maria's craft room

Chicken Scratch

So today's post features another neglected item in my craft room:  background stamps.  I have had this particular wire one from CHF for a while but never put it to use.  My issue with background stamps (and by this I mean the large ones) is that I can't stand cleaning them afterwards.  They're so hard to fit into my stamp scrubber that there's not much room to 'scrub'; I have tried rubbing baby wipes across them but the wipes shred and get stuck on the stamps...nothing was satisfactory.  Until I pulled out a brayer along with the baby wipes.  What a difference!  Just lay the wipe on top of the inky stamp, hold one edge with your other hand and then brayer away.
The card base is confetti white, the focal image is on kraft that's matted on really rust, I used watercolor crayons
and SU! markers to color the image, the button is SU! and the ribbon is Papertrey's spring moss satin.  The focal image was stamped with basic brown and the wire background was inked using close to cocoa (a current favorite!).   I did use my small rectangle Nestabilities to emboss the kraft stock. 
So go dust off your 'backgrounders' and get to stamping!

Until next time...M

Supplies:
Ink:  SU basic brown, close to cocoa
Cardstock: SU kraft, really rust, confetti white
Stamps:  SU Best of Cluck, CHF wire backgrounder
Other:  Nestabilities, watercolor wonder crayons (white, close to cocoa), aquapainter, SU markers (really rust, ruby red, more mustard), SU button, Papertrey spring moss ribbon, SU slot punch

Hello Baby

One of the girls at work is expecting her first child, a daughter.  So that got me thinking, and when I combined those thoughts with my personal challenge to dig out and use things I've been hoarding or ignoring, this card was the result.  The image is from SU's retired New Little Someone, and I stamped it onto PTI white with basic brown ink.  I used my watercolor crayons and an aquapainter to color, and sponged the edges with close to cocoa ink.  Wouldn't it be great if PTI came out with their own shade of brown?  I digress.  I matted the image onto both close to cocoa and sweet blush stock then distressed the edges.  The base of the card is actually PTI white and I layered on some 'Cuttlebugged' close to cocoa and a scrap of PTI pink patterns paper.   My sewing machine was still out, so I stitched the little border on the bottom half.  The sentiment is from PTI's Mixed Messages (love that set).  To finish it off I wrapped it in some chocolate twill I ordered from Ellen Hutson LLC, and added the button and mini diaper pin.  Done!  And now I'm off to watch part of the Phillies game...Cole Hamels is pitching and that really makes the husband happy.

What makes me happy is the fact that you stopped by.  Thanks for visiting.

Until next time...M

Supplies:
Ink:  SU basic brown, close to cocoa
Cardstock:  SU close to cocoa, Papertrey Ink (PTI) white, sweet blush, pink patterns paper
Stamps:  SU New Little Someone, PTI Mixed Messages
Other:  sewing machine, watercolor wonder crayons and aquapainter, swiss dots Cuttlebug embossing folder, SU distressing tool, twill from Ellen Hutson LLC, button from SU, diaper pin from QVC, sponges

Still Celebrating

I'm still dancing and celebrating in my craft room.  And I look just like Bella as I dance...ha!  I'm almost fooling myself on that one!  In honor of my second place finish in Papertrey's first ever blog hop I thought I'd post this card.  I'll be honest and tell you that I made this a few weeks ago.  I just didn't have the stamina to create anything today considering I was awake until 4am!  I was just too excited.  It was the first time I entered a contest, and crafting is so close to my heart.  I can't tell you enough how floored and touched I was by the comments I received.  And yes, I even cried a little bit - I had to release the emotion somehow!!!  I'm just little 'ol me in my craft room and I'm getting comments from people I've been 'blog visiting' and 'Splitcoast visiting' for what seems like forever.  For me it's like having celebrities and mentors giving me a pat on the back.  Really...there just aren't words.
The card base is SU ruby red, the paper is from SU's Ginger Blossoms collection, and Bella is stamped on Papertrey's stamper's select white.  I ran it through my Big Kick using the largest of the small rectangle Nestabilities (don't worry...I'll be letting up on the rectangles soon because my Papertrey order with the square ones will be arriving tomorrow...whoo hoo!).  The ribbon is SU, the flowers Prima, and the sentiment Papertrey.    I colored Bella with a combination of SU markers and watercoloring.  Check out the wine bottle and glasses...I used my clear glaze pen.  And Bella is wearing some bling around her neck and in her hair - - that's my Sakura stardust glitter pen at work.

And now some normalcy will resume for me - I'm off to watch the results on American Idol with my husband.  For those who are new to me and my blog, I'm a huge AI fan.  That and Dancing With the Stars.  I just love to be entertained.  And my pick for Idol this year is rocker David Cook.  He's a rocker and a self-professed 'word nerd'.  What girl wouldn't fall for a guy with a large vocabulary!!!!

Until next time...M

Supplies:
Ink:  SU basic brown and chocolate chip
Stamps:  Stamping Bella and Papertrey (sentiment from Piece of Cake)
Cardstock:  SU ruby red, Papertrey stamper's select white, SU Ginger Blossoms designer paper
Other:  Prima blossoms, SU vintage brads, SU chocolate taffeta ribbon, small rectangle Nestabilities, Sakura stardust glitter pen, clear glaze pen, SU markers and SU watercolor wonder crayons/aquapainter
 

Just Chicken In

Hi...just wanted to share this quick card with you.  I'd been making so many folded dahlias lately that I had to pull out my all-time favorite stamp set and make something.   I consider the process to be equivalent to cleansing the palette during a multi-course meal.  Am I totally weird or what?  At least I've rid my system of dahlias!
The base is confetti cream (why don't I use this more???) and the focal piece is - yep - kraft stock.  I guess I'm still channeling my inner pinefeather!  I stamped the image in basic brown and used a combo of SU markers and watercolor crayons to color.  Really rust, more mustard and ruby red for the markers...whisper white and close to cocoa for the watercoloring.  And I dragged out another oldie but goodie - my caramel gingham ribbon.  Some making memories eyelets and the largest of the small rectangle Nestabilities round out the cast of characters.

Until next time...M

Supplies:
Ink:  SU basic brown
Cardstock:  SU confetti cream and kraft
Stamps:  SU Best of Cluck
Other:  SU markers and crayons, aquapainter, Nestabilities, crop-a-dile, SU ribbon

Here's To You

This is a toast to all of my friends and visitors:  thank you.  Thank you for reading this blog, thank you for telling others about it, thank you for your words of encouragement.  And while I'm at it:  Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I am half Irish, after all.  My family tree is full of Kelly's and Kerrigans, but I promise that the strongest beverage I had tonight was the broth from my vegetable soup.  See, tomorrow is my first weigh-in for WW at work.  I'm worried I won't show any results.  Could that be because I ate lemon cream cake, garlic breadsticks and french toast this weekend????  Oops.  It'll be our secret.  Darn that Olive Garden!
For these two cards I managed to combine Papertrey, polkadots, Nestabilities and Bellas.   Fun stuff.  There are actually four other, similar ones in the set...a special order from a special tini girl.
The card bases and focal pieces are Papertrey white, the patterned cardstock Memory Box, the ribbon Papertrey and the image Stamping Bella.  I used my rectangle Nestabilities to cut and emboss, and my SU! watercolor wonder crayons to add color to Bella.  I think the ribbon makes the cards...that Papertrey satin ribbon is so rich and luxurious.  I already ordered more!   

I'm off to bed - weigh in is before school starts - 6:30am!  Yikes!

Until next time...M

Supplies:
Ink:  SU! basic black
Cardstock:  Papertrey white, Memory Box Sprout
Stamps:  Stamping Bella
Other:  Papertrey ink spring moss ribbon, SU! watercolor wonder crayons, aquapainter, small rectangle Nestabilities, clear Spica glitter pen (accent on bella's shirt)
 

A Bottle of White

If you haven't already, check out this blog entry.  It'd be a disservice to Billy Joel if you didn't!
And as promised, here's the white.  The process and methods were the same, only the colors have changed.  This time around I used Basic Grey's Lily Kate papers and a coordinating SU! grosgrain ribbon.  The card base and background for the focal piece are Papertrey's white, the sentiment is from Stampendous and the Bella image is colored with SU! markers, clear glaze pens and watercolor wonder crayons/aquapainter. 

Sorry for the short post...working on a project for my sister.  And yes, I waited until the last minute to complete her request.  Oops.  Gee, that'll never happen again *wink*.

And the husband unit is ill...all signs point to the flu.  If you need me I'll be hiding in my craft room until all of the germs have passed.  Or until he's asleep.  He's never quite so verbal as he is when he's not feeling well!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU! basic black

Cardstock:  Papertrey white, Basic Grey Lily Kate papers

Stamps:  Stamping Bella, Stampendous

Other:  Prima flower, SU! vintage brad, SU! ribbon, certainly celery marker, watercolor wonder crayons, aquapainter, Sakura clear glaze pen, small rectangle Nestabilities, Sakura stardust glitter pen (necklace/headband)

Flowers For No Particular Reason

Who doesn't like getting flowers for no reason at all???  This is the card version, though I readily admit that blue flowers are not overly common.  As I have often professed, I have a real 'thing' for SU!'s retired shade of Cool Caribbean.  I still, after almost a year of its retirement, have four unopened packs of cc cardstock in my stash.  Love this color!  Have issues with hoarding!  Probably need help!  For this card I pulled out my Embrace Life stamp set.  It's one of those sets I just had to have and yet let sit on my shelf unused for weeks.  I stamped the flower image in basic brown onto whisper white.  I colored it using reinkers (cool caribbean and old olive) and my aquapainter.  I stamped the Papertrey sentiment in close to cocoa, cut out the image and embossed using my small rectangle Nestabilities.   The mat is close to cocoa, too.  I stamped the leaf image in Versamark and then colored in the leaves with my Versamark marker.  Then - as I've been prone to doing lately - I colored over the leaves with my clear Spica glitter marker.  I wrapped the card in SU! taffeta ribbon, attached the focal piece with glue dots (like I'd use anything else!!!) and called it quits.  Keep reading below to see what I did with my SAB rub ons...
Supplies: 
Ink:  close to cocoa, old olive, cool caribbean, Versamark
Stamps:  SU! Embrace Life, Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages
Cardstock:  SU! whisper white, close to cocoa, cool caribbean
Other:  Versamark marker, SU! taffeta ribbon, Spica glitter marker, small rectangle Nestabilities

In keeping with the anti-hoarding effort I decided to immediately use my Sale-a-Bration rub-ons.  Normally I'd determine that they were too pretty to use for just anything and that I'd have to put them in a drawer until I had something special to make.  You know how that goes...you look in that drawer three years later and think 'what was I thinking?'  And so I was ready to use them...and then realized I'd never used rub-ons before.  How hard could it be?  Answer:  harder than I thought!!  Ha!  I did ok but I learned a bit about technique.  The cardstock is Papertrey's Aqua Mist, and so is the ribbon.  I wanted to go with a very simple look so I layered Aqua Mist on top of Aqua Mist and distressed the edges to create definition. 

And now I'm off to watch American Idol.  Of course.  I'm a little obsessed.

Until next time...M
 

Feela Bella

Hi everyone.  Thanks again for visiting so often.  Here's one from my stash - I made it a couple of weeks ago.  I'd been staring at my unused 6x6 paper packs and felt the need to do something with them.  This is still a very basic layout using the largest of the small Nestabilities rectangles.  I stamped Bella onto Papertrey white and watercolored her with my aquapainter and my watercolor wonder crayons.  The scalloped mat was cut from SU pretty in pink and the patterned paper is from Basic Grey's Lily Kate collection.   After stamping the sentiment in  close to cocoa I added the flower.  I used a  Robin's Nest dew drop in the center...one of the ones from the  Lilypad selection.
I'm working on re-organizing the craft room tonight, so hopefully I'll create something fresh tomorrow.   I feel a birthday card coming on...

Until next time...M

Supplies:
Ink:  SU basic black, close to cocoa
Cardstock:  Papertrey white, SU pretty in pink, Basic Grey Lily Kate
Stamps:  Feela Bella by Stamping Bella
Other:  Nestabilities, watercolor wonder crayons, aquapainter, blossom, Robin's Nest Lilypad dew drops

For A Friend

Edited to add:  Wow this picture is blurry!  I just took a peek at the post and I'll have to see about a new picture after work!  Until then...use your imagination.  ***M

A good friend is not feeling well so I thought I'd surprise her with a card.  This one was quick and fun - two requirements for me on an American Idol night.  Yes, I'm still watching the show.  Did you see Amanda perform?  Wow.  I almost hate myself for loving her!  (umm..she sang the Joan Jett song - I don't really hate myself).  I never thought I'd be a fan of a 'rocker' but she just wows me every week.  And did you see the clip about how into education she is?  Very cool for the kids watching the show.  And for the same reason I'm strangely into the male 'rocker', David Cook.  He's very into vocabulary and word puzzles.  I always did go for the bad boys!  At least the ones named David.  Did I mention I married one of those?  A David, not a bad-boy rocker. 
Anyway, about the card...I visited Heather Nichols' blog the other day and it inspired me to get out my kraft cardstock and my white craft ink.  Hence the semi-rustic card.  I used my Nestabilities to emboss the rectangle, my watercolor crayons and my SU! markers to color the image, some SU! ribbon and my jumbo eyelets for accents.  I did use my crop-a-dile to add the eyelets.  To emboss the image, I placed my rectangle die behind the stamped image and used tape to secure it in place so that it remained straight.  Then I ran it through my Big Kick using the Wizard silicone pads for embossing.  Fun stuff.  Try it yourself and let me know how you like it.

Until next time...M

Supplies:
Ink:  SU! basic black
Stamps:  SU! Best of Cluck
Cardstock:  SU! kraft
Other:  SU! white taffeta and caramel gingham ribbons, SU! jumbo brass eyelets, SU! watercolor wonder crayons and SU! markers, aquapainter, crop-a-dile 

Support System

Ok...so this was not supposed to be today's entry.  I was really set on posting something using pearl-ex powders.  Something bright and cheery.  And if I liked any of the five cards currently sitting in my trash can you wouldn't be seeing this right now!   I'd call this the card version of a 'b movie'.  The design is good, but the execution...eh.  Hopefully you get the idea and are in a forgiving mood.
This is - of course - the matching bra to the panties from yesterday's entry.  I went all Papertrey on you again (cardstocks, designer paper, ribbon) but I did sneak in some SU! inks and my new silver Spica glitter marker.  All of my bras look like this...don't yours?  Kidding.  After stamping the image in soft sky ink I used my aquapainter and my soft sky reinker to watercolor the bras.  Then I used my silver Spica glitter marker to add some snazziness to the polka dots.  Eh.  I think I should have used my black Spica marker.  There's always tomorrow...

Speaking of tomorrow, I was inspired by Beate to create some cards to send to soldiers serving in Iraq.  We have a club at school called 'Support Our Soldiers' and I asked the moderator if the kids would be interested in making Mother's Day cards to send for the soldiers to sign and mail to their mothers. Not surprisingly the kids were excited about doing this.  Tomorrow is the day we make the cards!  I'd better go make sure all of my supplies are ready.

Until next time...M

Supplies:
Ink:  SU! soft sky, basic black
Cardstock:  Papertrey white, Papertrey spring moss, Papertrey Everyday Blessings patterned paper
Stamps:  Langley Boy via Gina K Designs
Other:  Spica glitter pen (silver), Papertrey spring moss twill ribbon, aquapainter
 

A RAK from Fran

Another beautiful card from Fran!  Check out the watercoloring on the flowers and the use of the same punch to make 'leaves'.  And the speckle background stamp on the base layer...and the texture that the tearing added.  She's been on a groovy guava kick lately and I'm glad to be the beneficiary!

Until next time...M

A Bottle of Red...

Yep - there's 'a bottle of white' to follow at a later date!  I'm still playing with my Bellas and my Nestabilities (I have the small rectangle dies).  As I was cleaning my craft room - the only room I will voluntarily clean - I came across these scraps from SU!'s Ginger Blossom papers.  I stamped Bella onto Papertrey's white cardstock and then cut and embossed using the largest die in the 'small' set, then did the same using the largest scalloped die on some ruby red cardstock.  I used SU! markers and watercolor crayons/aquapainter to color Bella, and I used a clear glaze pen to color over the wine bottle and glasses (didn't get that to show in the pic...).  Some ribbon, Primas and the sentiment from Stampendous! completed the design.

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU! basic black, chocolate chip
Cardstock:  SU! river rock, ruby red, Papertrey white, SU! Ginger Blossom papers
Stamps:  Stamping Bella, Stampendous
Other:  chocolate taffeta ribbon from SU!, vintage brass brads from SU!, aquapainter and watercolor crayons, SU! markers, small rectangle Nestabilities, Prima flowers, clear glaze pen by Sakura 

But I'll Be 40...Someday

I know I said I'd lay off of the Bellas for a while.  But my friend Kathi just celebrated a birthday over the weekend and I couldn't help myself.  Kathi was - for years and years in advance - fixated on turning 40.  Just like Sally in When Harry Met Sally.  She was so fixated, in fact, that her husband threw her a surprise birthday party to celebrate...when she turned 39.  He knew better than to do anything on her 40th...we were not to celebrate Kathi's 'someday'.  Oh she got over it, of course, and laughs about it still.  Happy Birthday, Kathi!
This card is deceptively simple.  It had many steps!  I started with Papertrey white for the base.  Then I took a 4in. x 5.25in. piece of Papertrey's aqua mist cardstock and ran it through my Big Kick using the happy birthday cuttlebug folder.  After embossing and securing it to the card front I moved on to what I promised:  use of my Nestabilities!  I used the largest small rectangle (still following me?) and cut and then embossed the cardstock that had bella already stamped on it.  I colored Bella using SU! markers and watercolor wonder crayons and I used a clear glaze pen for her smile.  Then I added the sentiment (from Papertrey).  I wrapped the card base in chocolate satin May Arts ribbon and then attached the focal piece.  I angled the card in the picture so you could see that I used a clear Spica glitter pen on the ribbon on the box and bow.  After securing the focal piece I added a velvet blossom and sugar coated brad.  Done!

Until next time...M

I'll post supplies later.  Promise.

Have Cake, Eat Cake

Ok, are you Bella'd out?  I promise to hold off posting any more Bellas for a bit.  I just have to share this one, though, because it was my first use of the small rectangle Nestabilities.  I bought them from Ellen Hutson's store as a Valentine's gift for myself, and when I did I was lucky enough to get one of the free scalloped heart Nestabilities sets that she was giving away.  (Giveaway over now.)  Seems that there was a design flaw and this batch of scalloped harts didn't coordinate with the plain hearts...but how cool that Spellbinders would let Ellen give the 'duds' away?
This is also my first use of the new Papertrey cardstocks, patterned paper and ribbon.  Check out the Robin's Nest dew drops on the bottom - that color is from their Water collection and it coordinates pretty darn well with Papertrey's aqua mist color.  I bought mine from Ellen. 

I'll take pity on you and just post the rest of my finished Bella cards to the gallery.  Hmmm...whatever will I make today?  I bet it'll involve Nestabilities!

Until next time...M

Supplies:
Ink:  SU! basic Black, river rock (used to watercolor)
Cardstock:  Papertrey's white, spring moss, aqua mist and Everyday blessings patterned paper
Stamps:  Cakeabella by Stamping Bella, sentiment from Piece of Cake (Papertrey Ink)
Other:  Robin's Nest water dew drops, Papertrey Ink's spring moss grosgrain ribbon, SU! watercolor wonder crayons, SU! sage shadow, cameo coral, close to cocoa and pretty in pink markers, Sakura glitter dust pen (cake plate and candle), clear glaze pen for Bella's smile

Hello, Bella!

Yes, this is a teensy bit brighter than I intended.  But it's undeniably happy!  The details are similar to earlier Bella cards in that the edges are distressed, the image is watercolored using SU! watercolor wonder crayons and an aquapainter, and I sponged the edges for definition.  The sentiment is from Papertrey's Mixed Messages set.  This time, though, I popped the focal piece up on dimensionals to provide clearance for the ribbon and I used Bazzil textured cardstock for the base.
I still don't have any information on the flower other than I bought a box of them from my local ACMoore's bridal section about two years ago.  I  popped out the plastic center that came with the blossom and used a sugar-coated brad instead, then adhered it using  glue dots.   When in doubt, use a glue dot!

Until next time...M

Supplies:
Ink:  SU! basic black, tempting turquoise
Cardstock:  Bazzil (pink), Papertrey white, SU! tempting turquoise, SU! retired patterned paper
Stamps:  Stamping Bella, Mixed Messages by Papertrey
Other:  unknown blossom, Doodlebug Designs sugar-coated brad, SU! retired ribbon, watercolor wonder crayons, aquapainter, Sakura clear glaze pen (Bella's smile)