Card Worthy: December 2010

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Happy Birthday, Dana!!

I was planning to be back with something more creative for Dana by now but I spent the afternoon in emergency with my little guy Henri. Since his bone marrow transplant, we've had at least three visits like this when he gets severe abdominal pain...so more tests tomorrow and no creative juice until we get past this one. Anyway, Dana's friends have wonderful cards to share today along the hop Karen organized for her BFF today...

Karen Motz - Paper Playhouse

Leslie Good - card will be shown on Karen’s blog

Wendy Bond - Bond Girl Bliss

Elaine Hughes - Quixotic Cards

Linda Heavens - Heavens Created This

Joanne Basile - Just a Little Something

Jodi Collins - Stamping a Latte

Paula Williamson - Paper Possibilities

Ebru Vatansever - My Scrapbooking and Craft Journal

Ann Kranitz - Stamp with Me

Janet Rossi - Corrosive Creations

Jeanie Whitmer - The Spotted Chick

Cath Groden - Paper Expressions

Michelle Leishman - Miche L Designs

Dana White - Dana’s House of Cards <--the birthday girl!!

Until a little later this week...

~Nancy

Friday, December 3, 2010

More sheep-December Release Day at Taylored Expressions

So I mentioned I’d have something to say about my experience in Scotland with sheep. Come to think of it, it may have been Wales—it was a long time ago...when I was an elementary school kid and we were on summer holidays in Great Britain. I remember sitting in a cafe (probably a pub) and watching the silly sheep grazing out in a marshy field only to have the tide come in and the sheep stranded...standing on any patch of higher ground they could find. Now wouldn’t you think these sheep would have been through this before and might have know not to graze in a loch?! Anyway, the sheep in Knit Wit is inspired by the sheep of Great Britain.

Thought I’d share another card with the sheep and her friend on their little patches of grass.

I’ve used the large scallop border die and the flowers and sentiment from Friendship Blooms. Now that I’m a McKinney (well, actually Ferguson McKinney), I have an attraction to all things Irish. These little blooms remind me of shamrocks with an extra petal. I’ve stamped both the solid and outlined image with chalk ink and cut out the flowers with the coordinating Friendship Blooms die. I coloured the half pearls with copics before placing them in the centres of each flower.

Check out what the Baker’s Dozen has to show you today...

Tori Wild, and

Thanks for looking.

~Nancy

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Crafty Petites!-Day 2 of December Sneaks at Taylored Expressions

It’s Day 2 of December sneaks at Taylored Expressions! These next Whimsical Wishes ‘crafty petite’ sets WARM MY HEART!! Taylor will tell you all about them, but I think they are the perfect little gift for your crafty friend or someone you are trying to convince that stamping is pure pleasure. Can you believe some people need convincing? I used two of the four mini sets being released this month for my cards today—Knit Wit and Kitchy Kitchen. First up...

Sometimes a person is ‘feeling a little loopy’...so this card sympathizes! The sheep and sentiment are from the Knit Wit Crafty Petite set. I used the letterpress technique and a new Cuttlebug embossing folder (part of the Give A Hoot Embossing Bundle). This is really so easy—just brayer pigment ink all over the raised portion of the folder, sandwich your cardstock as you normally would and roll through your machine. I liked the result so much that I didn’t want to cover up too much, so I cut a window and stamped the sentiment on velum paper with Staz On ink. The sheep is coloured with prismacolors and then I couldn’t resist using liquid appliqué on him (or her). I’ll share a story about my experience with sheep in Scotland tomorrow...

I like to knit. I just don’t have much time for it and often don’t finish what I start. These little miniature swatches are so much fun and easy to finish...well, even when they’re not finished, they’re super cute on a card with toothpick knitting needles (I knit with regular needles and then transfer the stitches onto the toothpicks). The sentiment “you warm my heart” is from the Kitchy Kitchen Crafty Petite set. I’ve paired it with a snowflake from Winter Wonderland, embossed with white embossing powder and cut with the coordinating snowflake die. I arranged the dangling yarn pieces to create a heart.

Check out the Baker's Dozen today to warm your heart some more...

Tori Wild, and

Thanks so much for looking...

~Nancy

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Friendship Blooms-Day 1 of TE Sneak Peeks

Today is the first day of sneak peeks for December at Taylored Expressions! Taylor's Baker's Dozen and I are showcasing one of the newest Whimsical Wishes sets—Friendship Blooms, which coordinates with a set of four flower dies and a die for the leafy branch too. I have two cards to share...

First, I can’t resist any stamp set that has coordinating dies! I’ve cut three of the four flowers in felt and used some of the other treats in store for you later this week (notice the border and backgrounds?). Just bright and cheery and super easy!

My next card uses the leafy branch in the set, stamped randomly in versamark and embossed with clear detail embossing powder on my background paper (Basic Grey Marjolaine 6x6 paper pad). Oops...I’ve done it again—you’ll hear more about the scalloped borders I’ve used later this week. Sorry to tease! The sentiment and leafy branch on my focal panel are stamped in Memento rich cocoa and then I used the leafy branch die to cut out the image. I sponged the white panel with chalk ink (the green from the Colorbox ocean breeze chalk ink box). Some half pearls on the border and larger leaves on the image...and that’s it.