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Artist Trading Cards from the Archive

Happy Friday!  I can't believe it's already the last day of 2010!  It's been a year of blessing and stretching and growth for me and I'm both glad to cross this last day off the calendar and a little misty-eyed to look back on all that 2010 has brought.  But I've got such a sense of hope for 2011 and am so excited to see where it leads!


Today, I thought I'd share a couple little ATC's I made a while ago for a TCP {The Cat's Pajamas} swap I was in and just realized I never shared here.  The first one was a prototype that didn't make the mass production cut - mainly because it was too much coloring for this coloring challenged girl!  LOL  I still love how it turned out, though!

I stamped the bunny from Birthday Bunny in A Muse Black ink, then colored with Copics.  The sentiment is from the Blow set and stamped in red, then I hand drew a little frame on an oval, using the oval Nestie as a stencil.  A sweet little heart rhinestone on the packages and some red rhinestones (both from Pizzazz Aplenty) add a little sparkle, and I finished off with some gingham ribbon and a little photo corner.

PJ the Bear was the ATC that I created for the swap.  It uses my favorite TCP set, A Beary Good Year.  I stamped PJ the Bear on brown paper bag cardstock, then  stamped the different pieces and parts on brown paper bag and kraft cardstock, then cut out and popped up, adding the sweet little java cup in his left hand.  The sentiment is stamped onto  Cosmo Cricket paper, although it's been too long to remember which collection!  I added some stitching, espresso mats, and a bit of stitched ruffled red taffeta behind the sentiment, then accented with a bit of red stickles and some more red rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  And thanks from the bottom of my heart for all your kind and encouraging words this year!  Have a happy new year!!!
-Julee

Holiday Treats

Happy Thursday!  Today I'm sharing with you some treat bags I made and finished with just enough time to photograph and pile them into the car for our Christmas Eve celebration with family!  The photos have sat untouched in the camera since then, and just this morning I realized I never posted them.  Oh well, the concept is just as good for Valentine's day, birthdays, etc. just update the papers and the embellishments and away you go!

There's the group shot and I'll show some close-ups below of my favorite designs.  For the treat bags, I used the Fancy Bag #2 Cutting Files from Kelleigh Ratzlaff and cut them out with my Cricut and SCAL software.  The papers were from my Christmas stash - a mixture of Echo Park Merry Christmas Collection and Fancy Pants, I think.


To embellish, I just used some inexpensive curling ribbon from our gift wrapping stash, then cut the Snowflake die from TCP in cream and punched a Martha Stewart large snowflake from some glittery red paper, and layered over the curling ribbon and adhered with Zip Dry so it would stay put.

The tag is a die cut from Spellbinders and I stamped the Holiday JOY sentiment from Holiday Phrases  {currently 50% off through 12/31!} in Cherry Cobbler then clipped on with a library clip from SU!  The clip does dual duty of keeping the bag closed as well!  I filled each bag with a mixture of holiday chocolates and was ready to go!

Hope you enjoyed this little project!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cupcake Mojo

Happy Wednesday!  I've been crazy busy this week, but I thought I'd pop in and change up the scenery!  I did squeeze in a little time the other night to test out this week's Mojo Monday sketch, so here goes...

My card uses one of my favorite sets from 2010, Carpe Cupcake (currently 50% off), and some new Fairy Flora paper from Fancy Pants.  I paper pieced the cupcake onto a white circle, then added some liquid pearl accents and a little glitter on the frosting.   The sentiment is stamped on a Labels 1 die cut, then embossed with iridescent ice and one of the sprinkles stamps from the set (although I'm not sure you can see it in the photo).  I added a little Maya Road flower trim and some cute little star stick pins behind the cupcake.  Each square is matted with kraft and accented with some liquid pearls in the corner.  To finish off with just a bit more flair, I added three teardrop rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty to the right of the circle.  I just love the look of them!  I then just glued the whole thing to a white card base, punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.

When I showed this card to Mark to see what he thought of it, he absolutely loved the colors.  In fact, he said they'd be great for interior decorating.  I love that man!  I can just see our next house all decked out with aqua, green and kraft!  :)

Okay, that's all for today!  Don't forget Verve's year end clearance sale going on through Friday, 12/31!  Everything is marked down either 15%, 35% or 50%, so there are lots of bargains to be had!


 Thanks so much for stopping by today! 

Sweet and Simple Gift Card Set

Happy Monday!  Did y'all have a Merry Christmas?   It seems like I've been busy every spare moment of the past several weeks and I'm looking forward to a few days of downtime this week before we head into the new year.  There's a new Mojo Monday sketch over on the blog today, so hop on over there to check it out and play along!  I didn't have time to make a sample, but I'm hoping to get to it later in the week.

We've also kicked off our year end clearance sale at Verve!  Everything's either 15%, 35% or 50% off December 26 - 31!

Today, in lieu of a Mojo Monday card, I'm sharing a clean & simple little gift card set I made my Grandma for Christmas.  It was fun to pull out some older stamps and just create!

The cards themselves are fairly simple.  For the first design I stamped the larger butterfly from Blue Skies on a trimmed down fabriano note card, then another butterfly on some K & Company patterned paper, to cut out and pop up. 

The second design uses The flower from Great Friend, which I also cut one layer to pop up, then accented the butterflies and flower centers with a mixture of diamond glaze and glitter.  The sentiment on each card is Birthday Blessings, from the Blessings set.  The plum layers are all embossed with the damask embossing folder, then matted on ivory cardstock and accented with a bit of ribbon.  I didn't take a photo of it, but I used the Happy Birthday plain jane for the inside of each card.


For the box, I just adhered a piece of embossed patterned paper to a crystal clear card box with Zip Dry.  Next I stamped the Sweet Scallop Tag Frame in Perfect Plum, then cut out with the Sweet Scallop Die.  The to/from sentiment is from Glad Tidings and I added the small butterfly from the Blue Skies set to finish off the tag.  Then tied it on with some May Arts ribbon, silver cording and a small little flower.
Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a fantastic start to your week!

Shabby Smiles

Merry Christmas Eve!  Are you done with all your holiday prep?  I'm nowhere close, but that's kind of par for the course - I've always been a last minute kind of gal!  :)  I've still got a ton of baking and a bit of stamping to do before the holiday shuffle starts this evening, so I better get moving!  Today's card uses the week 4 December Viva la Verve! sketch created by this week's hostess, Teresa Kline.  Play along in all 4 of the December sketches and you'll have a chance at winning Verve's entire January release!  And I'm just going to warn you, the January stamps are some of my all-time faves!!!  To make it easy on you, I've even created a printable PDF of all of this month's sketches. You have until next Thursday night {Dec. 30} to play along!

The theme for this month's Viva la Verve! is Ornaments & Winter Decor.  My inspiration came from this gorgeous little shabby chic tree from Illusive Swan on Etsy.  One of my stamping goals for 2010 was to become more comfortable with creating the shabby chic style I so admire.  I think I've definitely improved over the year, mainly due to all the inspiration I find over on Etsy!  Not sure if my wallet has improved, though!  LOL

Anyhow, I wanted a break from Christmas projects and have been wanting to use this My Mind's Eye Tickled Pink paper that has been sitting on my desk for a couple months now.  So I pulled out Blue Skies and made a cheery little card, complete with glitzy butterflies and some shabby wrinkled ribbon.  I accented the butterflies with chocolate pearls and the Inside Pinking die border and Labels 10 shape with light pink pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.  A turquoise paper rose and some Maya Road heart shaped pins finish it off.

Okay, that's all from me this fine Christmas Eve morning!  I wish you all the happiest of holidays, filled with love, laughter and wonderment!

Playing in the Studio

Happy Wednesday! Don't tell Santa, but a "few" recent craft purchases have been piling up on my desk and yesterday I took the liberty of pulling stuff out and just playing for a bit. I didn't plan things out, just wanted to touch and feel all the new goodies!!! And before I knew it, this card had grown into gargantuan proportions! LOL It's okay, though, since a majority of my cards are tucked inside packages or hand delivered, an envelope isn't necessary! :) Weighing in at 4.25" x 7" and just under an ounce, this card is definitely in the heavyweight class! {grin}

I've been eagerly anticipating the arrival of my backordered Vintage Ornaments from Waltzingmouse Stamps, so they were the first thing I pulled out. I stamped the ornament in Wild Wasabi, then again in Cherry Cobbler and cut out just the Oval center to pop up. The snowflake is from the Glad Tidings set, and I embossed it in clear on ivory paper, then brayered Wild Wasabi over it, and accented with a green frosted pearl from Pizzazz Aplenty. The sentiment flag is also from the Glad Tidings set and tucked under the snowflake. The Woodland Walk papers from SU! seemed to match the ornament really well, so I cut a border with the Big Scallop die from TCP, then added a bit of lace and layered over some Holly Jolly My Mind's Eye paper that was embossed with an SU! embossing folder.

Next up, I wanted to add some jingle bells. After discussing the rusty jingle bells at our release party earlier this month, I went directly to Frost it Pink to order some for my very own. I just love the rusty, aged look of them, and decided to tie them around a bit of cherry cobbler seam binding for a fun little accent. And just because I could, I added this extra long pearl accent that was sitting in my stash, to pump up the flair!!!

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of my new toys in action. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a fabulous rest of your day!

Dream Big

Hi there!  Thanks so much for all your warm anniversary wishes yesterday!  Mark and I had a wonderful anniversary dinner (fondue at the Melting Pot) and I even squeezed in a little time to stamp just for fun!  Hooray!  Today's card uses Amy's sketch for this week's Viva la Verve! challenge.  Someone who plays along with all 4 sketches this month will win the entire January release!!!


So, as I mentioned, I had a little free time just to stamp yesterday with no guilt steering me any one direction.  When I went to pick out a stamp set, Dream Big just popped out at me.  I was listening to a podcast the other day and the pastor said that a negative person can't believe that the best could happen, so they always expect the worst.  Now, I wouldn't consider myself a negative person, but I think we all get disheartened every once in a while, start listening to all the negativity in the world, and stop expecting the best.  But I do have big dreams, hopes and plans for myself, my business and my friends and it costs me nothing to believe the best will happen in any situation, to believe the best in a person or even to believe the best of myself.  So for any of you who feel downtrodden, disheartened or hopeless this morning, this card is for you!  DREAM BIG and expect the best!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope your day exceeds your wildest expectations!!!

Card Deets...
Stamps:  Dream Big (Verve)
Paper: Kaisercraft DP, Black, Ivory
Ink: Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler (SU!)
Accessories:  Paisley embossing folder, polka dot ribbon, linen thread (TCP), Sparkler (Webster's Pages), Circle Nestaiblities (Spellbinders)

Adore

Happy Monday!  This is a very special day for me.  It's the day I married my best friend, the love of my life, my soul mate.  After 13 magical years together my knees still go weak when he walks into the room.  And I still thank God each day that He gave me this perfect match.  Mark triumphs in my successes and carries me when I'm too weak to stand alone.  He pushes me to be the best I can be and picks up the slack when I fall short.  He's my # 1 fan and I couldn't imagine my life without him.  My life is truly blessed and I am a better person for knowing him!  So this card is for the man I adore... my husband, Mark.
 
The layout is this week's Mojo sketch {Mojo170} and I knew I wanted to pull out this Lost & Found paper I've been hoarding.  It's vintage and masculine, but still swirly and beautiful, too!  :)  I started by cutting the paper so the ADORE part of it would show, then I stamped a couple hearts from the Text Objects set on dp, cut out and used the scraps to make a fan, by scoring every 1/4" and folding accordion style like a rosette, but leaving unfinished like a fan.  I stamped the sentiment from Text Objects inside the stamped Vintage Oval Frame, then added some german glass glitter from the Holiday Glitzy pack by TCP around the frame and on the prima flower.  It's so sparkly!!!  There's a bit of brown lace underneath all that and I gave everything a good sponging with some Vintage Photo distress ink.

Well, there you have it!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to head on over to the Mojo Monday blog for this week's sketch!  Have a fantastic day!

Love Life

Hi there!  Happy Friday!  Sorry I've been neglecting the old blog this week.  Laurie came to visit for a few days and we were so busy giggling and shopping and watching movies that I never had a spare moment to post.  So here I am on Friday afternoon, posting the card I had planned to post Tuesday!  :)

My card uses the new Text Objects set, featuring the Gandhi quote, "Where there is love there is life."  That is so true, isn't it?  The world just comes alive when we're in the presence of love.  Whether it's the love of my sweetheart (our 13th anniversary is on Monday so I'm feeling a little sentimental) or the love and support of dear friends, I count myself truly blessed to be living and loving life!

The paper on this card is from the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 collection.  I stamped the background and matching quote stamp from Text Objects directly on the dotted paper.  The hearts are stamped, cut out, and then I hand trimmed black mats for them.  The little horizontal border is the fabulous new Apron Border die from The Cat's Pajamas.  I also stamped the LOVE stamp in Baja Breeze on a circle, then the scripted life over the top in black and matted with the TCP Snowflake die, adding a few Jade Ice flatback pearl accents from Pizzazz Aplenty to set things off.

Okay, that's all from me today.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Joyeux Noel

Welcome to another week! The weekend flew by and now it's time to start the week off with a Mojo Monday sketch. This one's a sketch I designed earlier this year for a Verve release and made a few modifications to for this week's Mojo 169. I thought the horizontal panel in the sketch was a perfect fit for the frame in Fabulous You and since the snowflakes in Glad Tidings coordinate with that frame, I thought I'd pair them together on my card.

I started by stamping the frame and snowflake in Cherry cobbler, then trimming out and rounding the corners of the frame and aging with a little Antique Linen distress ink. The snowflake is popped up over a couple cream circles embossed with the Swiss Dots folder and edged with a bit of Champagne Glitz Stickles.

The papers are from the Bo Bunny Noel collection, and I did a little faux stitching around the vertical panel. I accented with a bit of cherry cobbler seam binding ruffled across the panel and a super sparkly gold star. Then I finished off with the Joyeux Noel sentiment from Glad Tidings.

Okay, that's all from me this fine Monday morning.  If you can believe it, I'm STILL trying to get over that no good, very bad cold.  This year's strain is a doozy!  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fabulous start to your week!

Birthday Sparkle

Hi Everyone!  Happy Wednesday!  I've still been down and out with a cold, but I thought I'd pop in and quickly change the scenery to another bright, cheery card I made this weekend.  This one features the new set Amazing Wishes.


I found some scraps of Bo Bunny Valentine paper from last year when I was putting away some new Valentine paper I just bought, so I set it aside to use.  I stamped the large and small flower from Amazing Wishes several times in Cherry Cobbler on the pink patterned paper, then cut out, painted with a mixture of glitter and diamond glaze and then layered with dimensionals using some super cool red frosted pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty to accent the centers.  I stamped the Vintage Oval Frame in Cherry Cobbler on white cardstock and cut out with the Vintage Oval Die, then decided it was too white against the almost-but-not-quite-white designer paper.  So I cut another Vintage Oval out of vellum, layered it over the top, embossed the sentiment from Amazing Wishes in Cherry Cobbler, then outlined the frame with some pink liquid pearls.  The edges are done with a Martha Stewart Border punch and I added a row of Swarovski Crystals from Pizzazz Aplenty and some May Arts pink ruffly ribbon to finish it off.  Not sure if you can see all the sparkle in the photo, but this card positively shimmers in real life!  :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Oh, and before I go... just a little reminder that if you're wanting a chance to be the next Verve Guest Diva, the deadline for entry in our Triple Play Project Parade is tomorrow night,  {12/9/10}!!!

Hi There!

How was your weekend?  Mark decided he needed to share his terrible, no-good, very bad cold, so I spent most of the weekend on the couch, with a Kleenex box, drinking about 50 pots of hot tea to soothe my throat and cough!  LOL  But I did leave the couch for long enough to make a card.  After all the dreary snow and rain we've been having, I wanted something cheery and bright as a pick me up, so I pulled out this fabulous new Little Boy paper from Echo Park and had some fun.

It's the first Monday of the month, and that means it's a contest week over at Mojo Monday!  Play along with this week's sketch {Mojo168} for a chance to win some Verve!   I knew I wanted to pair the sailboat paper in the collection with the sailboat from Text Objects, so I made that my square and paper pieced the sails and bottom.  I pulled out my sewing machine, fought with it for quite a while before I realized the thread wasn't looped through the little thingy that goes up and down, then sewed (not well I might add) a border around the sailboat and the sailboat paper.  Next I stamped the small heart from Text Objects on two different patterns of paper, cut out and layered over the sailboat panel. 

The little sentiment is from the Wordy Birds set and I stamped it in Early Espresso Craft ink then embossed in clear, finishing it by cutting some little tails to tuck behind the big jumbo grommet.  I tied a knot in some white twill, then added the grommet over the top and glued to my paper.  I finished off with some heart stick pins and some super fun turquoise frosted flatback pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.   The photo doesn't really do them justice... they're kind of like an opaque dew drops with a frosty luster to them.  So pretty and unique!

Okay, that's all from me.  Be sure to tune in to the Verve Blog for the last installment in our Triple Play Project Parade!  Have a fabulous start to your week and thanks for stopping by!

Saturday SMILES

Hi there!  Happy Saturday!  Last night I had a blast at our release party.  For once, I was ahead enough to actually get to chat for a bit instead of scrambling to finish the website at the last minute!  LOL  Anyhow, if you haven't heard, the new sets are available in the Verve store now.  Plus all of our new release stamps are 15% off through December 31!  No pack to buy, just a good old fashioned deal on the new stuff! {grin}

My card today features the Wild Flower plain jane.  This bold flower is just a bit on the wild side and I like it!  :)  When I first showed the image to Mark he thought it would be great for Christmas and well, I like the way he thinks, so I turned it into a Christmas thank you card, adding a portion of a sentiment from Amazing Wishes

I started by stamping the flower in real red on white cardstock four times.  Then I trimmed around three of the flowers and trimmed the inner portion of the fourth to pop up for some dimension.  The centers are glitzed up with some Stardust Stickles.  Then it was a matter of distressing some baja breeze, black and white papers with the Music Sheet Texture Fade folder and my new Heart Attack distressing tool.  I finished off with some black ribbon, a vintage brad, some little silver bells and some 2mm light sapphire rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Okay, that's all from me today!  Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous weekend!

Sail Away - Hopping with the Divas

Hi there!  Happy FRIDAY!  And not only is it Friday, but it's a release night at Verve!  Hooray!  We'll be chatting it up, revealing the sets and having some good old fashioned virtual fun over in the Release Party Thread tonight (12/3} starting at 9PM Eastern!  I hope to see you there!


Today the divas are putting on another hop, previewing a set called Text Objects, but if you missed yesterday's hop, be sure to check out the link list in my sidebar for a chance to win.  One lucky commenter along each day's hop will win the sets we're previewing that day!!!  So c'mon and be a chatty Cathy, we won't bite!  Oh, and there's still one week left to get your Triple Play project parade entries in for a chance to be our January Guest Diva!


So what can I say about Text Objects?  It's designed around a little concept that Jen del Muro cooked up and emailed me about.  Text-style background strips with coordinating sentiment stamps.  Mix and match the 4" wide backgrounds (all focused around love and friendship) for a unique background every time, or simply repeat to achieve that trendy text-style look that's all the rage right now.  There's even a few whimsical images thrown in to round out the set!  Be sure to check out all the stops along the hop today to see what each of the Divas came up with!

For my card, I started by cutting a wave background with the TCP Wave die on some Pink Paislee Cupid Collection paper.  Next up I stamped the background repeatedly on ivory paper in Tumbled Glass ink, then layered these together and cut a circle.  Next i stamped the boat and paper pieced the parts over the wave on dimensionals.  The coordinating sentiment, "There are big ships and small ships. But the best ship of all is friendship." is stamped on a classic circle, then lightly sponged with Tumbled Glass ink and matted on a kraft circle with hand drawn stitching.  For the base of the card, I stamped the same background strip repeatedly in VersaMark, then embossed in clear and sponged Tumbled Glass ink over it for a resist effect.  I finished off with some ruffled cherry cobbler seam binding ribbon, a clip and two gorgeous, super shiny cranberry flatback pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.  I just received some of these yesterday and they're the prettiest red pearl I've ever seen!  Makes my heart HAPPY!


Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to leave some comments along the hop for a chance to win today's set!  Deadline for comment entries is 8PM Eastern tonight.

Here's today's official hop list...
  1. Julee
  2. Laurie
  3. Susan
  4. Tosh
  5. Jen d.
  6. Charmaine
  7. Jen T.
  8. Shannan
  1. Lynda
  2. Michelle
  3. Amy
  4. Teresa
  5. Jackie
  6. Sankari
  7. Mercy

PPA Challenge and New Release Spotlight

Happy Thursday!  Today I've got so much to cheer about!  First off, I'm the celebrity stamper for this week's color challenge over on the Pals Paper Arts blog!  Their challenges are always sophisticated and sassy and I am so honored to have the chance to play along with them this week!  And I was super excited when I saw the challenge colors - I've got a thing for green lately, especially Pear Pizazz, and pairing it with Early Espresso and Regal Rose is positively delicious!

So what do you think?  Did you spy some new Verve in there?  Today is also the kick-off to Verve's new release spotlight hops and I'm the first stop!  Check my sidebar for the master hop list to see all the Diva creations and have a chance at winning today's sets!


For my card, I snuck in a little text background from a set we'll be showing tomorrow, stamping it repeatedly in Pear Pizazz for the background.  Next up I stamped the small bird from Wordy Birds onto an SU! Decorative Label Punch, then added the sentiment from the same set in Regal Rose and added some layers to the bird and wing for some dimension, coloring him lightly with a blender pen and some Early Espresso and Regal Rose ink.  The hearts are from the SU! Heart to Heart punch, and I punched them on some old patterns pack paper, then sponged lightly around the edges and added some dazzling diamonds with a glue pen.  The stripey background piece is from the SU! Neutrals Patterns pad and I punched the scallop trim border up top for some pizazz.

The flower pieces come from the Amazing Wishes set, and I stamped them on the same designer paper, then cut out and layered with dimensionals and a sending love epoxy brad.  The leafy branches are cut with the Swirls Scribbles die and I added a little dazzling diamonds for some glitz and finished off with a bit of pear pizazz twill.

Okay, that's all from me today.  Next up on the hop is....  Mercy!  And I hope you'll play along with the PPA challenge {PPA71} this week!  These colors are just fabulous and I can't wait to see what you create!  And be sure to tune in right here tomorrow morning for another Verve new release spotlight hop, as we countdown to tomorrow night's release!!!!