Blue birds

Well, today I was busy running errands, so I didn't get much done craft-wise! Luckily I had this card already made for Thursday's Our Creative Corner's Sketch Challenge. Remember, they have a Theme Challenge every Saturday as well, so why not join us and play!

My card is an easy card for you today! My birds are a digistamp by Laura Dunkle and I printed it out on Whisper White cardstock, then cut it out with a long rectangle Nestabilities. I colored them with Copic markers and used a white Signo gel pen for highlights. I made tiny dash marks on the outer edge in gray for "faux" stitches. Next, I mounted my image to designer papers from the stack "Playful Posies" by My Mind's Eye. I added button brads, a white chiffon polka dot ribbon, then glued it to an olive card. I punched a tag, mounted it to matching designer paper, stamped my sentiment (Studio G), then attached it to my ribbon with a piece of orange jute.


Only 1 more day til the Fred, She Said Blog Hop, scheduled for January 15th!! There will be fun for all as you hop from each of the designer's blogs and see the new images being released! You will have a chance to win one of the 4 new releases if you hop along with us!

Make sure you travel over to the Fred, She Said Blog where I am the Spotlight Artist for the week! Each week, one of the design team members will be featured and you can see wonderful creations using Fred, She Said images!


Don't forget that you can still get the fabulous 6 new releases from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps for only $40! I will be showing more cards made with these stamps throughout this month! These are some of the sweetest stamps ever!

Sunflower Day....

Winter will be here in New York for a while yet, but I am thinking of the summer and my favorite flower, the Sunflower. I just love the bright yellows, how they stand so tall with their petals reaching towards the sun. My card reflects my mood, with sage greens, bright yellows and crisp white. My image is from Fred, She Said Designs, and it's called "Fall Flowers Digi Set & Paper Pricking Frame". You can find it HERE.

I printed the Sunflower image with Pricking pattern on Whisper White cardstock, then hand cut it out. I colored the image with Copics, and the border around the image as well. With my pricking pen, I pricked the pattern, then stitched the design using my favorite silk threads from Hand-Dyed Fibers. I have a stitching tutorial on my Paper Embroidery website, as well as additional patterns for holidays and all occasions.

I added pretty rhinestones to my stitched and colored image, then laid it aside to construct my card. My paper is from "Playful Posies", a delightful paper stack from My Mind's Eye. I love every single paper in that pad! I adhered my image to my green paper, then I tied a frilly organza yellow ribbon bow around the bottom half. I mounted that piece to soft yellow cardstock, to tie more of the yellow into the card. I punched two edges of a sage green panel with the Double Heart edge punch from Martha Stewart then glued my image piece to it. Finally, I added some gold peel-off sticker border strips, then adhered the whole panel to a white card, sized 5 3/4 x 6 inches.

Let it Snow Clear Card...

Well, I've got a busy week ahead! A quilling class on Tuesday, preparing for my monthly crafting club, and I've got new stamps and punches to play with! There's nothing like a frosty day staying at home, crafting and drinking homemade apple cider! Oh, throw in an occasional piece of chocolate and talking to my sister, and life can't be better! Let's see what I've been up to this weekend!

This too adorable snowman is a new release from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. You get two sentiments with the snowman as well, and these are clear stamps that stamp so clean and crisp. My favorite ink of choice is the Memento brand and I use Tuxedo Black for most of my stamping. There's a fabulous deal over at the store, where you can purchase all 6 newly released sets for only $40! There's a total of 23 stamps, with images and sentiments. You just can't beat that price!! So go shopping, then come back and see how I made the card below!

This is called a "clear" card as the card front is transparent using a transparency or piece of acetate. My acetate is .7 mm thickness which makes for a sturdy cardfront and can hold up to ribbon, and embellishments, yet it's crisp and clear! It's made by Grafix and I purchased it at Michael's.

I stamped my snowman onto Whisper White cardstock, colored him with Copics, then cut him out with small scissors. I used a new Martha Stewart punch for the edge of my brown/polka dot designer paper (Heidi Grace Designs). My snowflake paper is by the Paper Studio. To make your clear card, cut and fold your transparency like you would for a normal card, but you are going to sandwich your back piece between a white panel and your designer papers. The white panel gives your card a lot of stability as well as hide your gluing.

Once I glued my designer papers, I added my snowman, and a glittery snowflake with a rhinestone. For decorating the clear front, you'll need to remember that you'll be able to see the backs of the embellishments or the "glue" you used to adhere them to the front! To fix this, you'll add coordination embellishments on the backside of the clear front. For my card, I used two-sided shimmery peel-off snowflakes. They were perfect for this type of card. I cut out a tag label, stamped my sentiment "Studio G" with black ink, then added a pretty ribbon! Card size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches

Tip: Once you've cut out your image, take a black marker with a brush tip and apply the ink around the edge. It gives your image a clean, cut appearance.

Image and Sentiment: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Studio G
Papers: Heidi Grace Designs, The Paper Studio, Grafix
Embellishments: Offray, Peel-Off Stickers, SU! Snowflake, Recollections, Martha Stewart punch

6 Days til the Fred, She Said Blog Hop!!! January 15th!!! Mark your Calendars and Join US!

Friends are Marshmallows...

Well, I woke up to about 3 inches of snow this morning. Snow is so crisp and pretty to look at, isn't it? Unfortunately, I had to shovel it so I could go shopping today! I made the rounds at Michael's, where the new Martha Stewart punches have come in, then over to Hobby Lobby to purchase the Octagons Nestabilities. After that, I went to JoAnn's and bought the new Inkadinkado $1 bin stamps (18 in all), picked up some tacos at Taco Bell and came home! Now I'll show you my card for the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge.

This cutie patootie is a digistamp from Sweet 'n Sassy and it's just so darling! I printed the image on Whisper White cardstock, then cut it out with the Labels Nine Nestabilities. I did the same thing with the sentiment which comes with the other image. I dusted a soft teal ink onto the pieces before removing them from the die. I colored the cup and mouse with Copic markers, then put the pieces aside to construct my card.

My designer paper is from My Mind's Eye, which I adhered to a soft teal glittery cardstock then to a white card. I added pretty shimmery glitter swirls, iridescent snowflake buttons and white pearls to finish the card. Card size: 5 x 5 inches

Image and Sentiment: Sweet 'n Sassy
Paper: My Mind's Eye, The Paper Studio, Bazzill, SU!
Embellishments: Dress it Up, Recollections, Making Memories

Here's a quick Valentine's gift for the kids or for your Secret Pal. I took a Valentine Paper Bag (Michael's) and used it to decorate a Sweethearts candy box. I just love those little sayings on the hearts! I printed my image (another Sweet 'n Sassy digital image) then cut it out and colored it with Copics. I wrapped an organza bow around the box, adhered the Koala image, and made a tag with a sentiment to finish it off.

Don't forget, only 7 Days til the Fred, She Said Blog Hop!! I can't wait! It's going to be such fun!

What's a Doodledallion?

Now that I've finally announced all my good news, I'm ready to get back to work designing and creating more great cards for the next months! There are a couple new digistamps being released on Friday from Fred, She Said, and I'm really liking them! Don't forget that the new Fred, She Said Challenge Blog is starting up, and our first Challenge is on the 25th of this month! I can't wait for it! Become a follower of the Challenge Blog and you're eligible to win a free digi on February 1st.

This card is perfect for the 3D theme Challenge over at Our Creative Corner. It also fits the Sketch Challenge at The Sweet Stop!

Friday is the release for this fabulous image called "Stained Glass Floral Doodledallion" from Fred, She Said. I printed it on Whisper White cardstock 5 times, then cut it out with scissors because I wanted a 3D layered look. I colored each piece with Copic Markers, then assembled the doodledallion with popdots for the layering. Once it was put together, I glued it to a mirror red cardstock, then to floral "dollhouse" wallpaper which was adhered to a red card. I added rhinestones and glitter for a bit of sparkle. Below, you can see the 3D look to my finished card. Card size: 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches

I almost forgot! Fred, She Said is having a Blog Hop (my first one) on January 15th and I'll be posting more details as it gets closer!! Stay tuned!

Our Creative Corner Sketch Design Team...

Well, it's official! Today they are announcing the new Sketch Design Team for Our Creative Corner, and I was asked to join the team! As you know, I've been doing a lot of the OCC's Sketch and Challenges these past months, and I'm just thrilled to be a part of such great artists! The design Team and their blogs are listed below. Just click on their name to be taken to their respective blogs, and you'll be amazed by their talent! I'm looking forward to working with these ladies and can't wait to get started! We have Sketch Challenges on Thursday's, and Themed Challenges on Saturday. Why don't you come and play with us?

Laurel Seabrook
Gloria Stengel
Iwona Palamountain
Rose Frydrych.
Darsie Bruno (that's me!)
Rose Miller
Jennifer Meyer

Without further fuss and ado, here is my first card as a sketch team designer for OCC. This card is for the Sketch Challenge (sketch is below). Why do I like sketches? Sometimes I can't come up with a fresh idea, or my cards seem to be repeating themselves. With the sketches, it gives me a jump start on an idea, using an image, background papers, and it's just up to me to put it all together.


My image for this darling card is by a new artist on the Digistamp scene. The "Ethereal Forest Designs" website will be up and running soon, and this too, too cute Elephant named "Elmer" is one of the images in their catalog. I will be showing sneak peeks of the designs in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more information because you'll definitely be wanting these images!

I printed the image on Whisper White cardstock, then cut it out with the Blossom Nestabilities. I dusted Memento Summer Sky ink onto the piece before removing it from the die, then colored it with Copic Markers. I added the cut out to a pink glittery cutout I made using the Inverted Circles Nestabiliites. I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of paper, dusted it with Summer Sky ink, then added pearls to both the image panel and the sentiment panel. I assembled my card with Martha Stewart's new Valentine Paper Stack, added red satin bows, heart rhinestones and adhered it to a red card sized 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

Image: Ethereal Forest Designs, Studio G
Paper: Martha Stewart, Bazzill, SU!
Embellishments: Satin Ribbon, Pearls and Hearts by Recollections

Don't forget the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Release today!! I've been giving you sneak peeks the last few days of the sets available and Korin has a Sweet 'n Sassy bundle for all the sets for a reduce price! I recommend you get them all, AND save money!

Pretty Iris....

Only a few more days left until the release of the newest stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy! How exciting for me to be designing cards for them! The stamp below is one of three that is being released on Thursday, January 7th! There is a January/Carnation set, February/Iris set, and March/Daffodil set as well as a few others. They are clear stamps and cling beautifully to your acrylic block and the image is so crisp once stamped. You'll also find discontinued stamps for Autumn and Christmas available at the store.

This was a pretty card to create. I stamped the Iris with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Whisper White Cardstock, then colored with Copic markers. I overstamped the verse (Inkadinkado) with the black ink then rounded the corners of the panel and laid it aside. My designer paper is from GCD Studios and I used the Martha Stewart Large Lattice punch. Ribbons and pretty pearls finished this card, sized 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

Images: Sweet 'n Sassy, Inkadinkado
Paper: GCD Studios, SU!, Bazzill
Embellishments, Recollections, Offray
Punch: Martha Stewart Lattice Border, Corner Rounder


There is a new Challenge Blog for Fred, She Said, and you can find it HERE! Our first challenge will be posted on the Last Monday of each month, and they are exciting and fun! Also, if you become a follower, (just click on the "Follow" button on the right of the blog) you'll have a chance to win a free image on February 1st!