Warm Thoughts - a mini album

About a month ago I created this mini album as a gift for a close family member.  Since the recipient reads my blog occasionally, I didn't want to post it on my blog until after Christmas.  The basic concept for the album comes from a tutorial on Wilna Furstenberg's blog.  HERE is the link to Wilna's blog and video.
As soon as I watched the video, I knew that I wanted to give this a try and I knew exactly who I would create it for.  I am so pleased with the results and so happy that I ventured out of my paper crafting "comfort zone" and tried something new!

I used several mediums in creating the album pages.  Color mists sprayed through stencils, stamping, ink splatters, etc.  Also, I layered the photos over various embellishments and die cut pieces.  This was such a labor of love for me!  It took about 6 hours from start to finish and was well worth the time.  In fact, I would love to make another one!

To protect the privacy of the recipient, I've blurred the faces of everyone in the photos.

Thank you for taking a look!

Shaking it up!

Hey!  Just posting, real quick, with a shaker card I created today for a friend. :)
I spent a day at home today and enjoyed it so much.  A long walk outdoors early this morning (in our unusually warm December weather!), then breakfast with...coffee! Yum.  A great way to begin the day, right?

Let me get back on track. My card.
Even though shaker cards can be a bit of a challenge, they're so much fun to make.  Well...it wasn't fun when I messed up the first banner panel.  Forgetting to add the clear acetate window, didn't work well to hold the sequins inside.  Imagine.

The second attempt?  Much better.

I used a mixture of clear sequins and beads in this card.  This blue card stock is showing much darker than it actually is.  My photo editing software just couldn't seem to get it right.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supply list ~
Cardstock: white (Recollections), sky blue (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: onyx black (Versafine)
Stamps: handwritten sentiments (Simon Says Stamp)
Dies: stars (WPlus9), banner (Clear and Simple Stamps)
Embossing folder: gently falling (SU)
Other: baker's twine (SU)

Guest Designing at CCCB this week!

Hello!
The card in one of my previous blog posts (HERE) was chosen as the winner at the City Crafter Challenge Blog that week, so I won the Guest Designer spot for this weeks challenge.  I'm SO excited!

Here are the details.
Our theme this week, at the City Crafter Challenge Blog week 292 is The Heat is On - Use heat embossing on your card or project.  Take a look at this clever graphic provided by Kirsty!

I had several ideas tumbling around in my brain, but this one came to me while I was outdoors for a brisk walk last weekend. There's something about the great outdoors (and a long walk) that helps me focus and get creative.

Anyway, here's my card!  To see a larger pic, just click on the photo.

This card turned out just as I had imagined.  Believe me, that doesn't usually happen.
After die cutting the birch tree panel from kraft card stock, I took my Versamark pad and swiped it  across the areas of the trees that I wanted to emboss in white.  Once I poured on the embossing powder, I saw that I had covered more of the trunk areas than I intended to.  That was easy to remedy.  I just took a small paintbrush and swept away what I didn't want.  It worked like a charm!

My sentiment is also heat embossed.  Oh, I'm not sure if you will be able to see it...but, I took my clear Wink of Stella and ran it along the areas of the tree trunks that are not embossed.  Just for a little more winter sparkle!

I hope you'll play along with us this week.  Thanks for stopping by and a big Thank You to Kirsty for inviting me to guest design this week.  Such an honor!

Supply List ~
card stock: kraft (PTI), whisper white, bashful blue (SU)
ink: Versamark
stamps: in the meadow (PTI)
die: birch tree cutting plate (Taylored Expressions)
other: white embossing powder (SU), clear gems (The Paper Studio)

It's all just card stock and embossing!

Hi!  I'm sharing a very simple card that I created a couple of weeks ago.  Yup, just now finding the time to post it.  :(

It's such a simple and easy card to make, but I sure like how it turned out!

The card base and the sentiment panel are both Blackberry Bliss card stock from Stampin' Up!
For the panel, I heat embossed the sentiment using SU gold embossing powder.  Once that was cool, I swiped my Versamark pad along the edges of the panel then poured EP over that, too.  A little heat and my card was nearly done.  Of course I used foam tape to adhere the panel.  Because, well...I love dimension.  :)

That's it!