Wilhelmina Marie

Beautiful Wilhelminamarie is a digi stamp my friend Kristen made.  The minute I saw her I fell in love with her.  Kristen has many more sweet digi's available at her site, Kahwinkedink.  You can stop by her blog Kards and Klay and see the many beautiful cards she has there.  And this digi is FREE, just stop by her blog and snag her, she's near the bottom of the page!   It's Kards and Klay, and be sure to leave her a sweet message.

I made this card for a challenge at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps at SNR Universe.  The challenge is to use buttons, and there is a free digi image involved, but you must submit your card today!  

Sweet 'n Sassy also has a store where she too has beautiful digi's.  After all, we can never have too many digi's can we?

This is a 5 x 7 card, I used Stampin Up kraft and Patterns 3 dp and Core'dinations cs.  I embossed the Core'dinations with Cuttlebug 5 x 7 Embossing folder - Plum Blossoms.  I used the Spellbinders Deckled Mega Rectangles Nestabilities also.  The 2 miniature buttons are from my stash.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Cuttlebug Kimiko Geisha's

 

I made the Geisha's on this card with my new Cuttlebug 5 x 7 Emboss Folders and some wonderful foil cardstock, I love how you can see the reflection in the picture.  The Giesha'a are from the Kimiko folder.  I embossed and debossed so that I have 2 images facing different directions.  This was quite easy, I folded the foiled card stock in 1/2 so the shiny side was facing front and back.  After I embossed them in the blue foil I cut them out.  Then I ran double scraps of white card stock through for the heads and hands, which I also colored, cut out, then glued on.  The lovely dragon is from the Cricut Pagoda cartridge I received for Christmas and haven't used yet!  I cut this at 2 1/2 in the gold and red foils.  I also used the Cuttlebug A2 Japanese Scales to give the dragon more texture, and the Cuttlebug 5 x 7 Oriental Weave on the Wausau Copper card stock.   This card is for the Practical Scrappers Die Cut Challenge.   Which works out well, because they encourage us to use what we have, and I bought these earrings at least 1 year ago!  I used both my Cricut and Cuttlebug folders to make this.

 I thought it would be fun to share a picture of my embellishments, the silver fans I used.  These were inexpensive earrings that I cut up and glued on to the card.  I found my earings and foil card stock  at my local Dollar Treasure.  By the way, I absolutely love the new 5 x 7 folders from Cuttlebug!  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Edith Mayfly

My friend Kristen of Kards and Klay has some fab new digi images, this one is Edith Mayfly.  Edith got her sweet name in a contest "name the digi", that Cheri, at The Paper Freak won.  Kristen will be offering free images on her blog in the future.   Be sure to stop by and see what she is making, she is a prolific card crafter!  I just had to Google "prolific" and make sure I was using the right word.  Here's the definition: 1. producing offspring, young, fruit, etc., abundantly; highly fruitful: a prolific pear tree. 2. producing in large quantities or with great frequency;   Yep, that sounds right, that is Kristen to a T!  She also has a shop Kahwinkedink, where you can buy some of her images.

I used card stock from DCWV The Sweet Stack, and some pink vellum.  I also used some Studio g glitter glue on the wings and the Cuttlebug embossing folder Mandarin Screen.  Thanks for looking,  ~Diane

WHISPERING

I titled this post whispering, I believe the reason these fine ladies are whispering is because they obviously can't breathe!  Look how tiny those waists are!  Aren't you so glad we don't have to wear corsets?  I found this wonderful image at Vintage Holiday Crafts.  I used a new Spellbinder technique I learned from Sherry Cheever's Walkin on the Bad Side blog.  Sherry is a Designer for Spellbinder.  There is a video on both blogs, Sherry's and the Spellbinders blog to show you how you can do this.  Along with another technique on how to reverse it, and use your negatives, I love to conserve paper! 

I made this "Vintage" image for the challenge at Busy Little Hands.  I think you can see the layers pretty good from the picture, there is a large piece of dimensional foam between each of the 5 layers.  I did a bit of my own take on Sherry's technique, since I am using faces, not flowers.  I chose to use the Spellbinder Petite Oval to frame the ladies faces and the Scalloped Petite Ovals to pick up on the ruffled theme of the dresses.  I added the different shape of the Labels 8 to the last layer to pick up all of the background in the picture.  I used the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Coffee Shop to feather off the edges, the image actually ended about 1/4" below the Labels 8 frame.  The DP is Melissa Frances, 2 different ribbons from JoAnns, I sewed (by hand again) through both layers this time.  The sweet little 4 leaf clovers are actually real pressed clovers from my blog candy stash from Alison at Stretch N Bubbles.  By the way, this is a 5 x 7 card like most of my cards are.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Thank you Gwen, this card won the challenge over at Busy Little Hands!

Bubble Bath Libby

Bubble Bath Libby, is one of my favorite digi images, she is made by Alison, of Stretch N Bubbles.  So when I saw the colors over at the Play Date Cafe, I knew right away I wanted to make something with her.  This is a first for me, but she is actually going to make it into FIVE challenges.  Whew!  I find this very exciting.  2 Red Bananas has a Banana Split Sunday Challenge "Think Round".  The Sketch layout comes from Stampin For the Weekend, and I will be using this sketch again, I really like it.  And also for Corrosive Challenges by Janet, lets go Digi, and Stretch N Bubbles is a sponsor there this month.  Practical Scrappers is looking for something embossed.  On to the recipe.  I used Bubble Bath Libby digi image, Tempting Turquoise, a paint sample, Very Vanilla and some of my foiled cardstock from my stash.  I embossed it with Cuttlebug Swiss dots and Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls Embossing Folders I won from my friend Mona at Cupcakes Creations (stop by, she is a fantastic papercrafter!)  I also used my Spellbinders ImpressabilitiesCircles, I was really trying to keep that bubbly theme going.  The sentiment was computer generated, I used some pop dots to lift the sentiment up off the card a little.  I used my atyou Spica sky blue glitter marker pen to trace the bubbles, then I painted the bubbles and the tub with Close to my Heart Create a shade paint Pearl and then I used Stampin Up Crystal effects to add some dimension to the bubbles.

 Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

GOTCHA!

 

I made this fun little Valentine using the sketch Michelle provided for the Tellens Place challenge.  I also used one of the free digital images Terry so generously gives out.  Stop by her site and see whats going on, it's always fun.  This one is not my usual 5 x 7, it is 4 1/2 x 5.  Actually it started out as a 5 x 7, because I was working off a sketch I made in my notebook of what it should look like.  I was not sure about something so I checked back and realized my dimensions were way off!  So I cut away the excess to make it look more like the sketch.

I used my Spellbinders Petite Ovals, and the card stock is DCWV.  I colored it in with my Stampin Up markers, and I used a Copic for the skin color.  I also used my new atyou Spica sky blue glitter marker pen.  I have heard everyone talk about these, I found this one at my LCS on sale so I gave it a try.  I do like it, I don't know if the camera picked it up, but it has a little glitter in the ink, kind of sparkly.  It is the darker blue I used for the trim, belt and boots.  I found the wooden Gotcha! sentiment in the childrens craft section of JoAnns.  Well this was fun, these challenges are really inspiring.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

 

Just Us Girls Challenge # 16 Valentine

When I saw these colors over at the Just Us Girls Challenge I knew exactly what I wanted to make!  I have to say that is a really good feeling, especially since I was experiencing a little bit of a creative block the last few weeks.  I am so glad that is over and now I have a ton of ideas swimming around in my head again!  For this Valentine I used Stampin Up Very Vanilla, Core'dinations for the Burgundy, an unknown Gray cardstock and a paper flower for the Blush.  The awesome image that had all of these same colors in it came from Artfreebies.  Jeanette and June have some beautiful Vintage images there that they so graciously share with anyone who would like to stop by.

I embossed the gray card stock with my Spellbinders Impressabilities Flourish.  I should mention that 98% of my cards are all 5" x 7" including this one.  In order to get the Impressabilitie to emboss the full 5 x 7 without border lines,  I had to trim the edge off of 1 end with scissors. At first I hated doing  this, I felt like I was breaking one of my tools on purpose!  But over at the Spellbinders site they often cut pieces out of the Impressabilitie's for many different decorative designs and uses.  Once cut I then embossed 1/2 of the gray cardstock, then turned it so the already embossed portion was left sticking out as I sent it through my Wizard a second time.  I used a Stampin Spot in Bravo Burgundy to lightly highlight the flourishes and edges of the gray card stock.  The key and heart embellishments were found in the jewelery section at JoAnns.  I cut the heart out with Cricut Plantin Schoolbook, then embossed it with the Cuttlebug Swiss dots, embossing folder.
The Valentine sentiment was printed with my computer on to vellum.  I really enjoyed making this card and playing along with the challenge.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Just Us Girls and Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenges

I made this card for the Just Us Girls Challenge 15, add stitching to your project and the Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenge   for the layout.  This is the first time I tried sewing on a card, I did it by hand because I heard sewing machines bite.  This was a lot of fun, I used the Bazzill In Stitch'z piercing tool, Bazzill In Stitch'z Piercing mat and the Bazzill In Stitch'z 8 x 8 Flowers stencil pattern that had a nice square edge I could follow, it was so easy to punch out!  Thanks to Bazzill and When Creativity Knocks, the right tools make a world of difference. The card stock is Certainly Celery from Stampin Up, the beautiful dp is Graphics 45, I am in love with their paper.  I used the Spellbinders Classic Circles Nestabilities to cut and emboss the circle, and the Ribbon Tags Trio Shapeabilities for the sentiment tag.  The sentiment is Stampin up Warmest Regards.  The image is from one of my old cookbooks, I aged it, and the lace with a little with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Coffee Shop.  Instead of laying out a newspaper while spraying it, I have decided to use tissue paper.  I plan to save the beautiful over-sprayed tissue to use for a flower or some other embellishment at a later date.  The Glimmer Mist is so beautiful I can't bear to waste it!  I added a little paper flower and  put a pearl in the center.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Thank you Alison at Stretch N' Bubbles for the awesome $242 blog candy prize!

Wow!  I feel so truly blessed!  I won this awesome $242.00 worth of blog candy over at the Stretch N' Bubbles blog!  Thank you Alison, this is an extremely generous prize and I am so very fortunate to have won it.  Alison is a fun and trendy digital stamp designer that I have been following for quite some time now, because I do love her images!  I made the cute ladies shoe with the boa with her digital stamp (Feather Shoe without Border a set of 2 stamps).  And I had a ton of fun with my santa chic (Chick-a-dee).  She now has a design team offering all sorts of ideas on ways to use her super cool stamps.  The Stretch N' Bubbles blog also offers tutorials on how to work with a digital stamp for any of you who are new to the world of digital stamping.  She even has some ink tips for those of you who are more experienced.  One of the really great things I like is that she even offers to create a digital stamp for you, just email her at familybubbles@hotmail.com. with your idea.  And she is kind enough to offer a Free Digital Stamp Wednesday don't miss out on that.  The free digital stamp is a great way to get acquainted with the whole process of digital stamping.  I have a ton of rubber stamps mounted on wood blocks that take up a ton of space!  Digital stamps can be stored on your computer or on a flash drive.  I use a flash drive so I can set up folders to know which designer's stamp I am using and I keep the terms and conditions together with the images.  You can also re size a digital stamp to match the project you are working on, and for some reason they never come out crooked like the ones I stamp sometimes do, lol.  I hope you will stop by her blog and leave her some love, maybe even pick up one of her cool digi stamps,  I'm sure you will love them as much as I do!  Thank you again Alison this is a very generous prize that I have been so very fortunate to have won.  Thanks for looking, and yes I did buy a lottery ticket this morning!  ~Diane

Spellbinders Surprise Birthday Party!

Spellbinders is having another new product reveal, and we are all invited to join the fun! It is a Surprise Birthday Party and they are offering daily prizes to celebrate!

They will begin on January 7, 2010, Today! and will last for a week.  Each day 3 fabulous Designers will introduce one or more surprises!! Each day 3 lucky winners will win all of that day’s newly revealed product! At the end of the week they will select a Grand Prize Winner!!  I can't wait to see the new releases!  Click on the link to their blog to see the schedule of blogs and the official rules. Good Luck!  ~Diane

Published in Ready, Set, Create Dec.09 / Jan.10 issue

These are the 2 cards I made for the Dec.09 / Jan.10 publication of Ready Set Create.

  The first card 25th, uses my favorite Spellbinder die, Fleur de Lis and my Cricut.

By: Diane
Supplies:
Cardstock: Around the Block Ash Filigree
Gold glitter, Dazzling Diamonds
Stampin Up, Cricut Stretch Your Imagination cartridge, Spellbinders
Fleur de Lis Pendant, Shapeabilities, Petite Ovals
Nestabilities, MS lace punch, gray ribbon

 

This card made a full page featuring all three photo's.

Pop Up Spinner Combo Card

By: Diane
Supplies:
DCWV Blossoms and Butterflies, Stampin’ Up Doodle This, Wonderful Wings
and Delight in Life, Vellum, clear acetate, 2 pennies, dimensional foam.
I made this card with lots of love for my dear friend and fellow blogger Carole at Paper Arts.  She has taught me so much and she is such a wonderful friend, I am so fortunate to have met her.
The butterfly spins in circles, I have directions on how to make both a spinner and a pop up in some of my older posts.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, I was busy cooking and preparing as I am sure many of you were too.  I hope you enjoy and as always thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Happy Anniversary to Jan at Papercraft Pleasures and thank you for the Bind It All Blog Candy!

Look at this cute little Pink Wonder!  It is a Bind it All New Version 2.0 by Zutter Innovative Products, and I won it as a blog candy prize from Jan at Papercraft Pleasures.  Thank you Jan, this is just so awesome!  I can't wait to start creating some beautiful bound books and projects with this. Jan's blog Papercraft Pleasures is one of the first few blogs I started following.  I really admire her work, she has been published numerous times, and has many awards in her creative resume.  So it has always been a pleasure for me to follow her.  She has a very interesting blog with cards, scrapbooks, cooking, jewelry and much more!  There is just no end to her creativity!  This blog candy was in celebration of her 1 year Anniversary for her blog.  I suggest you might pop over to wish her a Happy Anniversary, and become a follower.  This is not the first time she has offered a Bind It All as blog candy either, I heard the last one went to Canada.  Thank you Jan, this is a very generous gift and just in time for Christmas!  Thanks for looking  ~Diane

Just Us Girls Challenge # 11

 

I made 2 cards for the JUGS Just Us Girls Challenge this week.  The challenge this week is to use the chalkboard technique.  Stamp your image in white ink, and then apply your chalks.  For those of you who have never tried this, the chalk will stick to your white ink.  I am so glad they suggested this challenge!  I chose to stamp this on some vellum I bought at JoAnns.  I colored it in with my Stampin Up chalks and then I used the eraser to clean it up.  I hardly ever use my Stampin Up chalks and I have never used the Eraser that comes with it.  I am so glad I gave it a try with this technique.  The eraser really cleans up the chalk residue that does not rub off, and I also used it to do some shading.

See the really neat embossing?  I was so fortunate to win those Cuttlebug folders along with a whole lot more from the JUGS challenge site last week!  Thank's to Mona from from Cupcake Creations, she sponsored the wonderful Blog Candy.  She has an interesting blog with beautiful creations, you must stop by.  There were 3 Cuttlebug folders, 4 really cool stamps, wonderful ornament gift tags she made (they are gorgeous) and a beautiful gift box she made with heat embossed snowflakes on it.  My daughter has already informed me I should put a gift card for her in the gift box.  I have a picture of all the goodies I received above.  I also want to thank Sandi from Paper Trail for the wonderful idea of using a double frame.  I saw a card on her blog where she used a double frame and I loved it, so I had to scraplift it!  I used the Spellbinders Labels 8 to make my frames.  I strongly suggest you use my links to stop by all of these sites, they all have so much to offer!  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Santa Chic

 

I made this card for 2 challenges this week.  The challenge at Play Date Cafe is hosted by Alison of Stretch n Bubbles this week.  Alison offered one of her images, but you can use any image you want.  The colors are Red, Lime Green and Bright Pink.  The challenge at Tellens Place is to use a technique called Paper Piecing, they too offer a free digi image to work with or not.   I embossed the red card stock with a Sizzix Texture Plate, I cut the 2 backgrounds with Labels 8 by Spellbinders.   I printed Alison's digi Chic on the green dp, and also printed it 4 more times on white cs.  I cut the flower hat 4 times, decreasing it's size on each cut, and colored each layer a different color.  I cut the purse and shoes out of the white cs also and colored them in and glued them on top of the patterned shoes. This was a lot of fun combining both challenges for this piece.  And even better since I really need to get my own Christmas cards done, Yikes!   Thanks for looking.  ~Diane