Little mermaid

When 365 Cards put up the theme "enchanted,"  (365 cards, #138) I knew it was time to pull out the mermaid stamps.  For various reasons, I have a bunch of them, and I decided to use this one Michelle Perkett did for Faerie Song. I also used the sketch from the current There's Magic in the Air Magical Monday Challenge.

Mermaid is colored with pencils.  I tried adding some paper glaze to the little bubbles, but I think my glaze is too old and has gone bad. I put on several layers, and you can't even tell unless you are practically holding the image up to your eye. If anyone knows how to revive it, please let me know.

I used a paper with a circle pattern and one embossed with swiss dots to emphasize the bubble idea.  And the rickrack is wavy, even if it running in the wrong direction to be waves.

Love that the mermaid is reading -- nothing like literary fantasy creatures.

The good old summertime

I was nosing around a thrift store the other day when I came upon a baggie that appeared to contain some intriguing little gift cards and envelopes. Since the price marked on it was 25 cents, I figured it was worth the gamble to buy it.  It ended up being a really nice score.  Along with the vintage-looking cards (with a copyright of 1995 on the back, so they are only vintage-looking, not really vintage), there were also some cool stickers of vintage-era seed packages. 

The illustrations on most of the cards are portraits, but I loved this one I found of sunflowers, and it made the perfect image for a summery card.  I used Card Positioning System sketch CPS 274 in making this card.

I cut the back of the sunflower card and centered it.  Since it has such a nice vintage feel, I wanted to keep the card sort of country vintage looking. I used bakers twine and a vintage button, along with a snip of ribbon that repeats the sunflower motif.  Swiss dots always add a nice vintage feel, so I embossed the upper layer with that folder.  The script "summer" stamp is from Purple Onion Designs, and is stamped in Colorbox Chalk Chestnut Roan ink.

This card is also for the current Really Reasonable Challenge (RRR52), to showcase summer colors. I'm also entering it in Victorine Originals challenge #38, to use ribbons and buttons on a card.

More fun with paper

This card was created for a girl who loves giraffes.  Luckily, I found I had paper that featured some fun giraffe images.  It's a set from DCWV called Kids Safari.  I used a glittery giraffe image and a pink paper that is a giraffe skin print that has little silhouettes of a giraffe image worked in. How perfect is that?

Along with the papers, I used a wide ribbon, and a little fish-tail banner with the sentiment. Sentiment is stamped in Colorbox Chestnut Roan and set off by a little button.

The sketch is from 365 Cards, #130.  It's also for Victorine Originals challenge #38, to use ribbon and buttons on a card.

As easy as one, two, three

This card was created for 365 Cards challenge Day 131, which is called 1, 2, 3. The challenge is to use one stamp, two pieces of patterned paper and three embellishments (of a kind).  Easy, peasy, right?

Well, it was after I finally found a good combination of patterned papers. The area around my paper cutter was littered with triangular shaped pieces.  Some pieces were too boring and some too busy. I think this combo of papers from Cosmos Cricket strikes a nice balance.

The sentiment is stamped in Ranger Slate ink, and for other embellishments, I added some silk flowers. 

50 shades of green?

OK, so probably not 50, but there are a lot of  different shades of green on this card.  I didn't really intend for it to be so, um green, but there's just a part of me that won't allow unrealistic colors for real things (not that I had any problem adding little rosy cheeks to the turtle. Go figure.).

This card is based on the current sketch at Card Positioning System, CPS 273.

The stamp and sentiment are digis from Whimsie Doodles. Paper is from the "Bungalow" mat stack by Marcella K.  The turtle is colored in lots and lots of green colored pencils, and the edges are sponged with Versacolor Bamboo green ink.

A cool treat

It's another hot day here in the South. What better way to cool off than a little ice cream?

This card is based on the current Card Positioning System sketch (CPS272).  It's also for 365 Cards Challenge #129, Fun in the Sun. (When I was a kid, Popsicles were a big treat in the summer.)

The Popsicles (from Studio G) were stamped in Memento Black, colored with pencils, then coated with several layers of Alene's Paper Glaze to give them that shiny, melty look. There's some sponging around the edge of the sentiment, which is attached with a brad and a "bow" made of baker's twine.

Stay cool.