Hidden Adhesive with Vellum // Papertrey Ink

My brother's fiancee saw this old mason jar die cut lying on my craft desk and went a little ga-ga over it, so I whipped this card up quickly for her.
This is for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Monday Summer challenge.

To make adhere the hello to the frame die cut in vellum, I used some clear liquid adhesive right behind the letters. Then, when adhering the pair together to the mason jar, I added a little more liquid adhesive behind the letters, and for some extra stability, the mini clothespin comes in.

For a chance to win a $15 Simon Says Stamp gift card, comment on THIS post.

Thanks so much for stopping in and God bless! :)

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Cardstock: Canson, Bazzill
Patterned paper: Crate Paper
Stamp: Papertrey Ink "On the Farm"
Ink: Tim Holtz
Other: vellum, mini clothespin, string, gems, lace

Tools: Cuttlebug, MFT Framed Greetings die

My Purple Battle // Blog Redesign

You know that request I made awhile ago, about redesigning blogs?

Well, I got a great response, I finished the first redesign a couple days ago, and today I'm sharing it with you!

Lisa at My Purple Battle was my first victim, I mean, volunteer. ;)
The before...

And after!

This is a brief on the design process....

I could not have asked for a more enthusiastic "client" - Lisa was very positive and encouraging throughout the process, and was very helpful and patient with the newbie graphic designer. ;)

Of course, I am a carmaker before graphic designer, so I couldn't help but make a card inspired by the blog, for Lisa, using her very favorite color. ;)

These cabochons made me realize how pretty purple is! It really works lovely with gray and rose-like shades.

Thank you Lisa!

Lisa was also very generous, and "donated" a little giveaway to celebrate the new design! 

Giveaway ends July 11th, 11:59 EST.

Thanks so much for stopping in today and have a beautiful week! 

Throwback Thursday // Old pub

A lot of my drafts are actually published cards I had ready to post in case of rejection. Today's card was published in an issue of Paper Crafts.
Don't worry, I'll spare you most of my old pubs, but this one kinda makes me chuckle;

I'd been waiting awhile for a good card to use this fun camera paper on...

I pretty much had the entire card assembled aside from the glasses when I thought "hm, what should I put in this big hole here?", and thus the glasses came to be!

Thanks for dropping in and have a great day!

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Cardstock: Canson
Patterned paper: Echo Park "This and That"
Stamps: Precious Remembrance "Moms and Dads", Paper Smooches "Sentiment Sampler"
Ink: Stazon
Other: wooden tag (Darice), string (stash), washi tape (Basic Grey), paperclip (Tim Holtz)

Glitter Shaker Card // Avery Elle

Long time, no see, eh?

Don't worry, I'll make it up with a slew of posts in the next couple days. ;)

I've been working on those blog redesigns for my portfolio, and I'm super excited - the ladies I'm working with are the most generous and kindhearted! Hopefully you'll be able to see the first reveal later today or tomorrow.

For now, I've got some cards for the Avery Elle AEI{heart}U Rainbow challenge - I had so much fun with this challenge, that I couldn't seem to stop!

First up is a shaker card using some chunky glitter I found in the home craft stash (love those random finds), inspired by THIS pin.

I had to curve the trunk of this adorable Ellie to make the rainbow flow backward, instead of forward, so I put a couple strips of adhesive on the clear block. It doesn't hold for long, so quick stamping is a much, but at least it's easy to clean up. 

I didn't have pearls the correct size in blue and yellow, so I simply covered some white ones with nail polish, let them dry, and oila! Custom colored pearls! I may or may not have a stash of nail polish solely for this purpose....

To create the rainbow, I basically die cut a bunch of circles, then used smaller circle dies to cut into the circle, creating the streak. It's a great way to use up scraps!

The rainbow was bottomed by a sentiment from Weather It.

Now for a pastel rainbow card...

I embossed the front of the card, then quickly sketched in the colors - usually being messy with watercolors is a good thing, but I'm not sure if I pulled that off with this card. 

To give the balloons a little more "oomph!", I added a thick coat of Glossy Accents. 

I won't bore you with any more now, especially since I'll be popping in tomorrow with some more rainbow inspired cards (I told you, I couldn't stop!)

Thanks for stopping in and God bless!

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Father's Day Inspiration // Papertrey Ink and Paper Smooches

I interrupt your regularly schedule day to bring you a quick post with some inspiration for Father's Day.

I'm not gonna lie, I struggled this year. The first card was a disaster (check out my instagram on Sunday for a look at that monstrosity), and while the second card turned out clean and streamlined enough, it just didn't have enough character for my dad.
Here's that second card...

Luckily, my dad is one of those guys that like golfing, so that made it relatively easy to pick out stamps. I die cut a half circle to go behind a heat embossed golf cart, and then used some scrap papers  to add a little golf course scene. Some grey paper made the road, and just for a little more interest, I punched the corners of the front panel with a 1" circle punch (a go-to technique when I'm stumped on how to make a card more interesting) 

But, like I said, the card was a little boring for me, so I tried my hand at it again to make a more personalized card. 

While this result was difficult to photograph, I'm pleased with it because I know he'll get a kick out of it. 

I handwritten the sentiment (thanks Pinterest) using a Memento marker, because I didn't have anything nicer. I'm just gonna say that the uneven look adds to the character of the card, to make myself feel better. ;)

Some little gems top of heat embossed stamped shirts, that were colored in with water and random inks.
This card is more personalized, because one, the sentiment perfectly fits the egos (mine included) of my dad's nine children, and two, my younger sister and I iron his shirts for him and we somehow always manage to get behind, and then he has to nag us to get on top of them. ;)

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Throwback Thursday // Scrappy card

Today's Throwback Thursday has me being uncharacteristically sentimental about my card.
I mean, I get excited about card stuff in real life, but it's usually difficult for me to translate that excitement through my writing;

I'm not gonna lie, this card just makes my crafty heart smile. Dramatic sentiment, crazy sewing, scrappy and uneven patterned papers, a nail polish gem, and a woodgrain silhouette. It's like, me, but not me - know what I mean? ;)

Thanks for popping in and God bless!

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Cardstock: Canson, Bazzill
Patterned paper and die cut: Crate Paper "Storyteller"
Stamps: Hero Arts "My Happy", Papertrey Ink "Tag-its #10"
Ink: Tim Holtz, Versamark
Other: gems (Michaels), pearl (Queen and Co), doily (stash), embossing powder (Martha Stewart), nail polish

Tools: heat gun, sewing machine, Cuttlebug, Papertrey Ink "Simply Jane" die, Nestabilities circle, Fiskars punch

Watercolored Roses // Altenew

Popping in with a simple card for Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (friends), Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge (plants) and Altenew's From Places Abroad: Tunisia challenge. As with last month's challenge, I was mostly driven by the striking colors - navy, teal, and orange/gold.

I was really just playing around on this card. For the flowers, I sometimes lightly misted them with water before stamping, and sometimes I stamped them directly and went back in with water and a paintbrush to soften things.
I don't know about you, but I am a huge fan of the watercolor trend - messiness is not only encouraged, but required! ;)

Oh, and isn't that sentiment so fun? I know many friends who this would be perfect to send to.

Thanks so much for stopping in and have a blessed weekend!

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Cardstock: Canson
Sentiment stamp: Papertrey Ink
Colored inks: Studio Calico

Throwback Thursday // Spotlight Stamping

A light watercolor card is the star of today's Throwback Thursday;

This card was brought on by Julie Ebersole....

It's not a perfect example of this fun technique, but I was cool with that. ;)

Btw, this frame die is a MUST HAVE. I've had it for several years now, and it is my go-to frame die. Works for every occasion!

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Cardstock: Canson
Stamps: Papertrey Ink "Year of Flowers" and "Happy Trails"
Ink: Stazon, Versamark
Other: gems (Michaels), embossing powder (Hampton Art)

Tools: heat gun, Cuttlebug, My Favorite Things "Framed Greetings" die

Masculine cards // Simon Says Stamp

Popping in today with a masculine card to spice things up here!

The cute little dog from Simon Says Stamp You Are Pawesome stamp set is the star of this little boy birthday card, made for last Wednesday's Simon Says Stamp challenge (masculine).

There was a bit of customizing the stamps for this card. First, I added the spots to the card using a black Memento marker, then colored them in with a brown one.
The Sending and Wishing stamp set comes with a lot of sentiments, but nothing quite what I wanted. So I did a little simple masking and used the "birthday" from "you happy birthday" and added it to "hug" from "you love & hugs". Oila, the perfect sentiment!
I also left some of the negative die cuts in the sentiment so that the "sending" stood out enough between the dog and the patterned paper's competition.

Before I sign off, another quick pitch for a free blog design - deets HERE!

Thanks for stopping in and God bless!

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Blog Redesign

I have a card and a request today - first things first, the card.

A pretty simple card - glitter tape and sequins make the background, and a heat embossed sentiment from My Favorite Things takes the center piece, with a couple roses from Papertrey Ink to add a little color.

My request; in case you didn't know, I am currently going into my senior year of college, and I'm studying communication arts, multimedia. Basically, the closest thing I could get to graphic design.
Since I'm graduating soon, I'm working on building up my portfolio a bit, and I was wondering if you could help!
Basically, if you blog using Blogger and you'd like a little bit of a makeover for your blog, let me know! I did all the work for my own blog (using a realllllyyy slow computer, so it's not as nice as I wanted), and I'd love to try to help redesign yours (using my new computer arriving in a couple days!) for free!
So you help me build my portfolio, and I'll try to help spiffy up your blog! Sound like a deal? If you're interested or have any questions, e-mail me at ctprezzia15@gmail.com .

Thanks so much for stopping in and have a blessed Sunday!

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Supplies not shown
Cardstock: Canson
Velum and sequins: Darice
Embossing powder: Hampton Arts

Throwback Thursday // Masculine Mishmash

It's time for a more masculine throwback Thursday, so here's a quick and short one from June 2013 (I'm starting to suspect Blogger may be categorizing all my old drafts as circa June 2013...)

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A birthday card for my oldest brother - you wouldn't think that it would be possible to have so much patterned paper on a card and still have it retain its "masculinity", but I think it worked here. ;)

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Cardstock: LSS
Patterned paper: Echo Park "This and That"
Stamps: Papertrey Ink "Tweet Talk"
Ink: Tim Holtz
Other: tag (Maya Road)

Tools: Cuttlebug, Papertrey Ink number dies, My Favorite Things "Framed Greetings" die

Window Card // Hero Arts

Hero Arts has a new challenge on the blog - Tic-Tac-Toe! How fun is that??

Here is a Mother's Day card (at least I'll be prepared for next year!) utilizing the challenge, as well as the Simon Says Stamp challenge (anything goes)...

I finally got my hands on the Hello Stamp and Cut after waiting for what felt like forever, and lemme tell you, it's pretty hard to put this stamp set/die combo down! I love how this set covers a multitude of occasions - a solid go-to sentiment set!
For my card, to make sure the accompanying sentiment, "mother's day", didn't get lost, I heat embossed it in white on black cardstock. Then I adhered the delicate "happy" above it using Tombow liquid glue (I finally joined the Tombow bandwagon after watching dozens of Kristina Werner's videos)

I thought that The Fox Says stamp set would go perfectly with the sentiment - as one kid out of nine, I didn't get too much nuzzling time, but when I did, I loved it!
The coloring isn't too fabulous - I'll be honest, if I color with anything aside from watercolors, the results are gonna be far from perfect. But in this case, I thought the coloring worked...plus (as is always the case) I was lazy.
;)
The window was created using circle dies - I had to roll it through my Cuttlebug twice, since there were four layers of paper to cut through.

Here's the playing board...

I did the far right vertical row - heat embossing (sentiment), die cutting (sentiment) and my favorite color (for cards - pink!)

Thanks so much for stopping in today and have a beautiful day!

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