More Valentine Cards

I'm on my way to creating Valentine cards! I've been making Christmas cards since July, and am definitely Christmas'd out! I've already starting pulling out my Easter stamps too!

This card evolved on it's own, and I'm happy with the results. Usually, I have a plan in my head and my creative process follows that particular idea. To say that this card misbehaved the whole time I was making it, is an understatement!

I had no intention of using brown in this card as it was going to be a Valentine card with the typical red/pink combination. I picked out a pretty design from the Bella Rose papers of Stampin' Up!, and a fabric button brad from K & Company. Somehow they would be combined to make a Valentine card.

Then I was stumped and started rummaging around my craft treasures and found a square paper lace doily. At first I folded all the square points into each other which gave me a pretty starting point. I cut my Bella Rose paper to fit inside the small lace square which showed through, making the lace more distinct.

I did not like all the lace, so I cut two ends, so that some of the paper would show, but it looked "empty". I grabbed a Martha Stewart punch and punched the edges which gave it a pretty effect.

I still wanted to use that fabric button brad, so back to my stash I went. I found some fabric flowers I had purchased from Michael's and inserted the button brad through the center. Attaching it to the card, it looked lost and lonely. Back to my stash, and I came across a package of die cut glittery hearts of all sizes from K & Company that I had purchased last Valentine's.

I searched through those hearts and the brown swirly glittery heart looked great against the flower, thus the brown! I added the heart, a brown checked bow, and a small tag with a gold peel off sentiment that I had colored with a brown Sharpie marker. Lastly, I mounted this to a dark brown card, size 5 1/2 x 4 3/4.

My next card was a little more simple and went according to that plan. I chose another paper from the Bella Rose set and punched the edges with a Fiskars corner edge punch.

Using my new Rectangle Nestabilities (a gift I gave myself for Christmas) I cut out coordinating scalloped and straight edge rectangles. (The largest does match, it just didn't photograph well!)

I stamped "Love" in red ink (a dollar bin stamp from Michael's) on the white piece and used a random swirl stamp on the corners.

Another lace heart doily, a fabric brad button and matching fabric flowers brought this card together. I added a ribbon bow on the corner to balance the card.

Size 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

Black, Red & White Hello....

I love the striking appearance of black, white and red together. This piece uses the left over notecard I had cut with the Oval Nestabilities used in the previous Valentine Card. I always save pieces of scraps from other cardmaking endeavors. You never know how perfect that piece of paper might be for the next card!

I recently purchased a Martha Stewart Ribbon Edge punch and punched along both sides of the notecard piece. Pretty red thin grosgrain was inserted into the slots then glued down with Zip Dry. An elegant striped black glossy cardstock was used for the background. I attached the notecard piece to it, then added another oval Nestabilities cut out in red into the center.

I stamped "hello" (Hampton Art) (found in the Dollar bin at Michael's) in black on a smaller white oval cut out then mounted it to the red oval. Lastly, I added small red rhinestones and a satin red bow to finish the card. Card Size 5 1/2 x 4 1/4.

This card is for my girls, Nessa and Lee! I miss you, sweethearts! Love, Mommy

Merry Christmas to all....

A special holiday greeting to one and all! May your hearts and homes be filled with love and happiness today, tomorrow and forever.

Always remember the reason for this season! The birth of Jesus! Happy Birthday!

This card is done on vellum using various sizes of dry embossing tools and a 1 needle parchment crafting pricking pen. I used gold ink to highlight the dove, punched the edges of the vellum and attached it to the card with red brads. I added a gold peel off sticker "Merry Christmas" as the final touch. The pattern is from a Parchment Craft magazine from a few years ago.

Valentine Greeting Card

Yes, I've already started on Valentine cards! I love black, white and red together!

I was with my friend, Sue, at Michael's and we were rummaging through the dollar bins and found a set of black and white notecards. It has a very pretty design and I immediately thought of how nice it would look using my oval Nestabilities.

With my Cuttlebug, I cut out the ovals, and a small Cuttlebug tag. I stamped the "I love you" from my See-D Morsel's Words set onto the tag, then thread red grosgrain ribbon through the ends.

I glued my oval cutouts onto a black glossy striped cardstock (the stripes don't show in the scan), then mounted my tag on top and wrapped the ribbon around the entire piece. I punched the corners of the black piece and then attached it to white Bazzill cardstock. I added pretty red heart rhinestones and a red bow, then mounted the entire piece to black cardstock. This card measures 5 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches.

My last stitched card for Christmas...

I just finished up this Christmas card with my latest pattern. I really love the shades I used in this one. I used Vikki Clayton's Hand-dyed Fibers silk thread in Nile Blue, Turquoise and Robin's Egg.

This is a notecard sized design, 5 x 3 3/4 inches. Most of my patterns tend to be 5 x 5 but I thought to make it smaller as this could be cut out and used for an ornament on the tree.

I punched decorative corners and added soft aqua pearls from Kaiser Crafts. I topped it with a pretty teal bow and am quite pleased with this design.

I had a nice background paper that resembled stone in a lovely pale turquoise and attached that to a darker turquoise notecard.

Trees at Dusk

The store was closed today due to a storm which dumped about a foot of snow, so it was my day to play!

A friend emails beautiful photos to me and I knew I had to try to recreate one of them with Stampscapes stamps. I chose this serene dusk scene with the soft fog appearance.

I knew I wanted to add an animal or something to the scene to bring it to life, perhaps in the foreground.

I pulled out Stampscapes Stamps "Oak Row", "Oaks & Mist", and a Stampin' Up set titled "Noble Deer" (shown below).

I stamped Oaks & Mist on glossy paper using Adirondack Lights Cool Peri. Next I stamped a little lower using the same stamp, but in Adirondack Denim.

I created a paper mask of the deer, then stamped them in Marvy black ink on the glossy paper. I placed the deer mask on the image, then stamped the Oak Row in black across the width of the paper.

With my Colorbox Stylus, I began laying the foundation for the piece with my color. In various shades of blue and purple, I began softly pouncing at the top of the scene for my sky. I used blues first, then added purples as I went along until I was satisfied.

I deepened the color amongst the trees to show density like a forest, and to push the fading sunlight farther back in the scene. I also darkened the foreground, yet leaving a bit of light around the deer.

Now that I've finished it, there are things that I would do if I chose to try again. I'm not as happy with the blue tones overshadowing the purple tones. I also would have staggered the oak trees a bit more instead of them being bunched together as they are.

I guess, you are always learning when you are making scenes with rubber stamps. It's a journey I enjoy.

The completed scene size is 6 x 8 1/2 inches.

Floral Christmas Card

This card was made with left over scraps from yesterday's creation. As the focal point of the card, I used the die cut piece I put aside from cutting out the largest oval from the Nestabilities. From the chickadee tag (Carol Wilson Fine Arts Stationary) there was the outer rim left, so I used the second largest Nestie oval die to cut another frame. This gave me a leftover piece of the birds for another card. I cut out three ovals from one tag!

I mounted the floral cut out to the white cut out. Next I glued small fabric flowers to the left side of the oval. I fixed the centers of the flowers with red pearls from Kaiser Crafts. I also added small red pearls to the top and bottom of the white oval. I punched out a small tag and affixed silver peel off sticker "Merry Christmas" to it.

Using another piece of the green glittery swirl vellum, I wrapped red ribbon around it to resemble a package. I attached the vellum to a white bazzill notecard with red eyelets using the Crop-a-dile.

Lastly, I attached my assembled floral oval to the card.

Chickadees & Holly

I really enjoyed making this card with the pretty chickadees surrounded by holly and snow.

My friend Sue purchased the oval Nestabilities for me and already I'm in love with them! I definitely plan to purchase the entire set.

For this card, I first attached an elegant glittery holly vellum to a piece of swirled glossy paper with spray adhesive. I then put that piece through the Cuttlebug with the largest oval die to cut out the center. I put that piece aside for a later card. The chickadees are a Christmas tag from Carol Wilson Fine Arts Stationary that I got at a local quilt shop. I put the tag through the Cuttlebug with the next smallest oval die.

Using the Swiss dot folder, I embossed the front flap of a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 swirly glossy cardstock. I mounted my vellum frame with pop up squares, then adhered the chickadees inside the frame.

Again, with the Cuttlebug, I cut snowflakes from the "Snowflake" die and attached them to the card, with tiny red pearls for added color. I finished the card with a pretty red organza and gold ribbon.

New patterns

I've just added ten new paper embroidery patterns to my website. You'll find a new "free" pattern as well, that would be perfect for a male oriented card. The "Starry Tree" is a fun and quick pattern to stitch. I used a pretty variegated thread from Vikki Clayton's Hand-Dyed Fibers. Her silk threads stitch up so well. I think I have almost every color she makes!

My daughter will fix the boo-boo on the Starry Tree pattern on the website before the day is over. She's the website manager, and I tried to fix it and it was all Greek to me! She'll probably take a ruler to my fingers for trying to correct it :)

Cuttlebug Snowflakes

I love my Cuttlebug and all the wonderful embossing and cutting plates that you can purchase for it. I embossed Winter house on white Bazzill cardstock, then added crystal glitter with a Quickie Glue Pen.

I stamped the Christmas sentiment from Inkadinkado using a Marvy English Red inkpad. I cut and embossed the snowflake using a metallic red cardstock, attached the snowflake with a snowflake brad then began layering the card. I used the same red metallic cardstock for the second layer then mounted it to a white Bazzill card.

Turtledove

My newest stitching pattern titled "Turtledove", and it is perfect for Christmas or Wedding cards. You can find this pattern on my website at: http://www.artbydarsie.com/stitching

The dove was stitched using gold metallic thread, then "seashell" glitter from ArtGlitter Institute was applied with a Quickie Glue Pen. I punched two corners with a new Fiskars corner punch, then added gold pearls in the opposite corners for embellishment. I finished the card with a hologram Merry Christmas peel off sticker from Pop Ups by Plane Class. I used Hunter green and white Bazzill cardstock for the card.