Victorian Valentine

Today you have my final Valentine using an image from Nicecrane Designs.

 

I went with a somewhat Victorian look for this one.

Pieces of Dresden scrap were used for the gold borders.  The deep purple paper is a specialty paper made in India.

I am very impressed with the quality of the images from Nicecrane Designs. They are high resolution and very easy to resize to fit your need.
A big thank you to Ignacio for providing these lovely images for me to try.

You can find the other cards here (#1), here (#2), and here(#3).

Sweet Maiden Valentine

Here is my 3rd of  four Valentines made using an image from Nicecrane Designs.  Sometimes it is fun to use non-traditional colors for holidays as I did on this card.

I used decorative layers cut with the Spellbinders die Resplendent Rectangles and then "popped" the layers using fun foam. I find that using fun foam instead of little squares or circles keeps your layers more uniform and keeps the sags away.

The pale green paper has a slight sheen and pattern to it. I embellished with tulle, paper flowers, and oval shaped pearls.  A Valentine greeting is on the inside of the card.

If you missed my other cards for Nicecrane Designs, you can find them here (#1) and here (#2).

Thank you for visiting.

Love's Greeting Valentine

Here is my second Valentine card using an image from Nicecrane Designs.

I had just the right patterned paper (several years old) by Fancy Pants to go with the soft pinks and greens in the image. (Never worry about that hoard of paper in your closet...you will eventually find a use for it!) Once again, I used a die from Spellbinders to frame the image.

Thou art as sweet

as sweetest wine,

And I thy Faithful 

Valentine.

If you missed card no. 1 using images from Nicecrane Designs, you can find it here.

I am entering this in the challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow, vintage or shabby chic, romantic love and the Crafty Cardmakers challenge, vintage love.

Sweet Valentine

I recently had a pleasant surprise and an offer that I could not refuse. Ignacio of Nicecrane Designs offered me one of his digital files to try. After spending a lot of time looking at all of the beautiful images offered, I chose the Romantic Valentine Collection 2.

The following card is one of 4 designs that I will be showing in the next few days.

This was a quick and easy card thanks to the sweet image, already distressed printed paper, a couple of Spellbinder nestabilities and an edge punch. And can't forget that little heart. It is from the Vintage Valentine Digital Kit  from Crafty Secrets.

Some tiny heart shaped brads added to a scrap of the bg paper add the finishing touch.

I am entering this in the challenge going on at Try it on Tuesday, celebrating Valentine's Day by including at least one heart on your project.

Thanks for visiting today!

Winter ATC

When I take a new (for me) product for a test run, I usually do so on an ATC or tag. If I like the results I keep going, if I don't like the first results, it goes into the round file and I try again. This ATC happens to be a trial run for the TH Distress Stain-brushed pewter as well as the TH Snowflake Die that I recently purchased from The Funkie Junkie Boutique . I liked the results so no paper was harmed or disposed of in this process.

 For the background I stamped portions of the tree from the Hung on a Tree stamp set from Red Rubber Designs and then heat embossed with clear ep. After embossing I applied brushed pewter Stain then removed the ep by placing a sheet of paper over the bg and ironing. When cool, I inked the background with DI in walnut stain. I distressed the edges and added brushed pewter stain.

The poinsettia (Hung on a Tree) was stamped on white paper that had been distress with DI in antique linen and vintage photo. I embossed the image with silver ep overheating it to look more like pewter than silver and mounted it on top of a flat die cut snowflake enhanced with glitter and brushed pewter stain and a dimensional die cut snowflake (TH) with a little platinum Stickles. The base layer is black cardstock edged with the brushed pewter stain.

I am linking to the following challenges

Sunday Share on the Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog

Fun with ATCs - Embossing

Try it on Tuesday - Let's Get Inky

Easel Card

Christmas is quickly on its way and I am happy to say that my shopping is done and the presents are stowed away (or already being used).  On Black Friday I took 4 of the grandkids (the Virginia ones) shopping. Have you ever taken 3 teens and 1 pre-teen out to buy clothes?  It is a real treat. No, really, it is.  I only get to see them once a year so it really was fun shopping and getting them things that they wanted, were the right size, and would not be returned. 

The following Monday, my daughter and I spent the day shopping for the 2 youngest grandkids. Being in Tennessee, we get to see them a little more often if you call twice a year often.

It was a fun 2 weeks on the road but worth every minute of it. Now, back to creating.

I have made an easel card using the Hung on a Tree rubber stamp set from Red Rubber Designs.  This is the first time I have attempted an easel card but will definitely be making more of them.

I stamped the tree image and embossed with clear ep, filled in the leaves and berries with markers, trimmed the image and mounted on dry embossed paper.

Hung On A Tree Rubber Stamp Set	Palette Ink Pad: LANDSCAPE	Palette Ink Pad: JARDIN MOSS
Clear Embossing Powder

InLinkz.com

Quick and Easy Christmas Ornament

Here is a little ornament that can be made with a mache ornament blank from a craft store. Stamps and ink are from Red Rubber Designs.

For the background I stamped images from Vintage Backgrounds and Vintage Santa in charcoal ink.  I stamped and embossed the Ornamental Joy stamp and inked then edges and trimmed with gold and silver tinsel.

On the reverse of the ornament I stamped the same background and added a copy of a vintage postcard.

Ornamental Joy Rubber Stamp	Vintage Santa Rubber Stamp Set	Vintage Background Rubber Stamp Set
Palette Ink Pad: CHARCOAL

InLinkz.com

Christmas Gift Tags

It's not too early to think about getting those gift tags made for all of the presents that will be under your tree.  Red Rubber Designs has the perfect stamp set that will fit almost any style.

 Whether you are traditional...

 traditional with a little sparkle...

 plain and unadorned...

 non-traditional...

 or country and prim.

This stamp set will cover most of your tag needs. Check out the Christmas Tags Rubber Stamp Set at Red Rubber Designs.  Order this month and you may be eligible for FREE shipping!

All papers and inks used are from Red Rubber Designs.

Christmas Tags Rubber Stamp Set	Coordinating 12x12 Cardstock	Kraft cardstock
Palette Ink Cubes: ESCHER	Palette Ink Cubes: VAN GOGH

InLinkz.com

Winter Sparkles and Mittens

I have used the cutest little stamp set called Winter Sparkles from Red Rubber Designs to enhance my rather primitive home-made mittens. Theses would be a warm, nostalgic addition to a Christmas tree or would also work nicely as a package adornment.

Hear no Snow!

See no Snow!

Taste no Snow!

The images are stamped on unbleached muslin and lightly colored with Primsacolor pencils. I purposely wanted the colors muted to look a little more vintage. The ribbon was sprayed with pinecone and silver sprays by Tattered Angels. I embellished with small glittered snowflakes centered with Swarovski crystals. Mittens were lightly brushed with antique glass glitter.

Challenges:

Anything but a Card

Witch Booklet

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!

Here is a little "witch" booklet that I made using a product from Seneca Pond Crafts as the base.

Each of the letters is raised using brown Fun Foam. This gives a good solid foundation without warping or sagging that you sometimes have when just using foam dots or squares.

The ribbon has been heat distressed for a more vintage look.

I used stamping and  copies of vintage images throughout the book.

Some of the pages I covered with printed papers before embellishing with images and trinkets.

The last 2-page spread with fun images from several different sources.

I am entering this into the Try it on Tuesdays challenge Halloween. BTW, they have posted a design team call if you are interested.

Halloween Matchbox Swap

I joined my first matchbox swap hosted by the lovely queen of swaps Vintage Dragonfly.  Here are the cool things sent to me from Michele aka askaboutantiques.

Caution: Lots of pictures ahead!

 She transformed the lowly matchbox into a really cute haunted mansion.

 The bottom pulls out to reveal a stash of goodies.

 She cleverly labeled each treasure with a letter that when put together spells out the word Halloween.

 In addition to the goodies in the matchbox she included an accordion book, some earrings and a fun witch's broom.

 And this spooky little banner.

 One (out of many) things that I love is this personalized label for me to use on a bottle for my apothecary. Cool isn't it?  

Thanks, Michele. I love each and every piece of Halloween fun.

This is what I sent Michele.  

 In case you missed this in an earlier post, this is the matchbox that I altered.

 Inside the matchbox  I put these goodies.

 Everything ready to be boxed and sent.

Inside the sheer Halloween bag in the picture above was a Kumihimo bracelet that I made out of leather and silky ribbons. Inside the stamped muslin bag was the witchy picture seen in a previous post. The other item is a book of witchy pictures and fun Halloween images.

If you stuck it through to the end of this post....thank you and join a swap...they're fun!