Persian Motifs ~

Hi there!  A sweet friend gifted this gorgeous Altenew set to me, Persian Motifs.  I couldn’t wait to emboss and watercolor it but just couldn't get up the mojo to get into my crafty cave – it’s too damn small!  Then a big wig plucked the card I was imagining right outta my head!  So I had to change things up and try it with color pencils.  I haven’t played with them for quite a while, so it was a bit of trial and error. 
Since I chose to color on kraft card stock, I stamped the images and then bleached the paper.  It helps the colors to really pop. I just use an old aqua painter filled with bleach to paint in between the lines of the stamped image.

I jacked up the stamen (?) on the flower so I had to draw in a couple of flourishes.  Not my most favorite thing to do, but it was better than scrapping the whole thing since I’d already spent a good deal of time coloring it.  I’m linking this up to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge : Anything Goes. 
Thanks for stopping by!  Have a super day!

Alyssa

Flagging Thanks ~

Do you ever see an inspiration pic that you just have to make, but the more you think on it, the more you can’t decide exactly how you’re going to make it relevant or what sentiment you’ll use?  Well, that is what has happened with this pic for me.  I found it just after the 4th of July last year and have been sitting on it waiting for the perfect opportunity to make the card.  Then, Lil’ Inker Designs came out with their new word dies!  LOVE!  I went a little LID crazy with this card but it’s exactly how I originally intended it to come out minus a couple of mistakes.  Shhhh!

The inspiration photo is this gorgeous herringbone quilt that I found on Pinterest – the demon thief of time!  Immediately, all I could think of is the Pieced Chevron cover up die and the Starry Sky die paired to make an American flag.  The sentiment is what threw me

Once I got my grubby little fingers on that gorgeous ‘thanks’ die, I knew just what to do with it!  I actually made this card on the 4th of July this year.  It’s my little thanks to all those wonderful men and women that serve our country {along with their families who sacrifice so much as well} so that we can live in the freedoms that we do!!

I thought I’d enter this into a couple of challenges for die cutting…especially since there isn’t an ounce of stamping on this!

Virginia’s View Challenge #5

Cutting Edge Challenge #3

Thanks for stopping by!!  Have an awesome week!

Alyssa

Roses aren’t just for Valentine’s ~

Hi there!  Thought I’d pop in with a watercolor rose card made for my mom’s birthday.  The rose is embossed in white on watercolor paper and painted with everything from my son’s Crayola watercolor set to a very nice set I received from a friend.  The roses use a mixture of pink, red, orange and yellow while the leaves are two different greens, brown and even a little black.

Once I’d tweaked the colors to a semblance of how I wanted them, {I find watercoloring a bit of a pain, but worth it in the end!} I embossed a sentiment from the Winnie & Walter set – The Big, the Bold & the Happy.  I sincerely adore this set for the fun large sentiments and the plethora of phrases that you can create.  The only issue I ran into was when embossing the sentiment over the embossed rose, the two melted together and didn't give the crispness I was after.

  These colors fit well with both the Winnie & Walter Playdate 2 challenge as well as the inspiration photo for the Fusion challenge for June.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

  Have a wonderful weekend!

Birthday Violets ~

Hellol!  I haven’t been doing much in my craft room lately, even though I’ve been buying tons of stamps/dies/inks/stencils/etc.  Ugh, the life of a crafter {wink}  I thought I’d show you a CAS card I made for a special someone back in March. 

The large violets and leaves are stamped and colored directly on the card front.  I normally don’t do this because of how the Copics bleed through the paper.  I thought I’d experiment and see what it looks like.  Kinda cool, actually!  It’s like no line coloring, lol.  The violets at the bottom are die cut and arranged. 

               

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you’re having a super week!

 

Alyssa

Papertrey Ink May Blog Hop Challenge ~

Hey there!  I just had to play along with the Papertrey Ink blog hop this month.  The inspiration picture is just too lovely!

I used the colors as part of the jump off for a quick card I needed for my brother’s birthday as well as the design from this amazing card done by Amy Sheffer.  I couldn’t think of any arrow type stamps that I had except for the PTI Ikat set.

It’s stamped in Stampin’ Up’s Coastal Cabana, Pistachio Pudding and Crisp Cantaloupe.  The smaller one is stamped in Memento Dandelion.  I only had a couple hours to make a few cards needed, so I really CASEd every little detail on Amy’s card.  The numbers are from the By the Numbers border die.  The buttons are Melon Berry, Spring Moss and Hawaiian Shores.  Sorry for the quality of the photo – I couldn’t find my camera, so I snapped this on my craft desk with my phone. 

I really loved the look of this card, so I did another one for Zane’s Kindergarten teacher.  I added Strawberry Slush into the color combo on this one and love, love, LOVE it!

The sentiment came from the Wonderful Words: Teacher stamp set along with the die.  It is cut 4 times and glued together to give it even more dimension as well as stability.  The buttons are Hawaiian Shores, Berry Sorbet and Melon Berry.

Have fun on the hop!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Alyssa

Watercolor Class Days 1 & 2 ~

Hey there!  I needed a quick birthday card for my step-daughter that turned 19 on the 4th of this month and thought utilizing the class I was taking would be nice and trendy for her!  One of the first videos is by Laura Bassen and uses an acrylic block, Distress inks and a mister – perfect for a quick, CAS card.

The only problem I ran into with this was the heaviness of my paper – it’s 140# which means it can get worked a bit more without pilling.  I didn’t feel like it took the color in the same way as the sample video. 

    I didn’t have a Mustard Seed ink pad, but I do have the marker.  I colored the acrylic block with the marker and stamped, then Squeezed Lemonade, Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers. 
  Her favorite color is lime green so I was trying to achieve that in the blended parts.  I ended up using a waterbrush and some extra ink to make it a bit more continuous in color.  The happy words are from Wplus9 and the birthday is from PTI.  Super simple and nice to have on hand in a variety of colors!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Alyssa

20 Minute Card ~

Hey there!  I have a few posts that will go up this week – I’ve been into the whole water coloring trend here lately, so I signed up for the Online WaterColor for Card Makers class.  If you haven’t already, you should sign up and learn some of these fun techniques!  While watching the first couple of videos and playing around making my step-daughter a birthday card, hubby asked for a Mother’s day card as well.  Since I only had an hour to make two cards, I opted for a CASE. 

I chose to CASE this card by my old teamie, Maureen Merritt. I still had the Stampin’ Up In Colors out from the last time I got crafty so I went with the color combo of Strawberry Slush (totally in <3 with this color!), Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding.  It really is so nice of those peeps at SU to come up with colors that go so well together!  {wink}

I apologize for the quality of the photo – I took them with my phone and emailed them to myself.  Aaaannnddd promptly deleted them from my phone.  This is the worst one and the only one that went through the email properly.  :-/  I love the Mom word die from Lil’ Inker Designs, so even though my MIL got a card with this die for Mom’s day last year I went ahead and used it again.

    I cut the die out 4 times and stacked them atop one another.  It’s a much easier way to add dimension to these thin die cuts rather than trying to add foam tape to all the little places. 

    So that’s it for me today!  Since we are having a super crummy weather day here in Colorado (sleeting/snowing, freezing temps), I am headed to the cave to catch up on the watercolor videos and have a little fun time! 

    I hope all you mothers have a wonderful Mother’s Day!! 

Alyssa

Lil’ Inker Designs Release Hop Day 3 ~

Hey there!  Welcome back to not only the last day of the April release for Lil’ Inker Designs but my last day as a designer for this amazing company!  You should’ve arrived from Laura’s inspiring blog, which is where you can also head for the full list of the dynamic design team!  After you’re finished here, you can follow on to Amazing Amy!  Don’t forget to comment along the way for your chance at one of three $15 gift certificates to the store.

As my last card, I wanted to say ‘Thank You’ to Lil’ Inker Designs, Laura and the Dream Team that she has put together.  It’s been so wonderful being part of such an incredible group of talented and motivated women! 

This card uses some of my favorite goodies!  The new Quilted Stitched Pattern die is a must.have!  Laura is having a little contest about naming this die, so you should definitely check that out!  Like I said before, this die is the perfect backdrop on a card.  I used more of the flowers and leaves from the Frames & Flowers die set along with the Modern Mehndi stamps and dies.  The sentiment is from the new stamp set, Quick Notes.  This font is so versatile!  I love the little distressing in it too – adds just the right touch!

Thanks so much for stopping by and supporting all my time with LID! 

 

Alyssa

Lil’ Inker Designs Release Hop Day 2 ~

Welcome back to the April release hop for Lil’ Inker Designs!  This is a release hop - you should’ve arrived here from Laura’s fabulous blog if you’re hopping along the entire hop.  Your next stop will be the Amazing Amy!  Don’t forget to comment along the way for your chance at three $15 gift certificates to Lil’ Inker Designs!!

The new Frames and Flowers is such a fun new set of dies!  Not only do you get the amazing frame but the piece that pops out has the fabulous stitching as well, so it’s really two in one!  I chose to use the frame to make a shaker card

A lighter pink frame was adhered to the card base first to allow me to center my sentiment correctly and add foam tape to create the pocket of sparkle and shine.  The sentiment is from Shiny Happy Sentiments and is embossed on the card base.  I added a little extra shine with the Wink of Stella glitter pen to the circles inside ‘Sparkle’.  The frame is cut out of an embossed piece of Bazzill cardstock and backed with a recycled piece of acetate. 

The inside is filled with microbeads, sequins and even some flower shaped rhinestones.  Super fun and sparkly!!  The flowers are from both the new Frames and Flowers and Spring Flowers.  They compliment each other so well!

That’s all for today!  Don’t forget to comment along the hop!  Thanks so much for stopping by,

 

Alyssa

Lil’ Inker Designs Release Hop Day 1 ~

Welcome to the April release hop for Lil’ Inker Designs!  This is a release hop - you should’ve arrived here from Laura’s fabulous blog if you’re hopping along the entire hop.  Before I get started though, I thought you should know that this will be the last hop for me with Lil’ Inker.  I’ve decided to step down from the team and focus my brain on my business.  (I recently inherited the family business after moving it across the state.)  I’ll be taking a bit of a crafty break to build the store and recharge my mojo.  I’ve loved working for Laura and Lil’ Inkers!!  I couldn’t have asked for a better ‘boss’!  Thank you for giving me this fabulous opportunity!  Ok, on to today’s card

Lots of new and old LID dies on this one!  To begin, I cut the new Quilted Stitched Pattern die onto the card face.  Umm, I LOVE this die!  It is the perfect background to me – not to fussy, not too understated, just right!  The pattern paper rectangle is cut with Stitched Mats Rectangles.  I wanted a thinner one though, so I cut it and then slid the paper to the desired width and cut again.  The stitching doesn’t meet up perfectly, but with this busy of a pattern you don’t notice unless I tell you to look…so don’t! ;)  Next up is one of the new Glassine Envelopes – perfect for a little lunchbox note, goodies or to hold a tag like I did here.

The Anytime tag is stamped with a super cute sentiment from the new stamp set, You’re My Favorite, and adorned with the flowers from the Frames & Flowers die set.  I attached a duplicate of the flower and leaf cluster to the front of the envelope to hide the foam dot.  One last little detail of the Mom word die across the layout finishes it off!  WooHoo!  One of my mother’s day cards done early! 

Your next stop on this hop is Amazing Amy!  Don’t forget to comment along the way for your chance at three $15 gift certificates to Lil’ Inker Designs!! Thanks for stopping by!

 

Alyssa

Poppies, poppies everywhere ~

I have a very favorite poppy stamp that I’ve used a ton.  Instead of boring you over the next several weeks with the same stamp over and over, I thought I’d just post them all in one post.  This first one is a “Do Over” from a card I made here.  I didn’t love the layout of the card.  I was also in need of a birthday card, so I ripped that one up and repurposed it here.

The lighter background showcases the red of the poppies better.  This image was embossed on kraft paper, painted with bleach and colored with Copics.  As was the next one, except for the fact that it was colored with pencils instead.

This one was for a publication submission, hence the stark background.  It was rejected, unfortunately, and still sits awaiting the perfect gift to be stuck inside the bag.  It’s hard for me to not go back and add more color to the flowers…hmm, maybe I’ll do that now!  Ha!

This next one was created while playing with the metallic watercolors I’ve used recently.  The splatter background is so big right now as is gold.  So I swirled the brush in the gold paint and flicked the paintbrush to get the splatter.  Let me tell you, this is probably not the best technique, as I ended up with paint on my face, the wall in front of my desk, the dies and whatnot scattered on my desk, etc.  After splattering, I decided to use the poppies for a sympathy card.  Poppies are a symbol of remembrance after all, so it just felt right.

I hope the splatter doesn’t come across as too free and artsy for a sympathy card.

The gold is really pretty and showed through the Copic coloring.  Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope your week is marvelous!

 

Alyssa

Runway Inspired Birthday ~

Hey all!  Lil’ Inker Designs is sponsoring this weeks Runway Inspired Challenge, and I couldn’t help myself – I just had to play along!

I also found myself in need of a birthday card, so I pulled out a set that I didn’t use from the latest LID release, Spot On Spring.  Perfect timing too since the challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp is Happy Birthday! 

I used some old gridline paper to create a colorful, busy pattern inspired by the RIC challenge image.  The best thing about this set is that it’s a companion to the Darling Diamonds and Spot On sets!  Perfect when I needed a gray to ground all the color.

The colors are all Hero Arts – Pale Tomato, Fresh Peach, Mint Julep, Soft Pool & Soft Granite.  The On the Diagonal die left the perfect spot to add a big focal sentiment.  It also kind of mimics the LOVE word bubble with the dark line following it on the dress.  It is pieced from Spot On Spring and Sugar Kissed Cottage: Surprise!  I use that birthday sentiment a ton because of it’s size and will be using it even more now.  Don’t you just love the mixture of the fonts?! 

I can’t get enough of the Spring Flowers dies.  I simply adore that flower shape!  The button center doesn’t have a flat back though, so I had to punch holes in the flower centers to fit it through.  I fluffed up the petals by scoring along the stitch line and folding them a bit.  One last addition is a sweet little vellum butterfly with baker’s twine antennae from the new Stitched Butterflies.

Thanks for bopping on by!  Hope you’re all having a wonderful week! 

 

Alyssa

Lil’ Inker Designs Release Hop Day 3 ~

Hello!  Welcome back to the final day of the Lil’ Inker Designs March Release hop!  You should’ve arrived here from the lovely Laura’s blog.  You can bop on back there to get the full blog roll list or hop right along to Amazing Amy and follow along from there.

I just couldn’t get enough of the new Spring Flowers dies so I had to do one last card for this release with those.

Super clean and simple here.  Using more papers from the Crate Paper Love Notes pack, I die cut the Instant Camera die to frame the sentiment.  It’s made with the brand spanking new and fabuloso Mixed & Stitched Alphabet dies.  Aren’t they so fun?!?  They’re a mixture of upper and lowercase letters with the signature Lil’ Inker Designs stitching.  The flower is scored and semi folded along the stitching lines to give more dimension to this beautiful flower.   

Ok, that’s all folks! Don’t forget to comment along the way for your chance at three $15 gift certificates to Lil’ Inker Designs!!

Alyssa

Lil’ Inker Designs Release Hop Day 2 ~

Hi there! Welcome back to the second day of the Lil’ Inker Designs March release hop! You should have arrived here from the Lil’ Inker Designs blog run by the uber talented Laura.  If not, you can hop back there to see a full list of hoppers.

This month’s theme is super Springy, so I thought I’d get a jump on Easter this year.  My boy is finally requesting cards from me for anything and everything, and since he has his mamma wrapped around his little finger, I am happy to oblige. 

This little guy started out as a tag using the Anytime Tags.  I added a sweet little bunny with a fluffy (and sparkly!) tail atop a grass punched lawn.  The flower is from the new Spring Flowers dies.  I covered the center with some yellow glitter.  When making the flower, I thought that it could also work as a sun, so out came the clouds too.  Before I knew it, I didn’t have room for a sentiment, so this tag got popped onto a card.  Still no room for the sentiment I wanted to use!  Guess I’d better decorate the inside too!

 

Even though this is the inside of this card, it could easily stand on it’s own.  “Happy Easter” is from the new Spring Sentiments.  The eggs are from the Spring Flowers set as well – they can be used as eggs or leaves.  So fun!  Love when I can use my dies for more than one purpose!

Your next stop is Amazing Amy! Don’t forget to comment along the way for your chance at three $15 gift certificates to Lil’ Inker Designs!! Thanks for stopping by!

 

Alyssa