do what you love

hello!
so, i finally did it! i have been wanting to make a card for the current Runway Inspired Challenge since it went live, but for some reason, it was stumping me!!
ok...truth time - to be fair, i was waiting to see if my abandoned coral distress inks would arrive in time, but i did finally give up the waiting. i decided to make my own coral color! 

isn't that photo just awesome! i LOOOOOVE the geometric/diagonal lines! i was totally inspired by that (and the color, as i mentioned!)! so here's my take:

yeah! i have to say, i had 2 failed cards before this...and one that i thought was up to my standards, but at the last minute, i cast it aside and came up with this idea. which i LOVE! so win-win!

i heat embossed the arrows from the Paper Smooches stamp set Love Struck in white. then i lightly used some dried marigold distress inks and then worn lipstick right over top! instant coral! (almost! ha!)
i sprinkled some water on it, too! ...because...distress ink!! ha!

lastly, i just heat embossed the sentiment from Group Hugs onto some vellum and stapled it to the card! the whole base is popped up and a strip of washi on the side to complete it! it reminded me of the bricks on the side of the photo!
plus, i REALLY love the coral/woodgrain combo!

so thanks for stopping by! i appreciate your looking loo! :)
enjoy!

you're my brightest star

hello there!

it's been quiet on my blog this week...weird!
well that's about to change! 
today i have a card that i created for the current Runway Inspired Challenge! 

so FUN! and totally a challenge for me! these aren't my usual colors, and i was up for the challenge! 
i also thought to myself...hey...i'm already challenging myself, why not use some acrylic paints?! also new to me!

so i took my inspiration from the panels in the top of the shirt, and that's what i did:

i used some navy paint and quickly brushed it on to my card front. once that was dry, i used some orange and red acrylic paint to create loose 'stars'! i really like how it came out! 

i colored that little lion from Mama Elephant's Carnival Cupcakes with copics, and then popped him up over that lovely, so sweet, sentiment from Shooting Star.

what do you think? have you ever used acrylic paint? it was FUN!! 
thanks for stopping by!
enjoy!

xoxo for you

today i'm sharing a card i made for the current Runway Inspired Challenge! i just LOVE the photo - i just can't resist using pinks and yellows! 

see? awesome - and look how VIBRANT that pink is!! LOVE!

ok, so for my card, i used some Mama Elephant stamps! i was inspired by the bright pop of pink of the dress (obviously! ha!), the yellow dress walking back on the right and the white dress walking back on the top right of the photo! 

yes. you love it, i can tell already (ha!!)! 
the background was created by watercoloring with pinks a piece of white cardstock. then i took my Triangle Background Hero Arts die and then on a separate card base, i re-attached (most) of the pink triangles. i'm not explaining it completely, but hopefully it's easy to see what i did!

then i stamped the cute as can be puppy (he's a british bulldog in my mind! lol!) and speech bubble heart from the Origami stamp set onto some vellum (to represent the white dress walking away). but the vellum was TOO see through, so i took some white ink and lightly colored the back of the vellum pieces. PERFECT! it was still see through but not completely! 

i used some old thickers for the sentiment and stitched them on, and added a stripe of yellow washi, to represent the yellow dress walking away! LOVE it!

thank you for stopping by!
enjoy!

kiss kiss, i love you!

happy new year's eve! :)
today i am sharing a card i made for one of my favorite challenges, and the sentiment just so happens to be PERFECT for today! :)

i saw this inspiration photo on the Runway Inspired Challenge blog, and dude - it SPOKE to me! ha! i LOVE the yellow, and the strip of red and even the warm grey color of the purse! such a beautiful ensemble! 

don't you agree?
so, how could i NOT play along, right?
here's my interpretation:

i sprayed some Heidi Swapp Mustard spray onto a piece of recycled packaging, and then smooshed it onto the background of my card to create the 'watercolor' look. my absolute FAVORITE way to make a watercolor background!

then i heat embossed the sentiment from Mama Elephant's Pandamonium in red. the feathers are from the Smitten stamp set (LOVE that set!), and i also had heat embossed those in white onto vellum. i cut them out and stitched them in place. LOVE stitching on my cards, as you know!

lastly, i popped the card base with some foal tape over a wonky placed strip of warm grey washi tape and done! :)

hope it made you happy! i LOVE this card, and i can't wait to give it to the Mann of my dreams on valentine's day! ha! :)
enjoy!

congratulations to you!

hello all!
it's friday! and today i am sharing a card i made for a couple ongoing challenges! :) 

little tangles is having an anything goes challenge (in honor or World Card Making Day last saturday)! challenge accepted! ha ha!

and also, check out this amazing photo inspiration from the runway inspired challenge! 

oh gosh! i love! i love the colors, the white space and all of the 'splatter-y' looking things behind the model! so cool!!

so here's my card, with those challenges in mind:

so fun!
i took my gold dellicata ink pad and swiped it along in the bottom left corner of some white cardstock. i looooooove the brush stroke look you get when you do that! i stamped the sentiment from neat and tangled's everyday labels stamp set and popped them up with some foam tape! SUCH A VERSITLE SET! love it!

that panel was then popped up over some bold black and white diagnol striped paper from my stash and then i added some more gold splatters and black splatters! and finally a few gold sequins finished it off! 

so fun, right? i really LOVE how this card turned out!
enjoy!

thank you for that

hey there!

i'm popping in with a fun post, sharing my entry for the most current runway inspired challenge! what a FUN photo!!

i love the houndstooth and bold, pops of color! so that's what i went with for my card! :)

so yeah, it didn't turn out exactly as i had envisioned, but it was close! :)
i used the jungle fever stamp set from create a smile stamps, and stamped the lily randomly on the watercolor paper. then i masked off the middle (see that rectangle frame? it's from your view!) and used pumice stone to add a light grey to most of the panel. when that was dry, i used my hero arts houndstooth background stamp and stamped in a similar warm gree for a subtle texture over the greyscale-d area! :)

then i lifted the maste up, and added bold and bright colors to the flowers and adhered the frame on top! :)
of course, i used thickers for the sentiment. :)

so that's my card! :)

hope it made you smile! 
enjoy!

xoxo - vellum and distress inks

good morning! 
i thought i'd pop in real quick and share a card i made for a few challenges! 

the current little tangles challenge is all about stencils! and so am i! so i had to play along! :)

and just take a look at this GORGEOUS runway inspired photo inspiration! LOVE it!
greys, and yellows and layers - yes please!!!

now, on to the card, shall we?

eek! i love it! so fun!
i took some patterened paper vellum (it had the light grey bursts on it) and cut it a few times, at different angles, and then layered it all together! i LOVE vellum, and i love the look of stitching, and vellum and stitching ROCK together, so i totally stitched it all together at the top of the card! 

then i used my heidi swapp polka dot stencil to then add even MORE pattern onto the layered vellum! i made went from darker to lighter (going left to right) and i think it adds SO much, and totally mimics the pattern on the dress! (i don't LOVE flower images...so i went circles and sun bursts! lol)

finally i watercolored the sweet song bird image popped it up for dimension! it's hard to tell, but the belly of the bird is a soft blue. and i stamed the sentiment with staz-on ink, also from the my heart sings stamp set! one of my first and faves from neat and tangled! :)

so that's my card! i totally love it!
and i hope it made you smile, and perhaps next time you'll add some distress ink to vellum. LOVE that look! i could do it all day! 

enjoy!

rawr means i love you

hello! 

i have a fun card to share today! and it was 100% inspired by the awesome runway inspired challenge photo!!

i saw the photo, and i just KNEW that i was going to find a way to play along! :) i LOVE it!!

and here's my card! :)

i used the sweet little lion image from the cosmic stars stamp set from mama elephant!
i colored him with copics and then popped him up over some crumpled vellum! 

the sentiment was made with the AMAZING sketchy letters set! i stamped them in some tattered rose distress ink, and then cut them out. easy!

the grey patterened paper panel reminded me of the fibers in a sweater! and so, i popped it up over a strip of washi! just a few enamel aqua dots finished off the card!

what do you think? do you see the inpsiration? 
thanks for stopping by!
enjoy!

cute little birthday fishes!

i have found that i have been making a lot more birthday cards, recently. which is good, since i always seem to need them at the last moment! but it's odd, because i definitely tend to make WAY more just because, or love, cards! i don't know why!
what kind of card do you make most often?

so with that said, i have another birthday card to share! 
i made this one for the current runway inspired challenge going on! it's such a pretty inspiration photo! i LOVE the background of the photo...the fog and trees and softness. sigh. so cool!

 

my card however, mostly focuses on the skirt, as a source of inspiration! :) and i really love how my card turned out!

i used some distress paints that i just received recently. LOVE DISTRESS PAINTS PEOPLE!! they're SO fun!!! and i'm DYING to find new ways to use them, so please - hit me up if you've worked with them!

the cute little fish and sentiment is from the paper smooches birthday buddies stamp set! this is an oldie set, but i LOVE it still!
all of the fish were colored with copics and then popped up for dimension! 

i die cut a little 'wave' from vellum and heat embossed the sentiment and then added a few pearls to the card to represent the bubbles!

fun, right?
i hope so!
ok, back to a very full, but very fun, weekend! 
enjoy!

hello friend

hello and good morning!
today i have a card to share that i made for the most recent runway inspired challenge! 

i think the greys/silvers are so elegant and pretty! and let's face it, i'm sucker for anything grey!

i used the inspiration photo pretty literally though, and went for a more modern look!

i used the new mama elephant set - origami. LOOOOVE this set!!! so so so amazing! i used my inktense watercolor pencils to color in the images; keeping it darker along the 'folds' of the images. i think it's super fun! then i colored the heart in with a peachy color for just a subtle little addition of color! 

the heart was also covered in the wink of stella pen and then i added a coat of glossy accents to it!
i am really digging the patterned paper too! the white hexagon panel is popped up over the super awesome arrows (that looks a little origami to me! bonus!) to mimic the sharp contrasted lighting in the picture! so fun!! and also - so literal! lol!

so that's it!
it's another warm day here (almost 80!) - crazy i know, since most of the country is still getting snow! wish i could send some of this warm weather your way!
enjoy!

kiss kiss, love you!

well hello!
today i had some time during this extremely rare 'winter' day in south carolina (!!!), to get crafty and create a super fun and lovey card for the current challenge going on over at the runway inspired challenge blog!

that dress is just too flowy, springy, and pretty NOT to inspire, right? 

so here's my card!

i used some of my new mama elephant stamp sets. LOVE them!! those little love birds/penguins/owls (from the love quotes stamp set) are not only pretty much the most versatile 'bird' image EVER! they're also soooooo adorable!! i love how they look like they could be nuzzling when next to each other!! so sweet!! 

i lightly colored in the love birds with my copics (to mimic the shawl and purse) and popped them up for some extra dimension! the sentiment is from the pandamonium stamp set! :) and, i used that super cool vellum frame beacuse i wanted to mirror the lightness of the dress without hiding that really FUN background i made!

and speaking of the background, i used some white embossing paste, water-colored over various triangles (once it was dry!) with some distress markers and then put a liberal amount of wink of stella over those triangles! :) swoon. love it! :)

so that's it! there's still time to play along with me over there! 
enjoy!

you are awesome!

i made this super fun card last night! well, at least i think it's super fun! it's not exactly my usual style, but i'm still digging it! :)
i was completly excited to play along with the most recent challenge at the runway inspired challenge blog! LOVE that inspiration photo! 

the colors are so fun! and i love all of that white space! :)

so here's my card! (i tried to go with a minimalist, bokeh feel...what do you think?)

i feel i almost got it! lol!
first i colored some vellum with two different shades of reds, teals and yellow copic markeres. then i stamped the super adorable heart image from the new you + me stamp set from neat and tangled! (the sentiment is from that set also. LOOOOOOOVE the sentiments on this stamp set, by the way! i love the font, and the builiding your own sentiment capabilities and everything!! this is an awesome stamp set!) 

each heart was cut out and layered on top of a white embossing paste background of falling stars. then the sentiment was also stamped on a strip of vellum! and then the whole white panel was wonk-i-fied! read: turned topsy-turvy! :) and also popped up for dimension. :)

so that's it! simple, but fun, right? and maybe a little bokeh...? i though the overlapping vellum hearts might lend to that. i tried! :)
enjoy!

don't worry, be happy now

i had the concept for my card for a few days, not, but i couldn't make it come to fruition, and i didn't have the right sentiment. and then it hit me!

my card today is for the runway inspired challenge - love this inspiration photo!! and some of the entries already are stellar! wow! seriously - amazing!

and here's my card:

i used two lawn fawn sets - harold's abc's and a birdie told me. i popped up a few of the speech bubbles for dimension and heat embossed the sentiment.

then i added some super cheery enamel dots to finish the card off! 
so that's it - CAS and super fun! hopefully it made you smile a bit! :)
...at the very least i'm sure you're whistling this little ditty here...i am!! ha ha!

enjoy!