Artful Avocations

Spiritual Sentiments Sneak Peek

One more sneak peek for tonight and my last post for the evening.  I really love this set because it has several spiritual sentiments, and a few other goodies like these little sunflowers.  It's available on February 1st from A Chemistry With Paper!  They will be adding some new sets, so make sure you stop by and check them out.
Thanks for looking!

Stylized Flowers Sneak Peek

They're available February 1st!  A Chemistry With Paper has some new sets on the way.  This card is made with Stylized Flowers.  See the whole set February 1 at ACWP.

Rose are Red...

I challenged myself to use one of the jumbo grommets that came with the Crop-o-dile II and this ribbon I've had for a long, long time that came in a box of ribbon from Costco.  I drew my inspiration from this ribbon and used the Vintage Valentine set from ACWP to create a flower that sort of mimics the flowers on the ribbon.  So, here is my attempt...lol.  I used the double heart as shown on the bottom right corner and stamped it four times in a circle to create the flower.  I used the larger heart for the leaves.  A big red grommet, that came with the Crop II, and flat-backed pearl, from SU! Pretties kit, create the flower center.  I used a scalloped Nestability to cut the center out of the card front.  The embossed dots were done with the Crop-o-dile.  The card stocks are Whisper White and Real Red, and the inks are Real Red and Green Galore classic inks from Stampin' Up!   Thanks for visiting!

Tiny Treat Box

I just love these little treat boxes!  My upline shared this idea from Leadership.  The lid and box bottom are made with the SU! large oval punch.  You can use any shape punch you like...not too detailed though...a heart would be okay, or a circle or square punch.  Then you cut a one inch wide strip of card stock and score it down the middle at one-half inch.  Cut little snips...like grass...I actually cut out triangles so there is less bulk...and attach the cut edge to one of the ovals to create the lid or bottom sides.  A window sheet or transparency is used for the box sides.  Sorry, I don't have any dimensions because I tend to just cut and put things together "eyeballing it" and using my thumbnail to mark where I need to cut.  I used SU! Real Red cards stock and class ink with ACWP Take 5 Valentine stamp set.  Thanks for looking!

Kit-Kat Pull Treat

Remember this cute presentation of a candy bar?  You can find the tutorial here if you need one.  These are so super easy to make you can whip out a bunch in no time.  I didn't use the dimensions in the tutorial because I wanted it to fit a Kit-Kat and I didn't close the bottom because the Kit-Kat I used is pretty thick and it makes the card stock get weird and puckery...get the picture??  Alter yours as needed to fit the type of bar you are using.  This size of Kit-Kat happens to use a half sheet of card stock - 8-1/2 x 5-1/2...how convenient!
The images and sentiments are from Take 5 Valentine from ACWP stamped in Pixie Pink classic inks from Stampin' Up! The card stocks are Whisper White, Pixie Pink, and Close to Cocoa also from Stampin' Up!  I used my Cuttlebug to dry emboss the heart band and cut out one heart to embellish the front.  The brads are also from Stampin' Up!  The second picture shows the candy bar pulled out and the ribbon detail.  Thanks for visiting!

Everyone Loves a New Purse....

...especially when it's filled with chocolate!  I had to punch some tin with my new Crop-a-dile II, so I pulled one of these hinged tins out of my stash and found out the tin woundn't fit in the Crop II...rrrr...I wanted so bad to use my new toy! (Got it when HSN had their special a few weeks back.)  Ok, so I reached for the old Crop-a-dile and punched my holes.  I punched four holes...see the next picture for hole placement details and how I threaded the ribbon through.  The beads are strung on the ribbon to create the handle and then the ribbon ends are threaded through the two center holes and tied in a bow.  The stamp images are from ACWP's Vintage Valentine set.  I used Stampin' Up! Real Red and Whisper White card stocks, and the Signo Gel pen to dot the red oval.  Ovals were cut with Nestabilities.  I drew the hearts on the window with the Signo.  Thanks for looking!

I Love Groovy Guava!

I really like the color of Groovy Guava...no I love it!  Here it is paired with Green Galore.  I used Stampin' Up! Whisper White card stock, Groovy Guava and Green Galore classic inks, Groovy Guava double-stitched ribbon, and Time Well Spent stamp set.  I used my alcohol markers to color the little plastic pebbles for the flower centers and the flowers and leaves.  These are the pebbles similar to Dew Drops that are available at Michael's.  See Lauren's blog for more details on these.  (Thanks for the find, Lauren!).  I also used a scalloped Nestability to cut out the center of the card.  Dimensionals were used to adhere the flowers to the card.  Sorry this card is out of focus a bit...shoulda put on my glasses!  Thanks for looking!

You Make My Day

A BIG and appreciative thanks to SueR who sent me this badge of honor last week.  The idea is to send it to someone who makes your day with their blog.  There are so many blogs that I try to visit, if not on a daily basis at least weekly, and I'd like to send it to all of them.  In many cases someone has already beat me to it!  With so many awesome papercrafters out there blogging, I can honestly say you all deserve it.  So, pay it forward and send it to someone who makes your day with their blog.  Thanks SueR!!

We Make a Great "Pear" Valentine

I made this Valentine card in non-traditional colors mostly because I am so loving the SU! Groovy Guava/River Rock combination.  (And to think I really didn't care for River Rock when they first introduced it, now I love it!)  The stamps are from A Chemistry With Paper. The ribbon and inks are SU!  I used River Rock classic to stamp the little pears on the background, White craft ink to stamp the little solid pears on the  strip of Groovy Guava, and  I used Wild Wasabe to stamp the main image and the sentiment because I wanted it in a darker shade.  I watercolored the pear and little hearts with the same inks. I took this card outside and propped it up in my lemon tree to take the picture, so part of the Happy in Happy Valentine's Day is hidden behind a leaf.  Hope you like it!
Thanks for stopping by and visiting my blog.  Hope you're having a great MLK holiday weekend!

This One's for Sam!

A little while back, Sam requested that I do something with SU! stamps, so here it is!  It's going to be my swap for our card swap next Saturday.  I know...a WHOLE week early...how did that happen?? Well, here's what happened:  My school's 8th grade parents hosted an all-day Pajama Crop fundraiser for the 8th grade Washington, D.C. trip.  Instead of taking scrapbook things to work on I took my supplies to work on my swap.  Since I needed to make 31 swaps, I thought this would be a good block of time away from the distractions (laundry, dishes, etc.) at home. 

I used all Stampin' Up! supplies and stamp set Time Well Spent.  The card base is River Rock and I scored it on the diagonal, one inch apart, to create a diamond textured background.  It's a little hard to see in the picture, but I stamped the smallest flower from set inside a few random  embossed diamonds in River Rock classic ink.  The heart and the sentiment are stamped and watercolored with Groovy Guava classic ink.  I dotted the flower centers with icicle Stickles (non-SU!) and the ribbon is SU! Groovy Guava.

Thanks for visiting!