R&D from Nancy Ball

I was very inspired by Nancy Ball a few weeks ago when she created several different colors of cards using the Close to My Heart Lovely Leaves.  Check out her awesome work here. I think the only change I might have made to her stunning design was to use a sentiment from the December Stamp of The Month set.  Thank you Nancy for the idea!  *ps - I use the term "R&D" to mean "rip-off and duplicate". 

Playing with Embossing Paste

The technique we learned at the most recent Open Stamping involved Embossing Paste.  I was thrilled at how easy this technique is to use!  I had a Tim Holtz stencil of Holly & Berries on my desk and wondered what could be done to color embossing paste after it was dry?!  This example used a water brush and the Close to My Heart dye inks.  The berries were colored with Stickles (remember them?!).  I'm not sure it was worth all the effort - but it did turn out looking pretty cool.  Nice to know it does work!

I made this one before I went in for spinal surgery.  I'm home now but not allowed to sit for very long - so it may be a few more days before I get back into the studio!  All in all, I'm thrilled with the surgery results.

Swan Lake paper pack - only available until Dec. 31st

The "mask" on this kitty's face reminded me of Robin Hood or "Cat Man" (giggle) so I decided to have the kitty with a little fishy friend. Still loving Swan Lake papers!

CTMH Swan Lake Papers - with yet another kitty!

I am still LOVING the Swan Lake paper pack. It's funny, but I love everything in this pack except the paper with swans on it. Go figure. I'm glad CTMH makes a variety of types in each paper pack. The pile of hearts in the bowl was made with the Charming Cascades and a couple of pieces of post-it notes for masking. Poppy red ink.

The sentiment shows up better in real life - it says "I hope you're in every one of my nine lives". Cute!

More Swan Lake with Kitties

I wasn't sure what to do with these kitties so I attempted calico!  I love the sentiment (Simon Says Stamps) Happy Purr-thday.  Purr-fect!  

Swan Lake paper pack - continued

While I was still in the mood to play with these papers, I finally got ink on a Simon Says stamp set that I got simply because of this kitty image!  This looks like my Mr. Bilbo Baggins!  I used this sentiment because of who the card is being sent to - not because "baby cakes" ever hisses at anyone!  I colored the kitty with my Derwent Inktense pencils.  (oh, and the kitty and his cat bed are two separate images so I did a wee bit of masking.) 

True Love and Swan Lake

This is a special stamp set from Close to My Heart that helps raise funds for Operation Smile (D1711 - $17.95). It's on the back cover of the current Annual Inspirations book.  Unfortunately, everyone I know has not realized that the images in this set are so adorable because the size  is shown at 50% of what the real stamp sizes are.  I copied the card example, changing the color palette and paper to the "Swan Lake" pack.  I like mine better - but that's because these are more in my favorite color season.  

I think that CTMH probably used real stitching on their card - but I just used the journaling pen and drew in stitch lines.  I put the hearts down with just a strip of adhesive in the center and pulled up the sides so it would look like they were loose - and just stitched.  I paper pieced the shirt on the child (it stamps with a bold stripe) and was really, really happy with how the flower placement turned out.  Very fun!