Monthly Archives: May 2011

a birthday wish

Posted on May 31, 2011 | 8 comments

It’s a special day in the Stainton house. I can’t quite believe my “baby” turns 6 today.

Yesterday we did a little impromptu photo shoot. I had to laugh as this little creative guy decided to take over and direct the shots. This morning he is busy taking his own photos. We bought him a little camera/video attachment to a learning game system he has. No one is safe.

Enjoy your special day Joshua!

Make a Wish

Here’s a quick and fun birthday card to celebrate his special day. By changing up the sentiment, it also becomes the focal point of this design. I love using two different fonts or types of letters to add interest and really make one of the words pop. The wood bingo star embellishment also doubles up as a dot for the i.

Supplies: kraft cardstock by Bazzill, sewing machine, Wood Bingo Motif by Maya Road, Campfire 8×8 paper pad by October Afternoon, ribbon, Black Tiny Type by Cosmo Cricket, chipboard letters by Cosmo Cricket

Celebrate today!

8 Comments

Posted in Card Designs, Photos

mixing it up

Posted on May 30, 2011 | 8 comments

For those of you with a lovely long weekend, Happy Memorial Day! I hope you’re having a wonderful relaxing day.
In the summer I love relaxing at the lake. It’s my favorite place. Today I’m mixing things up here with a mixed media canvas. I’ve been dying to try out this popular trend and so here is my version and my first try at it. It was a little out of my comfort zone but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. This is a medium I’d like to find more time to explore.

My canvas is 24″ square that I picked up at Michael’s and I’ve uses some great textures from my Gauche Alchemy kit this month. I just couldn’t leave without creating one last fun project. The wavy lace inspired a lake scene. Can you believe the lace was actually a deep, dark royal purple?!  The clouds have been created from some burgundy fabric, the butterflies from some silver foil confetti and the sand is some red corrugated paper.

To get the paint to adhere well to all the surfaces, you need to prime them with a thick coat of gesso. You can see in the above photo that I’ve covered the textures enough to cover up 99.9% of their color.

Then the fun begins…painting over the surface with layers of paint. I like mixing the paints right on the canvas and just adding color until I get the look I’m going for. To add further interest and to highlight texture, I’ve sponged on some Distress Ink and added areas of Crackle Accents for an aged look.

You can also find this project todayon the Gauche Alchemy blog.

Supplies: canvas from Michaels, corrugated paper, lace, butterflies, buttons, vintage sheet music and fabric from Gauche Alchemy, Picket Fence Stamp set by Lily Bee Design, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paint in Classic Teal, Sable, Traditional Tan, Sky Blue & Blank Canvas by Ranger, Chipboard Banner by Maya Road, Jet Black Archival Ink by Ranger, Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink, Tumbled Glass Distress Ink & Barn Door Distress Ink by Ranger, Crackle Accents by Ranger, Thickers by American Crafts

Have a beautiful day!

8 Comments

Posted in Lily Bee, Papercraft projects, Tutorials & Techniques

orange happiness

Posted on May 29, 2011 | 9 comments

Feel like a hit of color today?

How about orange and red? Mixing warm colors together always looks bright and happy. Orange and Pink, as well as pink and red, also look fabulous together.

This card uses three different stamp sets from Hero Arts.I started off by stamping the Quotes Background stamp and then masked the edges with Eclipse Tape so that I could stamp the flower within the framework of the quote image. Eclipse tape is my favorite tape for masking with. It’s so easy to use with it’s low tack adhesive on the back.

Supplies: Quotes Background stamp,  Layered Flowers stamp set & Live Life stamp set by Hero Arts, white cardstock by Neenah, patterned paper by Jillibean Soup, Jet Black Archival Ink by Ranger, Tangelo Memento Ink by Tsukineko, Eclipse Tape, canvas flower by Jillibean Soup, twine, Spring Market Chipboard buttons by Webster’s Pages

Have a happy, happy day!

9 Comments

Posted in Card Designs, Hero Arts

Embossed Gelatos

Posted on May 27, 2011 | 3 comments

I dreamed up a fun new way to use my Faber-Castell Gelatos.

Texture + Shimmer = pretty cool

Today I’m in the CLASSroom sharing a Father’s Day card, step outs and the tutorial. I hope you’ll join me!

Have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

3 Comments

Posted in Card Designs, Ellen Hutson LLC projects

just ducky

Posted on May 26, 2011 | 11 comments

“It’s a great day for a duck.”

I’m not sure if that’s an Irish expression or just my aunt’s own phraseology but today is a great day for a duck in more than one sense. My aunt always said that when it was wet, wet, wet and that seems to sum up our weather lately. Also, inspired by this absolutely darling storybook page, yesterday I revisited a fun day at the park from a few years back. It’s so sweet to go back and scrap those precious days when my children were smaller. This vintage paper storybook page reminds me of special times spend reading with my children. We actually read this book numerous times. Very cool, in my humble opinion.

This layout is another one I designed for my guest designer spot at Gauche Alchemy. Everything except for the chipboard letters and the background paper came from a kit. I just love the fun mix of colors and textures in these kits. If you’re interested in the details and some closeups, you can find them here on the Gauche Alchemy blog.

Have a sweet, spring day!

11 Comments

Posted in Scrapbooking

sunshine & smiles

Posted on May 24, 2011 | 8 comments

This past weekend has been all about sunshine and smiles. Granted, the sunshine was rather sporadic, but we did appreciate each ray that we did get. As for the smiles, well, my son came home for the weekend, we saw lots of family, celebrated my dad’s 75th birthday and it was the  first time this season out in the boat. Lots and lots of smiles. I couldn’t be happier.

It’s time to share another Avocado Arts design. I’m totally in love with clouds and they look totally darling stamped in white on kraft cardstock. I love how this set includes both a solid cloud and an outline shape cloud. These stamps are from the June Avocado Arts kit club and are already available. Pairing the white and kraft up with red gingham just makes me thing summer. Can’t wait!

Supplies: white & kraft cardstock by Bazzill, Sunshine & Smiles stamp set by Avocado Arts, White Pigment Ink by Clearsnap, Jet Black & Cobalt Archival Ink by Ranger, Tiny Attacher by Advantus, Red Vintage Button by Jenni Bowlin

There’s also some fun news from Avocado Arts! They’ve created some fabulous new sets that aren’t part of the kit club but are available ANY time. They are designed especially for scrapbooking but work wonderfully on card designs too. I can’t wait to get my hands on them! These three sets are available for pre-purchase and ship June 12th.

Strike a Pose is a fun viewfinder inspired set that has my mind whirling with all the possibilities. Say It! Pennant Style is so fun and unique and fits in perfectly with that great banner trend that we all love. Avocado Type features a lowercase alphabet in two different sizes and is perfect for titles, journaling and creating your own sentiments. A little birdie told me there will be an uppercase alpha to match in the near future too. Fun! You can find out more details here on the  Avocado Arts blog.

Hugs & smiles!

8 Comments

Posted in Avocado Arts, Card Designs

stamped & a winner

Posted on May 23, 2011 | 8 comments

I’ve been fascinated with stamping for years now. The ability to create impressions over and over in so many different ways in so creatively wonderful.

Lately my favorite style of stamping has been fairly clean and simple, letting the images speak for themselves. What could be simpler than a single sheet of white cardstock, some ink and one set of stamps?

Today on the Lily Bee blog, you’ll find a product focus on stamping. There’s lots of great ideas for using stamps on your layouts as well as some card designs.

This first card design uses 6 different stamps from the Picket Fence stamp set layered together by stamping in various inks. It’s a clean & fresh take on a collage style.

Supplies: white cardstock by Neenah, twine, Crystal Trinket Pins by Maya Road, flower by Prima, Picket Fence stamp set by Lily Bee Design, Jet Black Archival Ink by Ranger, Soft Pool Ink by Hero Arts, Pear Tart Memento ink by Tsukineko, Sepia Archival Ink by Ranger

Here’s a red, white & blue card for my American friends. I think it looks like summer.

Supplies: white cardstock by Neenah, rhinestones by Zva Creative, Picket Fence stamp set by Lily Bee Design, Jet Black Archival Ink by Ranger, Rhubarb Stalk, Lady Bug and Summer Sky Memento Inks by Tsukineko

Last Friday I was so excited to be part of the Paper Crafts Card Creations blog hop. Thank you so much for all the lovely comments! I read each and every one. I’ve used random.org to choose a winner from them all. The winner of the Card Creations special issue from Paper Crafts is #66. Congratulations Tony K! Please e-mail me with your address and I’ll get the issue out to you! You can find my e-mail contact link just under my photo at the top of the sidebar.

It’s the Victoria Day holiday Monday here in Canada. I’m off to spend time with my family and make the most of it!

Happy Victoria Day and happy stamping!

 

8 Comments

Posted in Card Designs, Lily Bee