Graphic Birthdays!

Purchased this stamp(Hero Arts Starbursts) with my daisy stamp that I used almost a week ago...thought they "went" together when I was looking at them online...like a 2 step stamp gives an outline stamp and a filler stamp... after all, they are identical in their design, only one is a set of four flowers, the other starbursts!...I know, what WAS I thinking???  HEY..I just might try them together, yet!!  But, in any event, thought this stamp was cool!   Decided to use my Hero Arts Grid Pattern background...stamped in color box frosted white, and  decided to do something a little crazy and stamp with versamark  and white emboss ON TOP OF THE WHITE!!...I thought it looked cool!.  I decided to make it girl appropriate and then a "guy" one...

 The guy one is minus the ribbon ...

I edited this to add yet another version with the sentiment in the same place as the 1st one.

  And just in case you're thinking it, don't feel badly...my daughter thinks the starbursts look too much like flowers to be a "guy's" card...I just think they look graphic...it's all good:)!!!!

Gotta run...Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

A Valentine

Grabbed another stamp from my "pile" of stamps that  I couldn't take off my desk and put away until I made something with them....whew...and made this...

I masked and stamped this stamp from A Muse(Bursting Blooms) in real red and stazon black, clear embossing both times.  Added sentiment from Papertrey Ink(Daily Designs Sentiments).  I ran the blooms and card through the Big Shot with Papertrey Ink Texture Plate(Linen/Canvas)...it just HAD to have some texture...lol...and popped it up!  Added two rhinestones...but if giving to a guy(I'm sending this to my daughter to possibly give to her hubby)...could take them off and it would look just fine without...I just LOVE the sparkle!

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Block Art Stamp

 I had taken some random stamps out of my drawers and could not remove them from my desk until I made something with them.  This was one in the "pile".

Stamped the image 3 times...one of those times for the frame, one for the cut outs, and one for the backdrop. The one for the frame needs to have enough paper on all four sides for making a sort of frame around a frame.  Susan Raihala has been a mentor to me when it comes to clean and simple.  I have gleaned some wonderful insight into the mechanics of clean and simple.  One of those things is proportion.  This stamp does not fit an A2 sized card, by itself...the wrong proportions.  I made the same measurements around the stamp's framed image and wanted the same measurement around my card's dimensions.  My card is 4" x 5 3/4"...will fit a business sized envelope. The stamp is from the Block Arts Collection made by Stampendous...the sentiment is Papertrey Ink Birthday Basics.  I used Mark It markers for the coloring...Great markers with bold colors...fun for stamps like these:)!!  Dotted the little dots of the flower with Diamond Glaze, although you can't really see the little shimmer in the photo...but a little added touch when there's not a whole lot going on with the card:)...  Hope you are all having a great weekend, thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Less is More 52

YEAH!!...it's been a whole year of Less is More challenges!!  I found this WONDERFUL challenge at week 14...and have been HOOKED ever since!!  I am grateful to Mandie and Chrissie for beginning this blog...love these ladies for their  artistry, GREAT challenges, encouraging words and that they have kept us, as participants on the straight and narrow of being clean and simple in our card making... Simply Less is More MEANS just what it says!!  Not always an easy part of their roles at times, I'm sure, but I so appreciate it!!!  I have met and come to know some really amazing ladies and artists through this blog, so grateful for the friendships I have made!!  If you're reading this and haven't yet, come join the fun!!
This week's challenge is a sketch.  I had been thinking about an out-of-the-box type card...here's my card and the sketch:

I used a couple flowers from a set from W Plus 9 Design Studio(Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions) and a sentiment from Hero Arts(Say It All).  Being that the flower stamps are clear stamps, I slightly bent them to curve and stamped them together in black. I didn't have any rectangular dies that fit the size of my card, so I cut the paper with my paper cutter to the bottom and top of each side's flower(ALMOST), and then hand cut the rest of the way.  Colored with Stampin Up markers (barely banana and daffodil delight).  Layered on black and slightly popped up.  Had a ribbon around the bottom of the stems, but decided that I would do without...only had thicker ribbon, and thinnner ones weren't the right colors...oh well...! The card is textured Barely Banana.  Love this sketch...may have another card by week's end!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

The Color of Joy

I had put my tin of Prismacolor pencils away last night...then decided to take them right back out this morning.  I purchased my pencils a couple years ago,  rather than invest in Copics(I don't have even one)...and used them with stumps and baby oil...pretty enough as I don't really do a lot of coloring.  After taking the Clean and Simple Card Making class, my prismas have taken on new meaning ...I am LOVING coloring with them...just coloring...no baby oil...no stumps...just coloring.  They are such amazing pencils with such rich color and wonderful quality...well...I'm having a little too much fun!!  After today's card...I will try to quiet my enthusiasm a bit and scatter my coloring to the occasional card, but for today...a little joy!!

  Have you ever made a card with the word "happy"..."peace"... or a word in your sentiment that emits or evokes a "feeling?  I stamped my flowers then found a sentiment that I thought fit my space perfectly...and wondered...what colors should I color my flowers...what is the color of  "joy"?  .I googled - "the color of joy" to find this site...pretty interesting..colors of  joy can be orange and/or yellow...so that's how I chose the colors for my flowers.  The rhinestones were an afterthought, but I thnk it looked just as nice without them.   Flowers and sentiment are Hero Arts.  Used my Papertrey Ink Linen/Canvas texture impression plate to give the card some texture...oh, loving THAT a bit too much, too:)!!!!
Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Daisy Crazed!

Boy, did I have fun last night!!  I was part of the online Clean and Simple Card Making Class with Jennifer McGuire and friends and am trying to implement some of the things I learned.  I purchased a Hero Arts Daisies stamp with my class discount from Simon Says Stamp!(very cool place with the largest selection of Hero Arts I've ever seen!!...no...not a paid advertisement...just really like the site!)...and well...I just couldn't stop making cards!! The first card is actually the last one that I made, for after I looked at Susan's Simplicity site this morning and the One Layer Wednesday 76 challenge for the week of using white and gray and a pop of color...well...I had to make just one more!!  So I have a total of EIGHT...so if you're here because of the challenge, the first card is the challenge card:)!!....here goes:

 I stamped the stamp with versamark and white embossed.  One of the things that we were shown is using Prismacolor pencils to color on papers other than white.  I loved how rich and deep the colors were...not at all what I was expecting...used white and dark gray ...what fun!!  Used a sentiment from Hero Arts, and a white signo pen to outline the card.  I then took my favorite of all time Papertrey Ink texture plate(Linen/Canvas) and ran the card through my Big Shot for some texture on my gray card:

 Added yellow rhinestones as my pop of color.

 This second one was a result of using yellow paper on the inside of another of these cards...so I decided to try coloring on a so saffron card.  Used white and light green pencils and a sentiment from Paper Smooches. Papertrey texture plate, too!

 The third one, below, I cut out the top 3 flowers after coloring...for these I used Stampin Up markers for coloring... and popped them up on card.  Added Paper Smooches sentiment and colored with marker, as well.

This next kraft colored card I used Chocolate chip ink and colored with pencils.  Dotted with Enamel Accents, and hand drew my lines with chocolate chip marker.  Sentiment Paper Smooches, texture plate, again!

 The next one I colored with Stampin Up markers, again, and cut out the top three.  Rather than framing with lines, I just left is plain and added a little "fancier" sentiment.

The next kraft colored one I stamped with versamark and white embossed.  Colored with white and light green colored pencils.  I didn't dot the middles with stick on dots or Enamel accents, but just colored with turqoise colored pencil.  Paper Smooches sentiment and hand drawn border....and the texture plate:)

This next one was actually the very first one I made.  I colored and cut out all 4 flowers after coloring with Stampin Up markers(Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal)  and added a Hero Arts sentiment.  Added stick on dots in the middles.

 This is the final one...the only 2 layer one of the bunch!  I simply stamped  in black and colored with SU markers.   Added another Paper Smooches sentiment and black enamel accents for the middles.  I then took my Martha stewart scoreboard and scored along each side(the picture doesn't show well, but there IS a scored line along the bottom:)!)

I know it's alot...and I didn't get into alot of details.  I only will say, I took a picture of how I learned to line up your card to draw lines.  I have had a gridded cutting board for a while, but never used it except for cutting out an occasional flower with my exacto knife....no more.  I will be using this board to line up my work for more precise and accurate work!!  It's nothing fancy...but it does the trick!!

Used Eclipse tape and taped my card at exact markers and lined up my ruler from the line on one side of the card to the other and drew my line(these are 1/4" squares)...hope that makes sense...SOOOOOO EASY!!  Never again will I measure or guess...drawing lines this way is a BREEZE!!  Just a tip!!...  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

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Simply Black and White

I made  another card for CAS-ual Friday's challenge 36 this week, which is to use only black and white on your card...no other color allowed. I am also going to enter this card as a second card, in Less is More's challenge 51, Cut it Out,  which this week is to make a card with an aperture(window, hole...I didn't know what that word was until recently...yes, there...I admit it:)!!).   I opted to use a pretty  Hero Arts background stamp to make my card, and this is what I came up with:

I stamped (after using anti static bag) on my black paper with versamark...then white embossed.  Die cut the window with Papertrey Ink Mat die.  I put the black/white embossed piece on the card and stamped the sentiment, BEFORE popping up this panel.   The black paper was not top grade, heavy paper, so I cut a piece of chipboard and mounted it to give it real stability and "pop" as well...again...AFTER the sentiment(just a tip).   And here's a slightly angled view:

 The stamps are Hero Arts...the background Flower Dot Pattern, the sentiment Truly Appreciated.

Simply done.  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Color My World

Another rainy, cloudy day in VA...I  had this idea running around in my head when I saw a sketch in the latest Papercrafts magazine (Jan/Feb 2012) on page 24, by Kim Kesti...

Super simple...used Papertrey Ink flower die and sentiment(Happy Trails). Die cut out each flower, hand drew lines and dots with ruler...added polka dotted embossed paper behind each die cut and added stick on dot...rhinestones dotted on line of each color.  Popped up on white card...the colors made me happy on this dreary day:!!
Using this card for Less is More's challenge 51, Cut It Out...to make a card with an aperture(hole, window) and for the Runway Inspired challenge...the dress here:

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Little Ladybug #3

Well...I went from 3 layers, to 2 layers and this card is a one layer using my little ladybug stamp.  Sometimes just a little texture and just the right sentiment can be enough to "pull off" a little image.  Love how this sentiment curved just the same way as the grass...and ladybugs make plants "well" by eating the aphids...I know...too deep and too much thought...but that's how I roll:)!!

Sorry...the lighting not the best...it has been a rainy, dreary day...but I think it shows ok.  The sentiment is Hero Arts...used my Martha Stewart scoreboard and scored 1/4" from each side's end.  Colored with real red and old olive. Three down...three to go:)!!
Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

CAS-ual Fridays...Black and White

In honor of Penguin Awareness Day, CAS-ual Fridays is making the challenge of the week to make a black and white card!  I LOVE black and white...so tho' this is one card, I'm pretty certain this will not be the last for this week's challenge...

Wanted to make it simple...punched a bunch of flowers with EK Success flower punch and glued about 4 or 5 on top of one another to give the flowers dimension.  Dotted with stick on dot and added Happy birthday from Hero Arts.  Rounded corners.  I lined the card with Bermuda Bay...THERE'S my color:)!!
Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Little Ladybug #2

Here's my second Little Ladybug card:

This time, I stamped on larger space, but gave the whole image a 3-D look(dimension is great for CAS:)!!) by stamping again on red, and cutting out ladybug and popping her up... and then taking my exacto knife and cutting around the leaves(added some pop up pieces behind each leaf, so they would stay popped out).  Added a sentiment from Hero Arts and popped up on white card.
Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Little Ladybug #1

I bought this little ladybug stamp at AC Moore's the other day....very intrigued by it.  I have numbered this post, as it is my mission to find 6 different ways to use this little lady...so there will be 5 after this..in time:)!!

This was the very simplest...colored with markers and blender pen(although the image is so small it doesn't show too well).  Layered on black and old olive with a  Papertrey impression plate.  The ladybug is Rubbersoul and the sentiment is Hero Arts. The card is 4 1/4" square.

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Clean and Simple 172

I made this card for Clean and Simple's 172 challenge...my card and the sketch :

Ok..are you thinking the same thing I am...up front I will say  not sure how clean and simple I think this is...but I am loving these colors together....and the flowers...all THREE of them.  I planned on sticking to the sketch, but the flowers just seemed to "fit"...and be "needed"...lol!!
Used  nestie for the scalloped rectangle and 2 nesties for the circles.  Used a My Favorite Things flowers  and leaves dies...sentiment and background Hero Arts.
Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

One Layer Wednesday75...Happy Birthday for a Guy

Just a quick post, today.  Made this card for One Layer Wednesday...to make a one layer card for a guy's birthday. Got my idea from the latest PaperCrafts magazine entitled Cool Tools....page 140 Blue Without You by Susan Opel.  I loved her 4 blue hued squares.  I changed it a bit, and made it  3 squares, one layer, different sentiment...and ...minus the ribbons, too:)!!  Basically, just the idea of the  squares and their positioning:)!!

I masked and sponged a punched out 1 1/4 " square(Memento inks: Danube Blue, Bahama Blue,Summer Sky)...added the dotted border (Papertrey Ink Background Basics: Circles)behind and the sentiment(Papertrey Ink Birthday Basics).  I thought it looked a little boring, so I added a 1" circle cut out and, like the squares, used a black marker to draw around the shape...to add a little interest.
Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Less is More 50..One Layer BIRDS

I made a card for Less is More's challenge...to make a one layer card with a bird/s on it. I made a couple cards, that I don't have the courage to put up....this challenge was tough!!  I LOVE Less is More, so I persisted in my attempt to make at least one card that I could put up. I LOVE  clean and simple, as well, but one layer cards can be challenging....challenging enough  by themselves, but when you add birds to the criteria..well, next to impossible for me!!   I'm just saying...   This card, though, I feel just ok about, but don't hate...

Made with a stamp from Memory Box and sentiment from Hero Arts.  Used a couple nesties and embossed...sponged with Memento ink(Summer Sky) while masking. The card is 4 1/4" square.   Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Runway Inspired Challenge 4

I made a card for Runway Inspired Challenge...the dress a sort of rainbow.  I had ALL kinds of thoughts running round in my head, but then noticed the model's purse...a triangle.  I remembered seeing Susan recently make some wonderful cards with banners and began to rack my brain about a card with banners.  I then remembered that I had two little banners in a Hero Arts set I have had for a long time(Kiss From the Sun) and decided on a quick, easy banner birthday card (the colors just "looked" Birthday:)!!). The sentiment is Hero Arts, as well(Birthday Sayings). Here's my card and the dress:

Never having made a card with banners before, just thought I'd share a couple pics of how I easily made my banner in case you'd like to try your hand at it!
I stamped the banners with versamark and white embossed.  I cut the two equal sides and scored along the side that would hang:

 Then fold and cut along the back side of banner, making it a banner that hangs over the string/floss.

 I then put a glue dot on the bottom inside of the banner, making it easy to slide along the floss when attached.

I then simply attached the two end triangles to the card with a glue dot on the back of each, and then did the middle ones the same.
Fun challenge!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

EDIT--- Ever since I uploaded this card, I have felt a need to explain.  When I looked at this challenge this morning, I made my card based on the model's purse and it being triangularly shaped.   I decided to make a rainbow banner.  I had seen some banner cards a couple days ago that Susan Raihala had made...and together, thought...banners are cool...cool.  I made my card and was pretty happy with it.  I went to upload it and put a link to Susan's site to show her banner cards that I had thought of, and saw yet another banner card that she uploaded yesterday that is so very similar to the one I was uploading.  Ohhhh...disappointment big time!!!  I decided to upload my card, anyway...but have been feeling bad and sort of guilty all day, with a need to explain that just won't go away until I do.... I'm so sorry for how this may appear...that is NEVER my intent when I craft cards...I am so about being creative, but when I'm not,  giving credit where credit is due..and with that being said HERE is Susan's card...again, I'm so sorry...Lisa

A "Do Over" of a Clean and Simple Card

I kept looking at the cards I made today, and after watching day 7 of the Clean and Simple Card Making classes where WHITE clean and simple cards were the topic of the day...I HAD to redo one of the cards that I did earlier.  I will show you the sketch, my do over and the original...you decide!!
This is is my Do Over

 This is my original.

Now I know...probably not a big deal...same size card, but made the middle panel 1/4" smaller...took away the orange card and made it white...those two things, I think, make a huge difference.  The sketch showed a smaller middle panel...I think it just "looks" better that way!!  I also put white lines around the circular window of my other card I made today...  THIS...

 TO THIS...

...ch ch ch ch changes, as David Bowie would say...ok, NOW that I got this all out,  I can now retire tonight in peace!!  Hope you have a great night!!