the flower centers (though it's not visible from the pics)...

 

my little heffalump and the sentiment are popped up and i am LOVING all the fun textures going on here!

drop by the Crafter's Companion Facebook page and see what else is going on!

in celebration of FRIENDS!

i'm up today on the Crafter's Companion Facebook page, and yesterday was a co-worker's birthday, so natch i whipped something up for the occasion!  see, since i started giving handmade cards to people at work, a store bought card simply WILL NOT DO.  ever.  even if i have no time whatsoever, they refuse to settle.

SO!  Liz turned a darling 24.  SERIOUSLY.  she could nearly be my daughter (i said NEARLY!).  and i grabbed my Mulberry Wood "Friend" set from Crafter's Companion, stamped the little fuzzpaw with Jet Black StazOn, coloured him up with my pencils, and added the sentiment from Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy "Only Words - Through the Rain".  Liz has a bit of a thing for blue, so i added a few embellies in blue, blinged it up, and VOILA!  this little card was born:

the clouds?  i love this part!  i grabbed a sheet of pale blue vellum and punched them out...  this is a one-layer card (not my forte', but every once in a while i surprise myself!), so i just laid them on top of the image, traced the edges of the image on the vellum and trimmed the clouds down to fit around the pooch.  i'm also slightly obsessed with these shaped cards and i've been making loads of SQUARE cards lately.  watch for them!  :)

here's a close-up of the critter:

fur still isn't one of my strengths, and i wanted to go subtle with an emphasis on that blue flower, so pale worked better for me in this case anyway. 

and that is that!  CLICK HERE to check out the rest of the Mulberry Wood stamp sets (oh my goomie, so cute!), and CLICK HERE for all the gorgeousness from Sheena Douglass.  i should mention that there's also a brand new line of Sheena embossing folders and they're absolutely GORGEOUS.  you'll want to check them out by CLICKING HERE!  :)

hope the day's fab, folks.  i'm crazy swamped with work lately, and putting the pedal to the metal at the gym, so let's hope that 2014 is all it SHOULD be!  see you tomorrow!

playing with Mixed Media (!!) and Crafter's Companion goodies

hey there, crafty chickens!  hope the week has been good to you!  it's been busy, rainy, and COLD here, and i'm glad the weekend is here.  i'm going to round things out with a card i made using my Crafter's Companion goodies (that's on the Crafter's Companion Facebook page today!), and i'm kinda LOVING the mixed media thing i've got goin' on here.

i'm not usually one for flat cards, and i often struggle with mixed media, to be perfectly honest.  but since i wasn't specifically going for the vintage look, and stuck with what makes me happy (bright colours, gold things, punchinella, mists), i found this came much easier than expected.  :)

SO.  here we are!

i busted out my Luxury Centura Pearl Snow White cardstock, misted with Memento Fireworks (Angel Pink) and added some drops of Spectrum Noir Re-inker (BP3), then sponged some Delicata Golden Glitz ink using punchinella as a mask.

i stamped Sheena's A Little Bit Scenic (Silhouette Grasses) using StazOn Jet Black ink, then stamped the sentiment from the same set using a wet chalk ink, embossing with black powder.  i LOVE the effect of the black embossed dots from where the Delicata hadn't yet dried.  love it!

snipped a doily and added pieces for interest, then found some matching gold hexagon confetti, inked my edges and stuck it on down onto my card base. 

i promise you it was SO much easier than it looks!  OH, but check this out:

the Luxury Centura Pearl cardstock is TO. DIE. FOR.  the shimmer is incredible.  and it holds colour so well!  for example:

the embossing with the shimmer makes a pretty fab combination, oui?  

all in all, i'm happy with this little experiment!  you can grab most of my supplies at the Crafter's Companion store, but CLICK HERE to see all the new stuff because there's a ton of it!  and play along with the challenge we've got going on by CLICKING HERE...  this month it's all about Clean and Simple! 

you and me and things by the sea

hey there, crafty chickens...  hope all's well in your respective necks of the woods!  it's still stinkin' COLD here in New Jersey, and each morning i wake up and hope that spring has sprung!  i know it's only nearing the end of January, but it's been an unseasonably cold winter, and darn it, i thought i left all that junk behind when i moved from Canada!

at any rate, the cold weather means lots of opportunities to colour, since nobody wants to go outside in this! 

i coloured.  i busted out my pencils and coloured a couple of the individual shells from the Sheena's A Little Bit Scenic set, Sea Shells, and i'm really enjoying this set!  lookie:

i stamped the shells with Jet Black StazOn, and the sentiment (from the Sentimentals Everyday - "Imagine" set) in Timber Brown StazOn - both are stamped on Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock...  added in some gorgeous textured mulberry paper for the back panel, a simple distressy panel on top, inked my edges and added my little bits and bobs to finish it up.

the deets:

for the record, i totally cheat when i colour stuff like this!  i do a Google search for images of shells (or flowers, or lighthouses, or whatever) and mimic the style of an image that catches my eye.  but i've never been one to draw or colour from memory, so it works for me.  :)  Google is handy.  yep.

so that's my Crafter's Companion project for today - i have more shells from this Sheena set stamped out so i have a feeling you'll be getting more beachy projects for a little while yet!

BY THE WAY, did you notice the brand new Bebunni lines available ON SALE?  oh. my. goomie.  CLICK HERE.  enjoy!  

i LOVE this Lily stamp from Sheena Douglass

helloooooooooo chickens!  i'll be at CHA when this post goes live, so hopefully it all goes off without a hitch!

today, i'm sharing a clean and simple project for Crafter's Companion that features the gorgeous "Lily" stamp from Sheena Douglass.  i totally love her realistic but sketch style, and this particular stamp has become a favourite of mine to colour.

i stamped the lily on Ultra Smooth Premium White cardstock, using StazOn jet black ink, and coloured it up with my beloved pencils:

the sentiment comes from the Sentimentals Everyday "Imagine" set...  i cut a piece of a transparency and a little snip of paper from Cosmo Cricket's "Social Club" line, stuck on a few enamel dots, and i was happy with this one.  believe me, i was TEMPTED to add more patterned paper behind the transparency, or some ribbon or washi, but i decided that less was definitely more given the detail of the image.  the cardstock has a super shimmery pearlescent finish, so it's very feminine and elegant, but doesn't photograph worth beans (not to mention it looks more red than pink!)...  STILL!  i like it.  and i need more of these types of birthday cards for those who DON'T prefer the cute.

so there you have it!  i'll be back from CHA in a couple of days, but i hope you're all doing well and gettin' yer craft on and watching all the CHA action!  the internet absolutely blows up with the blog feeds from the show, and you can bet i've been drooling at some of the fab new product!  see you soon!  xo

linking up for the "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" issue at Paper Issues - show us your FLOWERS, or your toes, or whatever might fit the theme!  :)  

Sheena's Shells are GORJE!

are you a Sheena Douglass fan yet?

her stamp sets are beautiful, crafty friends.  surrissly!  this set is called Sea Shells from the Sheena's A Little Bit Scenic line (they're all available HERE at Crafter's Companion), and it's stunning and versatile for SO many different themes.  encouragement, sympathy, retirement, vacation, relaxation, serenity, etc...  and i'll use it over and over and over when i'm looking for a bit of elegance and maturity in my projects.  check it out!

she's purdy, no?  the shell is colored with my pencils, and then, because i ordered this Die'sire 8x8 embossing folder (Regency Swirls) that won't fit through my C'bug, i inked the raised side with my Delicata Golden Glitz and put my paper in the folder and stepped on it a few times.  yep, that's my kick-arse technique for this one!  and i LOVE how mottled it came out with the textured paper!  shimmery and subtle without drawing away from the image. 

added a gold foil panel behind it and a strip across with some ribbon, plus some adhesive pearls and an OLD Heidi Swapp sentiment sticker.  voila!

here's the close-up detail of my shell:

and this will round out my 2013, folks.  with a new year upon us, i'm VERY MUCH looking forward to some changes and some fun.  see you on Wednesday if you're up for a game of TAG!  ;)

majestically old and oaky at Crafter's Companion

okay, so i told you i was loving my new Majestic Oak stamp from Crafter's Companion - well it's not a new set, per se, but it's new to me, and i am getting LOADS of mileage from it!  here it is again, stamped in Memento Espresso Truffle ink onto a simple patterned background with minimal embellies:

the quote is a good one, no?  perfect for encouragement or retirement or even sympathy...  LOVE it, and I could easily spend a whole day just making cards with this stamp set and different patterned paper combinations.  it's classy and elegant and seriously, the cards practically make themselves!  you'll be seeing this one a LOT on my blog, and since i'm loving the Sheena stamps so much, THIS ONE will probably be next.  :)  it's on my wish list and will be falling into my shopping cart very soon!  

hope you're all having a most awesome weekend - i have a LOT of shopping to do, since i'll be heading up to Canada next Saturday (to surprise my Dad for his birthday on Sunday).  SO MUCH to cram in and i hope i have energy after work to get it all done!  happy holidays, chickens!  xo

December challenge at Crafter's Companion - Ribbon/Twine/Thread!

hey there chickens!  so there are only two weeks left before Christmas Day.  is that ridiculous or what?  WHERE did 2013 go? 

well it's been a busy year for me, but i'm looking forward to an exciting 2014 with lots of fun things on the horizon!  i know i mentioned that i will be staying on with Crafter's Companion as one of the members of their brand new Inspiration Team (!!!) and i can't wait for you all to see what we're up to!  lots of fun things going on with new products, new releases, new faces, and LOADS to check out on the blog!  you'll just have to trust me, because we still have a couple of weeks until it all happens!

in the meantime, if you're feeling up to a challenge, we're looking for Ribbon, Twine and/or Thread on your creations!  use your Crafter's Companion products (see the list of eligible items HERE) and play along with our December challenge, and you could win £30/$30 to spend at the Crafter's Companion store, and lemme tell ya...  it's EASY to spend!  :)

here's the card i made using the new Sheena Douglass - A Little Bit Scenic "Seascapes"...  these are GORGEOUS for masculine and elegant creations!

i incorporated ribbon and twine into my project, and backed my image with a simple kraft panel embossed with a Die'sire Embossalicious 6x6 folder (Chevrons), coloured my image with my Spectrum Noir markers (Blender, IB1, GG1, GG2, EB2, DG2, DG3, BG2, BG3, BG5, DR3, DR5, DR6, TB1, TB2, TB3), distressed the edges of my image panel, added a bit of minimal and subtle bling, and VOILA.  i can totally see this for retirement cards, congratulations, destination weddings, and even sympathy.  and believe me, it's easy and FUN to colour!  :)

so.  care to play along?  there's still PLENTY of time left in the month to join us - just CLICK HERE to see what the awesome UK team did to inspire you and to link up! 

Crafter's Companion has LUXE INKS and a very Majestic Oak

whoa.  have you tried these?  the Memento Luxe inks - TO. DIE. FOR.  i'm seriously loving them.  they're juicy without being too wet, they're wonderfully opaque and give amazing coverage.  and i have 4, and i need to have ALL. OF. THEM.  they're available now, but they're in HOT demand at Crafter's Companion.  you might wanna CLICK HERE to check 'em out.

i made a card using the gorgeous Majestic Oak (from Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy line) and stamped it onto my patterned paper using Espresso Truffle. distressed my edges and used Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress inks around the edges (always my go-to combo for that perfectly aged paper look), then added super minimal embellies.  the stamp is fab.  the INK.  ermahgerd.  just TRUST ME. 

and then i proceeded to stamp out 8 more of The Majestic Oak, with the intention of making retirement, congrats, birthday and thinking of you cards.  you'll be seeing lots more of this one, folks.  :)

SO.  there's a new challenge up at the Crafter's Companion blog...  i'll be sharing my project soon, but you might wanna hop on over to check it out!  lots of inspiration to be found over there - the U.S. and U. K. teams make for quite a collaborative force!  :)