Cute Shoes

I made this card for Alison's Stretch N Bubbles 1st ever challenge blog hop.  There is a link in my side bar to it.  This is a sketch challenge, I had it finished and photographed and then I noticed I had left off the rhinestones!  I made this with a digi stamp from Stretch N Bubbles, I must say it is one of my favorites, very versatile.  I will also enter it in The Order of the Opus Gluei, as this has more sparkles than my last card.  This digi came with a black frame and without.  I printed it with the frame and it made it much easier to cut out the squares.  I colored the shoes with Copic Atyou Spica glitter marker pen's, I can't capture it on the camera but they are very sparkly.   I used TSC Designs Puffy 3-D Glue on the feathered tops.  It was not white enough so I added some Studio G glitter Glue, still too dull so I added Stampin UP Dazzling Diamonds glitter.   Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Thank You

I love to make cards when my heart inspires them.  Yes, you guessed it, I did make this card to send to my friend Jan at Papercraft Pleasures.  I used some of the Crafty Secrets items she sent me.  I used the lay out from Just Us Girls on the outside and I was inspired by the Accucut shadow boxes  to make this into my own  fancy shadow box.  I was also inspired by Jerri Jiminez at  A touch of Grace who has demonstrated  Parchment Craft on her site.  This is not Parchment Craft, I used vellum paper and embossed it by hand.  Card stock is Bazzill and Paper and More  Blush Pink Vellum.  Inside of card is Graphics 45, brides to babies.   I used Crafty Secrets French Labels on the front and Fond Recollections inside the card. I used Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Pendant Shapeabilities to make my cut out.  I used Ranger's Tim Holtz Distress Ink worn lipstick and over that I applied Distress Ink Tea Dye. And I embossed with Stampin Up Big Shot Texturz Plate Perfect Details. The antique lace is from my garage sale stash. 

This is the Just Us Girls Saturday Challenge sketch I used, they are a fun group and offer  a different challenge every week.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Amazing RAK from my friend Jan!

  My friend Jan at Papercraft Pleasures said she was sending me a "few" Crafty Secrets stickers.  This is way more than a few stickers, and not just stickers either!  She sent Stickers, Vintage Cuts, Vintage Booklets and the Homespun Cotton Scraps!  This is way beyond generous my dear friend!  I could barely get it all in the photo!  I had to fan it out so you could see all the different packs.   Jan, I am just blown away, totally speechless!   I can't believe your generosity!  Thank you so much, I really don't deserve your kindness.  I will do my best to find a way to reciprocate, but you have set the standard extremely high!   My most sincere thanks for this generous and thoughtful RAK.  ~Diane

It's our husbands, ha ha

This card won the challenge at Tellens Place along with a $10.00 Gift Certificate to spend at  Quixotic Paperie, Whoo Hoo!
 I made this card with one of the Diva images from Tellens Place.   The sentiment is from a card I saw 15 years ago when the book I'm OK You're OK was popular, and the sentiment still cracks me up.   The layout is from the Tellens Place Challenge.  I actually planned this out for a few different challenges.  The Order of Opus Gluei wants to see sparkles.  I hope you can see the glitter in the card stock and I used it for trim and my jewels are very sparkly also.  Practical Scrappers wants to help us use up the supplies we have, this week it is markers.  I used my Stampin Up markers, Copic, and Spica Atyou ( for the table glitter, ) and I almost forgot the Souffle 3D ink!  Something Completely Different uses letters of the alphabet for inspiration, this week the letter is W,  I am using it for Women.  And Stamp Something has challenged us to use the color pink.  Wow, that's a lot of challenges for me!  The Digi image is from Tellens Place.  The paper is DCWV The Sweet Stack, markers are Stampin Up,  Copic skin tone marker and Copic Spica Atyou glitter markers.  I used both the Spellbinders Petite Ovals Nestabilities and Classic Ovals Nestabilities.   Glitter, jewels and ribbon all from JoAnns.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Happy 60th Birthday card

I am entering this card into the Creative Card Crew Challenge Vintage / Aged and also the Allsorts Challenge which is to use NO designer paper.
My friend Peggy asked me to make a special card for her friend Anita who is celebrating her 60th Birthday on Saturday.  They both love playing the piano so she asked me to do a piano pop up card.  I thought something vintage would be fun.  I am not very tech savvy so I am proud of some new techniques I learned this weekend.  I cropped and erased the images that went with this piano in Paint, which I am just now learning.  When I printed my image I accidentally chose to print it with the black ink cartridge only, thinking that would make the piano nice and dark.  Instead, it produced a shadow image which I thought would look great when I printed the sheet music over it.  I think that's my favorite part of this card! 

I used Stampin Up Big Shot Texturz Plate Perfect Details along with Liquid Pearls on the pink card stock.  For the blue I used
Stampin Up Big Shot Texturz Plate Backgrounds #1 and
Ranger's Tim Holtz Distress Ink Tea Dye all throughout the card.  The image on the front and inside are from 864 Humorous Cuts from the 20's and 30's, selected and arranged by Carol Belanger Grafton, a book I purchased from Dover Publications. I erased the words in the image and added the Birthday greeting then framed it with Flower Soft.  I cut my shapes with Spellbinders Labels 8 Nestabilities.  I used We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper 1/4" & 1/2" to round the corners.  This worked wonderful for getting through all those layers of card stock.  I colored my images with my lone Copic skin tone marker and Prismacolor pencils.  I added a little Studio G glitter glue to the floral dress and the piano keys.  I sprayed the piano and bench with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Wheatfields for some glisten and I also used Stampin Up Crystal Effects to give the piano that high gloss finish and some dimensionality.  I found the free sheet music to Happy Birthday at www.8notes.com and added some ribbon under the music.  I hope Peggy and Anita both enjoy this.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Lady in Blue

I chose this lovely lady for the Play Date Cafe Creativity Challenge #23 hosted by Sarah Anderson.  This is a beautiful choice of colors.

This image is from a wonderful site called Vintage Holiday Crafts.  There are a ton of beautiful vintage items there.  This is a gift card tin, slender enough to hold a gift card, business cards or a few credit cards.  I have more in the post below.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Vintage gift card tins.

Here are more of the Vintage tins.

These cute little vintage card tins were so much fun to make.  I made one out of a more modern print for my daughters birthday.  Everyone loved it, so I went back and grabbed more tins and went crazy with this collection of lovely vintage ladies.  I found them and much more at a wonderful site called Vintage Holiday Crafts.  I just re-sized them in Word to fit the tins.   They are just big enough to hold a gift card or some credit cards.  I printed them on some crack and peel Mactac that I salvaged when the in house print shop at work closed.  I love this kind of recycling.   It is somewhat yellowed with age, perfect for this application.  I found the gift card cases on sale at Meijers.  Happy Easter and thanks for looking, ~Diane

Published in Ready, Set, Create April May issue

The new April/May issue of Ready, Set, Create is here!  Go grab a copy for yourself, it's full of inspiration!

 I have a new card I can share with you that was published in last month's Ready, Set, Create.  It was a special card I made for my friend Jan at Papercraft Pleasures.    You have to buy the April/May issue to see my latest card, or wait until next month.

Thank You
from the February/March issue of Ready, Set, Create.
Supplies
Spellbinders Labels 8 Nestabilities, Spellbinders
Impressabilities Tulips, Stampin Up Certainly
Celery card stock, clear polyester sheet, Wausau white, Versa Magic Aloe Vera chalk
ink applied with a brayer to the Impressability
and then run through the Wizard. The
Stampin Up Wonderful Wings dragonfly was
stamped with Stazon White, trimmed in gold leafing
pen and colored with Pearl Ex chalks. Sentiment
Stampin Up Warmest Regards, ribbon and
buttons are from the Dollar Store.  I'll be back later today to show you what I have been working on.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Runway Birthday Party Card

This is a fun card for a Birthday Party with a Runway Model's theme.  This was so easy to make, I used Stampin Up card stock for the Pink and Purple.  I embossed the Pink with a Sizzix Texture Plate that has lipstick, shoes and purses.  I used my Spellbinders Deckled Mega Rectangles Nestabilities on a piece of shiny metallic card stock to give the impression of a full length mirror.  I made the hanger from bendable jewelry wire.    The fancy ribbon boa comes from stash from my friend  Terry at Tellens Place.  The party invitation was printed on my computer and I inked up a swirl to stamp over it.  The shoes were cut on my Cricut Plantin Schoolbook.  I cut the letter N, turned it upside down and cut off the upward stroke.  I then cut a little curve and added a rhinestone and voila, I have shoes.  Thanks for looking.  ~Diane

Vintage Shadowbox for Mum

These card photo's will return 30 days after publication in the April issue.  

Visit Scrapbook News and Review for more exciting cards and inspiration.

I am so excited to share this with you!  This was such a thrill to work on too.  My friend Jan at Papercraft Pleasures gave me one of her Accucut Die cuts to work with.  This Shadow Box is such a gorgeous lay out to work with.  Sorry if I am showing off with all my pictures, but I had to get you all the views, there are so many views to see!  The Paper is my favorite Graphics 45, it has such a romantic feel to it.  The photo's are from
Dover Electronic Clip Art - Victorian Fashion Accessories, this is the first time I have used any of the images.  I used the Sepia tones to print them out in Word, to give them more of a Vintage look.   The cameo charm is from Blue Moon's Madame Delphines Collection.  I used Ranger's Tim Holtz Distress Ink  in Tea Dye to age all the edges and the white satin ribbon.  I cut the letters with Cricut Plantin Schoolbook.   The garden image is from an old garden book on Victory Gardens, mixing Era's just a little.  The lace trims are the stash of hand crocheted I bought a while back, they were old so they needed no aging.  The pearls are from JoAnns.  Thank you Jan for the opportunity to work with this lovely Accucut Die Cut, and as always, thanks for looking, ~Diane 

Happy St. Patricks Day

I made this sweet 5 x 7 card for the Crafty Secrets and Heartwarming Vintage challenge at Paper Craft Planet.  I needed to use a Crafty Secrets image, this sweet St.Patrick's Day image is available for free at the Crafty Secrets blog, along with a lot of inspiration.  The challenge also called for flowers, I made these with Flower Soft on green wires.  It also calls for it to be CAS, clean and simple.  I originally made it with a large green button poised where the bouquet sits.  Then it hit me a little later in the day, there were supposed to be flowers!  So I took the button off and replaced it with this bouquet, sorry if it's not too simple.  I took a Valentine Doily and fashioned it to look similar to her bouquet.  The paper was printed at Free Vintage Flower Art Scrapbook Paper, the green was a different shade so I used some Kelly Green ink and sponged it to get this color. I used a MS punch, some dimensionals, and two ribbons from my stash.    I am also entering this in the Cupcake Craft Challenge Going Green, and for A Spoonful of Sugar, because they are looking for something recycled.  And Raise the Bar, is looking for something Green as in the color green or recycled Green.  I recycled the wrong color paper, the Valentine heart doily and the green wires have been in my stash forever!  I bought them years ago to make silk flowers on an ink pen for my daughters teachers.  And actually the paper I printed the stripes on to was on it's way to a landfill from work. It is a crack and peel paper that prints with an antique look to it, so I recycled that piece twice!  lol.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Who said sparkling frog legs?

This charming frog is a freebie digi image from Kards and Klay - Kahwinkedink.  I had this cute DCWV card stock with the silverware and the glitter and I thought perfect!  The challenge at The Order of Opus Gluei is for green, anything green.  And Kards and Klay  is for a pond theme.  Raise the Bar is also looking for green.  I also wanted to use some of the Meyer Imports Take and Make Glass Glitter - Greens Blend 70 grit.  I used it on the tummy of the frog and on a silk flower.  It is really chunky and lots of fun to work with!  I bought the glitter after Christmas, Meyer Imports was offering free shipping, so I thought I would give it a try, fabulous, so glad I did!  Simple card, not too many ingredients in this recipe, but here goes.  Digi image Kards and Klay - Kahwinkedink card stock DCWV NANA'S Kitchen, Meyer Imports Take and Make Glass Glitter - Greens Blend 70 grit.  Spellbinders Labels 8 Nestabilities and last but certainly not least, Copic atyou Spica glitter marker pen's.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Card Club Swaps

Notice the similarity?  Sorry for boring you but these came out so much nicer than the one I did the other day, I just had to post them.  These are for the Polycraft Challenge 35 distressing.  These are 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 in size and I added a butterfly I punched out of vellum and added glitter to.  I also like the antique embroidered lace, green twill, and beads I added to these.  I punched the side of the card stock and the dp on 1 side only.  I also wanted to mention I found that instead of regular clear embossing powder you can use the thicker glassy glaze.  I also found that after I used the Versamark to adhere the 1st layer of embossing, as long as I moved quickly I could just dump it into the embossing again without re inking.  I used tweezers and kept the surface hot so it would stick to itself.  Product lineup for these cards, Graphics 45 dp, Papertrey Spring Moss twill tape, KLM digi image, Spellbinders Lotus Pendant, Paper and More pink blush vellum, yellow and pink cs from DCWV and Stampin Up Sale-a-brate scallop punch and glassy glaze.  I also used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tea Dye both before I embossed and again after to fill in the cracks.

Tea Anyone?

I made this card for 3 different challenges.  The sketch idea is from Sweet Sketch Wednesday and I used this cute KLM digi stamp which I love!  I also used the Cuttlebug Challenge to Create Glass or Crackled Glass embossed embellishments for your project, this was so much fun to do.  Instructions are at the Cuttlebug site, you have to give this a try!  .  And I thought I would try Embellish Magazine's color combination of green, yellow, pink, peach and 2 borders.

Recipe for this 5 x 5 card is Graphics 45 dp, Papertrey Spring Moss ribbon and bias tape, KLM digi image, Spellbinders Lotus Pendant, Cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder,
 Paper and More pink blush vellum, yellow and pink cs from DCWV and Stampin Up Sale-a-brate scallop punch.  Oops, sorry, I neglected to mention I also used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tea Dye.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

Mum

I made this card for 3 different challenges, Play Date Cafe for "deep yellow, pale yellow and white".  My Time to Craft "Just for Mum" and A Spoon Full of Sugar "beads".  It is hard to see, but the white and dark yellow card stock both have a shimmery sheen.  The white is Wausau and I don't have the name of the shimmery yellow.  The pale yellow cs is DCWV, the beads are mardi gras beads from Dollar Treasure, except the center bead which is a 1/2 bead from JoAnns.  I used the Spellbinders  New Lotus Pendant Shapeabilities cut twice for the center, and the Deckled Mega Rectangles Nestabilities.  The Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls embossing folder and MUM was cut at 3/4 with the Cricut Plantin Schoolbook.  This is a 5 x 7 card.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane

In my Private Garden

This 5 x 7 card was so much fun to make!  I am entering it into the Dutch Dare Card Challenge  called Open The Gate, using a  gate fold card.  I had a chance to use digi images from two of my favorite, and oh so talented artists!  I have elements from all over included in this one!  The darling Chareity Hare and Harey the Hare are from my friend Kristen at Kahwinkedink.  I think they are just so adorable, and they were my inspiration for this card.  The sweet Porch Swing set was made by Alison at Stretch N Bubbles at my request.  You can e mail her a request to make a digi stamp and she will create it for you.  The Shed Doors to my private garden were freebies from GTC's Crafty Corner, I did quite a bit of cutting and altering to get them to open in the center.  The background card stock came from a beautiful painting by Camille Pissarro that I found at Old Photo Album, a wonderful site that offers all sorts of Vintage Digital images.  I took the picture of the painting and loaded it on to Picnik and I applied a fun finish called HDR-ish, which made it look more in line with my digi images, and less like the vintage painting it is.  As I said, this was so much fun to make!  A big thanks to all of the sites that made these items available to me.  Thanks for looking, ~Diane