New Stamps

I recently made my first order with Cornish Heritage Farms (http://cornishheritagefarms.com) and am really loving the stamps I got from them. I am especially in love with the Silhouette Blooms sets (I &II) by Kim Hughes.

It was my first experience with unmounted rubber stamps and having to cut them out, which was a bit nerve racking. But I ordered some fantastic scissors along with the stamps that did an excellent job as well as now being my favorite scissors, period. The scissors are from Tim Holtz, Tonic Studios. Really great micro tipped, non-stick, serrated on one side scissors. They seem a bit large to look at them but are really comfortable to hold and do a really impressive job of cutting out fine/stamped images.

Here are a few cards I made with my new Silhouette Blooms sets and one Wild Rose stamp also from CHF.
I Cuttlebuged the edges on the top layer and stamped the branch with Versamark ink and then chalked it. I love how these blooms are just made to be layered.
This is the wild rose stamp which I colored in with my Prisma Colored pencils and used baby oil to blend. I used a Sizzix die to cut out the oval and a PTI sentiment and faux stiching.

Used one of my Martha Stewart edge punches, Circle Borders and Corners from PTI and heat embossed in gold.

PTI, Spiral Bouqet sentiment along with another Silhouette Blooms flower and a bit of Mikes ribbon. You can't see it well, but I covered the flowers and buds with Stardust Stickles for a bit of shine.

Supplies:

Ink: Versa Mark, Versafine Onyx Black, Stazon Black

Other: Corner rounder, Scor-Pal

Finally back!

I haven't been doing much crafting as I've been sick for the past week and a half. I am finally feeling better! I wanted to make and send out Easter cards, but considering Easter is this Sunday that just isn't going to happen...oh well. I did manage to do one that I sent as a RAK. I just love that Polka Dot Basics set from PTI! I have some more cards that I'll get up soon and I made a little mini book that I'm really happy with...pics soon!

Supplies:

Stamps: PTI (Polka Dot Basics, Beautiful Blooms, Butterfly Kisses, Every Day Blessings, Mixed Messages)

Ink: Palette and Versafine Black

Other: Cuttlebug embossing folder, Martha Stewart punch, Stickles

And the WINNER is......

I had my son be my helper and he chose the winner:)

Congratultaions to Jennifer Speanburg!

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Email me your address so I can get your goodies out to you! (lanipuakea@gmail.com)

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She is thankful for: "I am so thankful for my husband, for more than just the obvious reasons. At the end of this month he is leaving for Pittsburgh and we are following in June. But for the next 4 months I will be alone with the kids. As much as he drives me crazy at times I can't imagine wha the next 4 months are going to be like without him. Great blog! Thank you for the inspiration."

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Thanks for playing along everyone:) I wish I could send everyone something!

Blog Candy!!

Well, I've decided to do my first blog candy give away:) I figured this is a good time since my birthday is on Saturday and my due date for my baby girl is fast approaching.

So here's what to do to enter. Anyone can enter. One entry per person. Make sure your name is with your post, I can't contact an annonymous. On your comment tell me something you are thankful for that you usually take for granted or don't think about how nice it is to have. This idea is from me being without hot water for over a week and being really thankful for hot water! You have until midnight, mountain time, Saturday, March 15th to leave a comment. I will randomly pick a name and announce a winner Sunday, March 16th. Good luck!

Here's what you'll get:

One sheet of Heidi Grace Rub-Ons

One sheet of Heidi Grace Tab Decorations (meadow color)

One package of Heidi Grace pre-braded flowers (12 pieces)

Heidi Grace Ribbon, 1 yard each of 6 different ribbon

One 40 piece package of Heidi Grace decorative pins (pink hearts and pale yellow balls)

One Gold Gel Ink Pen

And a hand made card by me:)

My new Scor-Pal

I had fun experimenting on this card with my new Scor-Pal. I'd been seeing all the pretty line embossing you can do with it (amoung many other things) and finally got one. I do like it, easy to use and store. It's kind of hard to see in this pic, but the background is lined with embossed lines I did on the Scor-Pal. Really easy and pretty to add some texture. The big flower is stamped and cut out from PT Beautiful Blooms and the other flowers are from Mikes, they are the bridal ones that come in a really cute container. The hat pin is from Heidi Grace, I found a pack of them for a $1 at Big Lots! The paper is PT Everyday blessings and the ribbon is PT too, Spring Moss Twill. Used my Cricut to cut the oval and a Martha Stewart punch for the bottom scallops. Sentiment is PT, Mixed Messages. Thanks for looking!

Supplies:

Ink: Toile Pink, Palette, Versafine Black

Other: Tiny rhinestones

Coloring Technique

I love my Prisma Water Color Pencils but don't always want the watercolor look, so I decided to buy the regular Prisma Pencils and some baby oil to blend them with. I wanted to do a very simple card to focus on coloring with them and am happy with how this one turned out. I think it's really pretty even though there are no layers or any other embellishments. I really like the regular Prisma's too and now have more of choice in the type of look or feel I am going for.

**As a note** I tried the Gamsol (odorless mineral spirits) for the blending and though they say odorless there was still a definte odor to me, and when I read the warning label on the bottle it said that it is a very toxic substance that with prolonged use has been verifed of causing permanent nerve and brain damage. So, even though using the small amount it takes to blend the Prisma's, the health concerns it poses just aren't worth the risk to me. And more than that, in the hour or so I was experiementing I got a slight headache. I also found the baby oil to blend just as well.

Supplies:

Ink: Black Stazon, Onyx Black VersaFine

Stamps: Fancy Pants, PTI (Everyday Blessings)

Prisma Color Pencils and baby oil used with tortillons

A RAK card!

I received this lovely card from a fellow PTI RAK club member. I love the colors she used and the perfectly pierced circles. She also included a very sweet and encouraging note. Made my day! Thank you Anne!

Card For A RAK

I joined a RAK club (random act of kindness) club over at PTI and this is the first card I've made for it. I've had this design in my head for awhile and am happy with how it came out. I used lots of Stickles on it too, my favorite!

Supplies:

Stamps: PTI, Butterfly kisses, Out On A Limb

Ink: Burnt Umber (palette) ColorBox chalk, ColorBox pigment

Ribbon from Mikes and "fake" dew drops

Other: Cricut to cut ovals

Mojo Madness Contest

Julee, over at Poetic Artistry (http://poeticartistry.blogspot.com), is having a contest based on a sketch she challenged us to use. So here is my take on it. I stamped the background, PTI Spring Moss green cardstock, with a stamp from Autumn Leaves in Palette ink Spring Moss. The flower stamp and butterfly are stamps from Inkandinkado. The flowers were stamped with Palette ink Belle Rose and the butterfly was stamped with Black Stazon and then colored in with Palette ink Toile Pink and Belle Rose. I added some PTI Spring Moss grosgrain ribbon and some "dew drops". Then I stiched around everything. Hope you like it!