Class-y Tuesday - Sandy Brien Asian Blues

I had a delightful time creating these cards in a class taught by one of my favorite teachers, Sandy Brien. She is a brilliant artist and I love everything she does, but she has a special flair for Asian designs.

I stamped all of the images with Blue Print Sketch distress ink and blended color from the stamped lines with a damp brush.  I used Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot inks for shading.  Sandy's samples looked like actual water coloring and although I definitely need some practice, I really like the result I got from this technique.

I lightly misted the inked bird stamp before I stamped it on water color paper and then blended with a paint brush.  I like the soft water color effect it creates.

The dancing crane is gold heat embossed on navy paper and then colored with colored pencils. A few flowers and stamps for embellishments and I came away with some beautiful cards and fun new skills to practice.  I'll bet you have some stamps in your stash that would work beautifully with this technique. Time to go on a treasure hunt! 

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy 

Sew-y Saturday - Self Binding Baby Blanket

                          

Have you noticed that handmade blankets are always crowd pleasers at baby showers? These sweet little self-binding baby blankets have always been one of my favorite baby gifts.   A new mom can never have too many easy care receiving blankets and you can't find a hand made original at Target! The binding is a little tricky at first, but with practice it's very simple and the results are worth it.

                           

For me, the best part of creating these blankets is choosing an adorable matching applique to sew on the front.  I try to match the design and colors as closely as possible. My embroidery machine makes it easier but a hand sewn applique would look just as cute. There are a ton of really darling embroidery patterns on Etsy.

For this blanket I've used a 100% cotton print fabric on the back and a soft pink flannel on the front. The result is a soft, snugly, lightweight blanket that's easy to pack in a diaper bag. I've seen these done in many different fabric combinations and they all turn out great. Here are some easy instructions to follow:  Self-Binding Baby Blanket  

And, of course, my gift wouldn't  be complete without a matching card!

                                 

What do you think?  Are you going to give it a try?

Thanks for visiting.
Go forth and be fabulous.
Nancy

Copics with Mo Manning Digital

Are you amused. as I am, that the new popular  "coloring craze" is considered a modern day phenomenon?  Recently psychologists have "discovered" the stress reducing value of quietly coloring an intricately drawn image. Adult coloring books are everywhere.  My friends and I giggle as we sit around the table in art classes coloring like kindergarten kids and try to remember a time when we weren't coloring.  Yes, our tools are varied and infinitely more expensive than that first delicious  box of crayolas,  but we still get the same thrill from making a stark image bright with the vibrant colors of our choosing.  

My Copic markers are my stress-relieving "drug of choice." They take me away like Calgon never could.    Some of my favorite images to color are these darling digital images of children by the exquisite artist, Mo Manning. They remind me of the pictures in the books I used to read to my children and my students when I was a substitute school teacher. Aah, those are some wonderful memories.  I'm glad we can keep some of the most delightful pursuits of our youth. 

Thanks for visiting. 

Go for and be fabulous.

Nancy

Class-y Tuesday - Pretty Posies

I'm very fortunate to live in an area where some extremely talented artists share their skills with our paper crafting community.  The Stamp Art Shoppe was the host to some wonderful teachers for many years and we were all very sad when it closed it's doors recently, Happily, some of my favorite teachers are still offering classes in the area.  I created these cards at the Stamp Art Shoppe in a class taught by Susan Porter.  I will be posting more of the cards from Susan's and other artist's classes in my "Classy Tuesday" blogs.

All of these cards were created using the Stampendous Build a Bouquet stamps and dies. I used distress markers on the flowers and blended them with a paint brush and water to achieve the water color affect. 

There are several types of flowers and two different cute glass containers in the set. The coordinating dies make it easy to cut out the images.

Stampendous also makes dies to create pop ups for the inside of cards.

I love tools that can be used in a variety of different ways. This has become my "go to" set for fast and fun cards for all occasions.  

Thanks for visiting. 

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Party Animal

Everyone knows cats love to party and the look on this quirky little kitty's face says he's ready to get jiggy and start celebrating. I had such fun creating the background for this card.  I sponged over a stencil with Pan Pastels and then sprayed with Memories Mist. The grass and foliage are die cut in copper metallic paper and dotted  with a pale green Viva Paper Pen to add a little texture. I stamped the Tim Holtz Crazy Cat image and accessories with memories ink, colored with copics and then cut them out with coordinating die cuts.

  

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And here's that same silly cat on another of my creations. I'm going to start posting some cards I've made in the past but are new to my blog.   I'll call them TAG (Take Another Gander) cards and they are popular cards from Pinterest and/or my SCS Gallery.   I made this colorful flip card for my daughter's birthday last year. She's the mother of my grandcat, Dinah.

The sentiment on the front  is from Stampin' Up and it reads. "Birthdays are like hairballs..." The inside reads, "The more you have, the more you want to gag." The hairball inside is made from scrunched up twine and glue with a stamped little fish bone accessory inside.  I crack myself up.

Thanks for visiting.
Go forth and be fabulous.
Nancy

Fancy Dresses all in a Row

Anybody have a fascination with miniature apparel like I do?  I think it comes from playing with paper dolls as a little girl. When I saw this Anita Goodesign quilt block collection with all the darling applique baby outfits, I fell in love. I couldn't wait to use my embroidery machine and favorite Riley Blake fabrics to make this adorable wall hanging.

                              

It was difficult to choose from the 14 boy and girl outfits in this collection, but I finally narrowed it down to six dresses, a romper and some jazzy little shoes (which had to be red, of course.) I'm sure I'll be using the other designs for something else very soon.

The program amazingly stipples the background perfectly on the blocks.  It's magic! The embroidered detail on all the outfits is absolutely gorgeous, right down to the little hanger, the pockets, the flowers and the bows. 

                           

I chose a pretty machine stitched heart pattern for the alternating blocks.

I finished the quilt top with a three-inch border and added Warm and Natural quilt batting for the inside layer.  The backing is a coordinating Riley Blake floral print.  I stitched in the ditch to finish the quilting and then added  yellow print quilt binding.

I'm waiting to give this to a special little princess some day, but until then I'm going to hang it outside my craft room and smile every time I walk past it.  

Thanks for visiting.  

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Love Shack

Masculine Valentines (or guy cards of any kind) are almost impossible for me to make.  It's like dressing in a gray and brown outfit and wearing no make up.  I've seen tons of creative cards made for men but I just can't help reaching for the bright colors and bling. My husband teases me because the cards I make for him usually have some sort of truck on them.  At least I try.  So, yeah, I guess this Valentine I made for him is sort of a girly truck.  But it's personal and romantic because we love camping in our motor home.  This is supposed to be a "love shack" so it naturally requires a heart.   The inside says "You make me a happy camper."

I made several of these cute Lori Whitlock svg camper shaped cards in different colors and patterns for my glamper girl friends.  They love bling, so I can knock myself out. 

Thanks for visiting.  

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Ornate Chipboard Tags

                           

I fell in love with the ornate chipboard tag embellishments on these cards made in a Susan Porter class.  I might have hooted out loud a little when I found some Recollection tags just like them at Michael's.  I can imagine lots of creative ways to use them on any type of card.

The vellum metallic polka dot panel is an unexpected but pretty layer on this "Be Mine" card. Vellum can be tricky to use because the adhesive is so hard to camouflage, but when layered underneath other card elements, it adds a subtle, elegant touch. 

Thanks for visiting.
Go forth and be fabulous.
Nancy

My Spiffy Valentine

Yes, the word "spiffy" is in the dictionary.  It means "all decked out" and I think this darling Mo Manning digital cutie fits that description.  This weeks Splitcoaststampers color challenge was to create a card using red, black and white, perfect valentine colors.  I would never have thought to make her shirt black and white striped and add polka dots to her jumper.  That's what makes challenges so great.  They make you think differently when you have a specific goal to meet in a limited amount of time. 

I colored the image with copics and the dots were added with a Sharpie poster paint marker.  I love this marker because it doesn't dry out like a gel pen and the dots show up nicely.  The card base is a Lori Whitlock svg cut file (I'm obsessed) and the black frame is a Spellbinders die cut.  I embellished with a glitter paper heart, rhinestones and a gingham ribbon.  See...spiffy.

Thanks for visiting. 

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

My Blingie Valentine

This started out to be a simple valentine banner, but once I got started with the rhinestones I just couldn't stop. I cut the shapes out with my Cricut and strung the panels with pink satin cording.  The letters were cut on glossy black card stock and really make the rhinestones pop.  I think sparkles are always in fashion for Valentines Day.  Especially in gifts from your sweetheart.  Here's hopin'.

Thanks for visiting.  

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Love Squared

While it's sometimes awkward to say those "three little words" to people other than your close family and friends, sending a card through the mail is a fun way of saying mushy stuff you wouldn't ordinary say in person. And who doesn’t love getting snail mail that isn't a bill, an ad or a court summons.  A beautiful valentine is just over the top delightful. 

Speaking of love, I'm LOVING Lori Whitlock cut files lately. They make my cuts so clean and professional looking.  When I plan to make several cards, it makes my task so much easier to cut several pieces at once. I used a heart embossing folder for the white panel  on the card base and the cute layered letters are cut in bazzil textured shimmer card stock.  I just added a couple of rhinestones, a stamped sentiment and a pretty ribbon to embellish.   My valentines are all mailed and now all I have to do is sit back and wait for the valentines to start pouring in from my recipients……um, yeah.

Thanks for visiting.
Thanks for visiting.  

Go forth and be fabulous.
Nancy