Follow Your Bliss…

As I was creating some samples for Rubber Soul & Wordsworth last night, I reached for my pack of Arturo notecards. It occurred to me that I never used them for my Friday Favorite entry! So, today I want to tell you about these gorgeous notecards!

This line of fine Italian stationery is designed exclusively by Cartiera Magnani, handmade from 100% cotton. This company is over 600 years old, and supplies some of Europe’s royal families and governments. As an interesting fact, Napoleon Bonaparte selected this mill to create a specially watermarked paper for his wedding announcement! They also produce the Fabriano Medioevalis line of notecards, which you all might be familiar with.

Arturo and Fabriano have a perfect weight, and a soft, deckled edge which gives it a hand-torn effect. The texture of this paper is similar to a watercolor paper-it is not ultrasmooth. Since it has this beautiful texture, it is an excellent choice for watercoloring! It is hands down the most luxurious paper I have ever touched.

It is available in 8 colors: white, soft white, buttercream, lavender, celadon, pale blue, pale pink, and stone grey. I purchase my colored Arturo through Ellen Hutson —> HERE. For my Fabriano cards, I buy them from Cindy Lyles in her store—>HERE.

Here’s one more design I created last night, using the same Rubber Soul set in today’s earlier entry. It features a pale blue Arturo notecard, Copic markers, Stickles, May Arts ribbon, and WeRMK hardware!

Check out some of my other designs using these beautiful notecards:

Girly & Pearly, So Kind, Wishing You Well, Many Thanks, With Sympathy.

I encourage you to buy a pack of these notecards, and give them a try! Since Ellen is having her sale this weekend, now is the perfect time!

Have a fabulous weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by!!!

How about a little change of pace from Christmas? I just love this clear stamp set from Rubber Soul, called Flower Shop. Both of these cards use that set, as well as some Memory Box notecards, and Memory Box Sugar 6×6 patterned cardstock.

Live, Love, Laugh

Don’t you just love this little flower in the vase? I think it’s just so cute! Image colored with Copic markers, & accented with Stickles, and Dew Drops. I also LOVE these words from the Wordsworth Tiny Words set!

Cheerful Bouquet

This set of flowers comes with the stems and individual blossoms. I love that you can choose which flowers to go where. In this case, I stamped the daisy, then cut it out with the smallest Spellbinders Nestability oval die and popped it up on a dimensional.

Some easy coloring with my Copics, a bit of airbrushing, Spellbinders rectangle dies, and some Stickles make a fun, cheerful card! Spellbinders, Dew Drops, Copic, and airbrush system all available from Ellen HERE.

Don’t forget!!! Today is the start of Ellen’s BIG SALE!!! You will find this info on her home page HERE :

Friday, November 30th through December 2nd will be a special STOREWIDE SALE. This means that Friday, November 30th at 12:01am PST everything in our store will be 15% off. During these three days please enter the promo code: CELEBRATE when you arrive at the check-out window to receive this special pricing. You will notice that the discount will apply directly to each item and not one lump sum at the end of your invoice when you enter the code. Sale prices do not show up until the code is entered.

Happy Shopping!! I will be back in a few with my Friday Favorite entry!!!

Holy Cannoli!!! RUN!!!! this hardware is on sale for only 14.98!! Click here—-> WeRMK Sale

Check out my review HERE.  You can thank me later

Hello!! I decided to join in on the WT142 challenge this week on SCS…metallic papers! I haven’t used them in a little while, so I thought I would keep them monochromatic for maximum impact. I used some of my favorite Lockhart images: Harvest Angel, Packages, and Sweet Treat Stocking.

Gold Package Trio

This design uses SU! brushed gold and poison ivory cardstock. The packages were embossed with detail gold EP, and cut, embossed and matted with my rectangle Spellbinders Nestability dies. I used one of Ellen’s tricks to add some simple elegance to the card by adding some scored lines with my Scor-it board. The dots on the packages were highlighted with a gold Copic Spica glitter pen, and the sentiment is a Cosmo Cricket rub-on. A gold Dew Drop finishes off the design.

Silver Stocking

For this silver design, I wanted to give the feel of punched tin. It uses SU! brushed silver and cryogen white cardstocks. Stocking is embossed with SU! detail silver EP. More detail added with my Scor-it board, and my Ornare piercing templates. A simple silver organdy ribbon with silver cord completes the simple, clean design.

Copper Angel

Saving my favorite for last! You all know how much I adore Copper, don’tcha? **nodding head** This design features SU! brushed copper, poison ivory, and the SU! retired Copper Kiss vellum. The angel is embossed with the retired SU! copper EP, and the sentiment is a Cosmo Cricket rub-on transfer. Keeping it simple, I added some detail with the corner punch and copper cord.

I hope you enjoyed today’s simple designs! Some metallic cardstock and embossing can really make your Holiday cards special. Take the challenge today, and show me what you’ve done!

I’ll finish today’s entry with some fabulous enabling! You MUST check out Ellen’s blog HERE to see what she is cooking up for her one year anniversary! Time flies when you’re having fun!! Can you say SALE!?!?!?! WOO HOO!!! 15% off everything in her store sounds good to me! Hop on over and check it out. You’ll also want to be sure you enter her giveaway on the November 27th post!!! OMG, Nestability HEARTS!!!

I saw this on my friend Sue’s blog, and wanted to share it with you! According to this, I am right brained, which confirms what I knew.

Check it out, and tell me what you are!!

Click here—-> Right or Left Brained? 

Hello!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! I know I did!

I wanted to share this month’s designs that I created using the High Hellos set by Lizzie Anne Designs. I was able to create all of these in a couple hours this afternoon, thanks to Jen’s sketch challenge HERE! Thanks for the inspiration, Jen! I made one card exactly like the sketch, then used the same general idea to make the other three cards.

Topiary Birthday

Supplies:

Cardstock: caribbean, celery, choc chip, olive, cryogen white, basic grey mellow. Ink: craft white, ranger pitch black. Stamps: high hellos, sketched sentiments (LAD), Accessories: grosgrain ribbon, heidi swapp flower jewels, silver brad, stickles, Copic markers, word window punch, foam dimensionals.

Rocket Birthday

The blue colored shimmer from this virtual pearl cardstock makes the rocket look all blue in the photo, but it’s actually blue and green.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Prism nautical blue light, sunflowers medium, basic grey oh baby boy, cryogen virtual pearl, wasabi. Ink: ranger pitch black. Stamps: high hellos (LAD). Accessories: build a brad, 1/2″ punch, sewing machine, white thread, triangle eyelets, may arts ribbon, stickles, dimensionals, Copic markers.

Figgy Stack of Gifts

Supplies:

Cardstock: cranberry, cryogen white, basic grey figgy pudding. Ink: ranger pitch black, SU! olive, celery, cranberry, caribbean, cocoa. Stamps: high hellos, just words (LAD). Accessories: matte brads, snowflake bling, choc taffeta ribbon, stickles, W3 Copic marker, dimensionals.

Daisy Friend

The 2 flowers on each side are popped up on dimensionals.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Prism iced kiwi, black. cryogen white. Stamps: high hellos, just words (LAD). Ink: ranger pitch black, gable green. Accessories: Copic markers, sewing machine, white thread, dimensionals, stickles, word window punch, hero arts pink bling.

I hope you enjoyed these 4 designs today! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday evening, and thanks for stopping by! HUGS!!

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday, filled with family, friends, love, and laughter! Oh, and yummy food, too!! LOL!

I told you that I would be using more of my spectrum pads with my Thomas Kinkade images! I think this one might be my favorite so far, using the retired SU! Late November pad. It’s a birthday card for my Dad, who’s special day is next week!

Late November Fisherman

This Thomas Kinkade image by Cornish Heritage Farms, “It Doesn’t get much Better“, reminds me so much of my Dad, who is an avid outdoorsman. I just knew I would use this for his birthday card this year! As with my other spectrum designs, I used my rubber brayer to ink the image. It’s stamped on SU! vanilla, which has such a smooth finish. It really helped to bring out the detail.

I paired this masculine design with the CHF Burlap backgrounder, and my new fabulous Prism cardstock, in Spring Willow Dark and Suede Brown Dark. I absolutely LOVE the texture that was achieved using the backgrounder on the textured cardstock. In person, it just begs to be touched!

To highlight the fisherman, I used my copper WeRMK hardware, attached with mini glue dots, then I covered the holes with knotted hemp. A little faux stitching in the corners, PaperTrey sentiment, and some glitter on the water completes the design.

I hope Dad likes his card when he receives it!!

I hope you all had a great weekend! I am looking forward to the short week, and then Thanksgiving dinner. YUMMY!

Sending Joy

Here’s a fun, clean design using Karen Lockhart’s Christmas Light and Ribbon of Lights.

I stamped the images on Cryogen white, then colored with my Copic markers. I cut and embossed the oval with my Spellbinders die, then airbrushed some warm yellow around the lightbulb. I stamped the sentiment, (PaperTrey) then matted it with a scalloped black panel. I love the way Debbie has been tying her ribbon, so I tried it on this card. I really like the way the ribbon looks. Thanks for your inspiration, Deb! I added Stickles to the small lights, and the highlight of the bigger bulb, then covered it with Crystal Effects, and set aside to dry overnight.

For a finishing touch, I added 3 olive colored Dew Drops. A few of you asked if these would be OK to send through the mail. I don’t think it would be a problem. When I mail cards with brads, etc. I cut a panel of SU! white to standard size, and lay that on top of the card before I slide it in the envelope. It makes it less bumpy in the envelope. Hope that helps!

Have a great day today! Check back tomorrow for another spectrum Kinkade design.

Check out Jacksonbelle Embellishments!!!!!!!

All Prima, Basic Grey, Around the Block, Queen and Co and Websters Pages are all 30% off through the weekend!!

WOO HOO!!! Thanks Lindsey!!!!