Follow Your Bliss…

Rubber Soul, of course!

Here’s a couple more of my designs I created this weekend! More fun with those “Valentine” stamps!

Hi Honey!

This is a rather simple design, but I am pleased that it came out exactly as I planned it! The cardbase is a Fabriano Medioevalis notecard that was “stamped” with bubble wrap. I smooshed my Adirondack butterscotch inkpad on a piece of bubble wrap, then laid it atop my notecard, and pressed. It created this cool “honeycomb” for my honeybee! The chipboard letters are Cosmo Cricket Souvenir, that were colored with my black Copic marker, then covered with black diamond Stickles. They look *way cool* in person! I cut and embossed the tag with my Spellbinders tag die, sponged with a teeny bit of black ink, and added Stickles to the bee’s wings (Honey bee 1684-G).

You Float my Boat

Oh man, when I saw this boat, I couldn’t wait to do some paper piecing on the sail! It’s from the clear polymer set called Love is in the Air. As I was looking through my *NEW* Cosmo Cricket Cogsmo 8×8 paper pack, I saw several solid colors that would work perfectly for sky and water. Then when I saw the striped pattern I knew it would be perfect for the sail! I cut a rectangle of the light blue solid, then freehand cut the 2 layers of waves. I stamped the boat on the water, then again on the striped pattern paper. I cut the sails, black solid boat, and flag, and layered onto the boat already stamped on the water. It’s matted on the solid red paper from the back, and a couple of silver brads were added. The cardbase is Prism mystic medium. To finish it off, I added Stickles to the waves and flag.

As you can see, these stamps are quite versatile, and definitely not just for Valentine’s Day! I hope my “out of the box” designs helped you to see these stamps in a different light!

Thanks for stopping by! I’ve got 4 more cards to share from my weekend stamping spree! Be sure to check back, OK? ~~HUGS!!~~

Hey just a quick reminder that today’s the last day for 15% off your order at Jacksonbelle Embellishments! Use the code Opening02 when you check out to get the discount!

Hey everyone! I hope you’ve all enjoyed your weekend! I got a LOT of design work done Saturday night and most of today. I was able to complete 12 cards, which is unheard of for me! LOL! I got them all photographed and watermarked, too! WOO HOO!

So I bet you’re wondering what the deal is with my subject title, huh? Well, when I am working on multiple designs, I like to limit my focus. I have SOOOO many different patterned papers, which can be pretty overwhelming sometimes. For these Rubber Soul designs, I decided to use my Basic Grey Phoebe 6×6 pad. I hardly used any of this paper when I first got it, so it was nice to flip through the pages and choose the patterns I wanted to use.

Kiss Me!

I had such a blast creating these cards, The fun colors and patterns from this Phoebe pad just made me happy, and they worked so well with Rubber Soul’s images! I had received several Valentines Day stamps at the beginning of February, but due to CHA, I was unable to use them. Now that the holiday is long past, (can you believe it’s almost April? where on Earth does the time go?) I thought it would be fun to show how versatile these stamps really are. These darling giraffes and sentiment are part of a clear polymer set called Love is in the Air. Wouldn’t this make a cute anniversary card?

Supplies: Basic Grey Phoebe, PaperTrey white cardstock, shimmery cryogen white, Adirondack espresso ink, Copic markers (E11, E34, E57, RV34, RV17, W2), Stickles, sponge, sewing machine, white thread, Prima Hydrangea, square blue bling brad (making memories), dimensionals, pop-up glue dot.

Heart Trio Friend

When I work with Rubber Soul stamps, I try to keep things simple. That isn’t easy for me. I love to add a bunch of layers, color, sponge, airbrush, embellish, etc. I used the flower heart (1673-I) stamp for this design, stamped in 3 colors: Adirondack salmon, mountain rose, and juniper. The “friend” is embossed in white. It’s from the Friends (V022) clear polymer set. To add the ribbon (Martha Stewart), I used the craft knife to cut slits at the “f” and “d”. A little stitching, some Bazzill brads, and Stickles finish off the design.

Birthday Smirthday

This sentiment absolutely cracks me UP! LOL! I use this expression all the time…“work shmirk”, “stamping shmamping“. This sentiment is from the Tiny Words (V026) clear polymer set, and I also used the cupcake with cherry (2516-H) stamp . It’s colored with my Copic markers: (E47, E79, YG03, YG17, RV17, RV34, B00). I used cinnamon and star dust Stickles on the cupacke, and some Ranger glossy accents for the cherry. (Prism frosted mint cardbase) YUM!

Love Hearts Trio

Here’s another design using a “Valentine” stamp (love heart 1674-J) that could easily be used for an anniversary card, or just because you want to tell someone you love them. More Phoebe paper, which provided my color palette for the hearts. I used Adirondack citrus, and pool. The hearts are stamped on cryogen white cardstock. I used some of my new SU! silver hardware, as well as a green bling brad, and some stiched grosgrain.

Monkey Laugh

How cute is this monkey? He’s cut and embossed with my oval Nestability die, and matted with an oval scalloped mat. I added a tiny Prima for him to hold, and I used a tiny Queen & Co. brad for the center, and covered it with Stickles. The sentiment is from that same Tiny Words set. Some rough zig zag stitching in the corners finish it off.

Ruffled Feathers

Here’s my last design with this paper pack! This image is from that same clear polymer set Love is in the Air. Those are some funny chickens! LOL! They are colored with my Copics (RV34, RV17, YG03, YG17, YR14, B00). The scalloped border is an EK Success corner punch, used with the corner guard off.

So what do you think? I have more Rubber Soul designs to share with you tomorrow, so be sure to check back! Have a good night!

Oh man am I ever glad it’s Friday!!! I LOVE Fridays! So, I’m sure you’ve noticed over the past couple months, that I have been using Inchies. At first, I didn’t really “get” the whole inchie thing. What would I do with them? What’s so special about them?

Well, after I started making projects with them, it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with them. They are cute, easy and fun to make, and versatile. As you’ve seen on my blog, you can use them individually on a card, or like tiles as a “quad”. You can stack them vertically for taller “tiled” images. You can make darling little magnets, ornaments for little Christmas, Easter, or Halloween trees. There’s no limit!

You can find fun ideas from Inchie Arts, as well as Ellen’s blog and store. Ellen has also created a special blog dedicated specifically to inchies, called Inchie INKlings. Several of us are designing ideas for you on our blogs: Sharon, Cindy, Mish, and Debbie. Also Karen Lockhart has ideas on her website. (click highlighted links to go to these sites!)

Ellen is carrying a really fabulous line of products from Inchie Arts, that make creating these projects a dream! You can see all of the items in Ellen’s store HERE. I really love the black and white inchie squares that are made of museum quality archival matboard. She also carries a pack of 108 precut patterned paper squares, for those that don’t care to cut these small little squares. There’s magnets, pins, glass squares…so MANY cool products. There’s also a Gotta Have it All kit that gives you everything you need to get started.

Here’s a couple inchie magnets I created using the white matboard squares, and magnets from Ellen’s store:

I used Karen Lockhart’s Itty Bitty vase and fishbowl, and colored them with my Copic markers. (for the fishbowl: Y21, T3, B000, B00. for the flowers: Y21, Y38, YR24, R46, R59, BV04, YG17, E77, B000, B00, T3) The vase and fishbowl are covered with Ranger glossy accents. The fish, rocks, and plants were colored with Copic Spica glitter pens, as were the black dots for the background. I matted the inchies with a black scalloped square, created with my Spellbinders Nestability die, then snipped a piece of magnet from the roll, and adhered it to the back. (the magnet is self adhesive on the back-just peel off the protective backing!).

I encourage you to give these Inchies a try. I think once you start playing with them, you will fall in love just as I have! Be sure to link your projects here, so I can come take a peek!

Have a great weekend!

I’m pleased to announce tonight’s 5 lucky winners of my 1yr. anniversary Trudee Treats!

Number 332:

leslie deering

Hi I love your blog you always have nice cards great inspirer!!! This spring I am excited because we are finally able to get a mobility van to do road trips with our little boy who is wheelchair bound so we hope for lots of sunshine to shine on Jacobs face! Thanks for the great blog!!!

Number 297:

Kelly Booth

Congrats on the blog Anniversary…Love checking it all the time!
Would love to be a winner too….

Number 140:

Donna Baker

congratulations, Trudee! These are great goodies thanks for the opportunity. Look forward to seeing the next phase with your career path.

Number 274:

Lisa

Wow, what fantastic blog candy, Congrats on your Anniversary!! Fantastic blog too, BTW!

Number 97:

Jenn

Congratulations on your anniversary Trudee! I hope that each day of the new year brings you closer to realizing your goal. All the best - Jenn

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ladies, I will be emailing you to get your addresses so that I may send out your winnings!!

I’d like to thank all of you for the kind comments you left for me. It blows my mind that 499 of you left comments! Thank you for coming to visit me over the past year. I hope you continue to find this is a place that you can have fun, learn, and be inspired. I’m so glad you’re here with me!

…doot n doo dooooo…here comes the sun and I say…it’s alright! (is that the words? LOL!)

So, now that you will all be singing that song all day with me… I have a card to share!

This design came together in pieces. I wanted to stamp these Lockhart hydrangeas on a quad of 4 white matboard inchies, then separate them to look like tiles. I also wanted to use some of this lovely Memory Box inspire patterned cardstock. The paper allowed me to choose some different colors to use in coloring my image. I used the following Copic markers: BV02, BV04, BV08 (for the blossoms), YR24 (for the berries), BG72 (for the background), G21, G85, G99 (for the leaves and can), E57, E47 (for the can), W4 (for shadows)and 0, the colorless blender to remove some color from the leaves.

Here’s a closeup of the image, also accented with Stickles (naturally, LOL!)

The rest of the card is quite simple. I didn’t want to cover very much of this gorgeous paper, but I felt like the inchie tiles needed some framing. I decided to use my Spellbinders scalloped square die to create an embossed frame. I think it adds “just enough” ~ do you? I finished off the design with some Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie rub ons, and a little aged copper swirly clip (SU!) tied with some moss grosgrain. It’s mounted on a Memory Box vanilla bean notecard.

Just one last reminder that I will be drawing 5 winners tonight around 9:30pm Eastern time! Be sure to scroll down and enter for the Trudee Treats, if you haven’t already!!!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a fabulous day!

While looking through some of my Lockhart stamps, I came across these Four Flowerpots. The checkered border made me think of Mary Engelbreit, so I decided to color it in her trademark bright, fun colors.

Thankful Flowerpots

The image was stamped on shimmery cryogen white cardstock and colored with the following Copic markers: Y21, Y17, R46, R59, YG17, V15, V17, 100 (black). I cut it out, added the “thanks” tab, added some Stickles, and set it aside to dry.

I found this black patterned paper from my Cosmo Cricket Fleuriste 8×8 pad, and machine stitched it to a Rubber Soul california poppy notecard. I like the bit of texture it lends to the clean, crisp design. I added a bright Prima flower and a loop of grosgrain ribbon for the leaf to the lower right corner, then adhered the focal image on dimensionals.

It’s a very simple card, and I hope you enjoy it!! Just another reminder to scroll down and enter in the drawing for my Anniversary Trudee Treats!!

Have a great day!!

Hi Everyone!! Sorry I’ve been away a few days this week. My parents are in town staying with me, so I’ve been enjoying their company! We’re off to the Biltmore Estate for Easter brunch…..YUMMYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!

I have a fun little Easter Basket to share with you. It’s my last project I created for A Walk Down Memory Lane, using the Imaginesce For Peep’s Sake paper.

I got this little basket from the $1 bin at Michael’s several months ago, and thought it’d be perfect for Easter. I adhered the patterned paper to the basket with Ranger glossy accents, and used these fun Imaginesce chipboard shapes with matching stickers for the tag and flower embellishment on the cover. I used my Spellbinders circle Nestability die to cut the paper for the lid, and tied various ribbons on the handle.

Here’s a shot of the inside:

I wish you all a lovely Easter! Don’t forget to scroll down and enter my drawing for Trudee Treats!!!

Thanks for stopping by!! ~~Hugs!~~

Happy Anniversary toooooo meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since I first opened the door to Follow Your Bliss… I had no idea what would come of my creative ramblings, but had hoped to work towards building this “hobby” into a career. I am so proud to say that I am well on my way to having my career in place in this industry. My next milestone will be to leave my current full time job with the bank. I have every faith that this will happen, because I have shared this dream with all of you here. When you vocalize your dreams & wishes, and work to achieve them, the rest seems to fall into place. I encourage all of you to do the same in your lives, and see what happens. You will be amazed! I want to express my sincere thanks to all of you for coming to visit and sharing in my dreams with me. I absolutely LOVE having you here!! {{{Hugs}}}

OK, so enough of my sappy rambling, on with the prezzies!!! WAHOOOOOOOO You are going to flip out. Here’s what we have to give away:

From Hot Off the Press, some alterables by Sara’s Surfaces: 8×8 album, 2-8×8 portfolio, and 2-8 1/2 x 11 portfolio

More Hot Off the Press Citrus papers, flowers, brads, and monograms:

Hot Off the Press fun shaped brads, and 2 little alterable peek-a-boo-pockets:

Cosmo Cricket’s Honey Pie 8×8 paper and matching Blackboard chipboard shapes (from Jacksonbelle’s store!!):

Are we done yet? Hmmmm NOPE!! LOL!!! How about some Copic markers, and some fun ribbon and trims?

I will randomly choose FIVE lucky winners on the evening of Wednesday March 26th. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to be entered for the drawing!! No special rules for your comments, say whatever you wish. Tell me what you’re doing for Easter if you celebrate it, what you’re looking forward to this Spring, what you’ve enjoyed about my blog this past year….anything goes!

Thanks so much for your support this past year, and I look forward to more exciting things to come this year, as Serendipity takes charge.

Hello there! Hope you all had a nice St. Patrick’s Day! I was happy to have two of my favorite TV shows begin last night: Dancing With the Stars, and The Bachelor! WOO HOO!! I must say, both shows have some serious eye-candy on them this season! LOL! That British Bachelor is a hottie! PHEW!

OK back to cardmaking… I have been having fun playing with these new Lockhart images, and have developed a love for sweet little Dottie Bunny, Ellen’s Stamp of the Month.

I left the sentiment off of this card, because I wanted to show how versatile this image is. Yes, since we are close to Easter, that is an obvious choice. But let’s think out of the box–wouldn’t this make an adorable baby girl card? Or change the colors to blue for a baby boy? How about a Spring-y congratulations card that says “I’m so hoppy for you” on the inside? Change the colors for any season. When you begin to think out of the box, this image is quite versatile!

I used more new Memory Box patterned cardstock~ this time Sprout. I seriously love the colors and patterns of this collection. I cut and embossed the swirly pattern with my oval Nestability die, then cut and embossed the green polka dot pattern. I used the die to cut a little less than half of the oval, then snipped it with my paper snips to create the grass.

Dottie was stamped on shimmery cryogen white cardstock, then colored with my Copic markers, cut out, and adhered on dimensionals. I used my Martha Stewart border punch for the striped paper, and adhered it to a Memory Box cotton candy notecard. Some Dew Drops, Stickles on Dotties spots, and rick rack finish off the design. Rick rack was custom colored with my Copics.

I’m so hoppy you came to visit! Have a great day!!!