Red White and Blue Hello

Isn't this little girl the cutest? I found this stamp in a Craft Store in Ohio when we were there last September for my brother's wedding. We don't have the store near by here, and since it is at least a 10 hour drive to get there, we always make time to stop in and see what is new.
Anyway, I made this card for my Addicted to Cardmaking swap on my Favorite MB. I used my Stampin Write markers in Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, Blush Blossom, and Brocade Blue (I think). The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's "Hello Again". I love how it sort of looks like she is peeking through a window! The background is also embossed with a star folder and my BigShot.

LOL It appears I had the wrong picture there! But It's fixed now! Sorry about that!

Country Flowers

I thought I would share the finished card that I made to show the simple knots below. This is for my card front swap on my Favorite MB, the theme is ribbons. I used a now retired Stampin' Up set called "Country Morning". I stamped the image on watercolor paper and used my Stampin' p markers as well as Classic Ink pads and a blender pen to color the image. The cardstock, paper and ribbon are all stuff I had on hand.

Tying a simple knot

There was some discussion on tying bows and ribbons on my favorite MB. and I thought I'd make a photo tutorial of the way I tie my knots. I love doing them this way. No guess work! AND it uses less ribbon!!!

Step 1 cut a piece of ribbon long enough to fit your card with some to overlap:

Step 2. Adhere the overlap to the back of your card. I like to use masking tape, just to be sure it isn't going anywhere:

Step 3, slide a second piece of ribbon (still attached to the spool - or you can cut a second piece about as long as the first)under the ribbon:

Step 4 "fold" the top piece over the bottom of the "knot" part, a fellow crafter described this as what the Awareness Ribbons look like:

Step 5 tuck the tail of the top piece into the "hole":

Step 6 Pull ribbon tight. If you have a two sided ribbon, like I used, flip the top piece over so you can see the design before you pull it tight:

Here's what it will look like, You can make the tails of the knot longer or shorter according to your preference:

The part I love about this knot, is if the knot isn't where you want it, take a hold of one of the tails and slide it until the knot is where you would like it. If you want shorter tails, just trim them down. You can also pull the tails in a different direction if you'd like.

I hope this helps anyone who was having trouble!

Card Front Swap - Based on a Sketch

These are my card fronts for April's Card Front Swap which I am hosting on my favorite MB. The theme was Based On a Sketch. I took the sketch from StampTV's site and it looks like this:

I decided to flip my card horizontally, abut to still follow the sketch. Here's what I came up with.
I have to say that this may very well be my new favorite technique! It's called Inlaid Embossing.LOVE it! Each of those spirals is individually punched out, adhered to the white piece of cardstock, and then the whole thing is ran through my BigShot with my Square Lattice Embossing folder. I love love love the way it turns out!!! It almost looks like the spirals are patterned paper! I added the sentiment to the Decorative Label punch which I cut in half. So you are able to get two sentiments on each one. I know these colors are bright, but I think that's why they came out so cool!! I was even thinking of this as a birthday card for a teen who is "too cool" for birthdays! You have to try this technique if you haven't already! You will love it!

Addicted to Cardmaking - Friendship

I created these cards for my Addicted to Cardmaking card swap on my favorite MB for March's theme, Friendship. Okay, I am working backwards, but that's okay, at least I am posting right?? I love this little bunny and mouse! Aren't they cute?? I went with purple backgrounds, not sure why, but I liked it with the pink. And I am trying to use up some of the millions of sheets of papers I have weighing down my shelves in my craft room! So I am making a conscience attempt to use patterned paper in my cards whenever possible! I colored the cute little critters with my Stampin' Up Marvelous Markers. I picked some nice bright cheery colors. I really like how it turned out!

Another Blog hop, happening soon!!!

Another great blog hop is happening soon! This time the theme is FROGS!! Don't forget to hop along with us! It will all start on Karel's blog! The Totally Frog Blog Hop April 23-24th! I will be a stop along the way on my other blog found here:
http://ginathorntonstamping.blogspot.com/

Addicted to Cardmaking - Pretty Papers

I know I haven't been posting for a while on this Blog. It's not because I haven't been creating. I have. I have just been lazy and haven't been pulling out the camera like I should be!
I'm going to try to rectify that situation. I am going to start by showing these cards. The theme for April's cards for my Addicted to Cardmaking cards which I host on my favorite MB, is "Pretty Papers". Now granted these are not the prettiest papers I have, but I find that they are challenging! I mean really what more can you say?? Happy Birthday is printed all over the paper! I saw a layout similar to this on display in a chain craft store. There's had paper with buttons all over it, and they tore the paper and stamped a sentiment on the cardstock. I knew I didn't need any more sentiments, so I went instead with an image of some birthday candles. And since those packs of papers that you get come with the same papers in multiple colors, I made a few in each color. I used my Marvelous Markers to color in the image, and I must say I think the colors match pretty well!
I am so glad it's Spring!! I was able to shoot these pictures out in the Pine trees that line my driveway. I looked around for flowers, but alas, they are few and far between here at my house. Now dandelions....we have plenty of those!