VivLyn Designs

Cards for a Summer Card Swap

I signed up for a Summer Card Swap on the vintage side of blogland! I thought it would be fun to see what everyone created since these aren't the normal card making people, but they are all very creative! I am anxious to see what these talented women come up with. A couple of the gals have posted their finished cards on their blog and they are really nice, so I am really looking forward to seeing the rest of them. Wanda, I am posting these for you!!

This is the card I made. Actually the swap is unlike the standard card swaps I've been in from SCS where all the cards need to be the same. These could all be different or whatever we wanted. I chose to use the same layout and image on all 12 of mine. I made 3 of each in the green and the blue shown here and also 3 each of a lilac and a pink. The image is from Rubbernecker and the Merci is from a Flourishes set (can't remember the name...sorry). I used my new heart Nesties to cut them out since it seemed more romantic and went along with my French theme. The image and sentiment were all stamped with Palette Noir Black on PTI Select White cardstock. They are colored with Copics and then went over them with Twinkling H2o's, the flowers down the front the jewelry and the piece at the waist all have MS glitter on them. I added a little rhinestone for the purse latch and also one on the tag. I masked the lady and stamped French script from CHF in the background and went around the outside with Ranger Distress Ink in a matching or, close to it, shade. We had to include envelopes, so I used a Cavellini French set I had and stamped the Eiffel Tower in Palette Hybrid Charcoal on the envelope. The flowers were all spritzed with Glimmer Mist, so it would tone down the brightness a wee bit. I added a ribbon where the two pieces of patterned paper came together. The paper is Lily Kate from Basic Grey. It was nice to be able to use a lot of things I already had on hand.

I left the inside blank, so you could write your thank you inside. This was the first card swap I've been in in quite a while and it was fun.  They will be going out in the mail tomorrow and I think this is the first time ever I've been done a week or so before the deadline! LOL I hope the recipients like these.

I picked the first grape tomato off my plant on the porch. Somehow it didn't quite taste the same as I imagined it would. There are a few more green ones on the plant, so at least I will get a few more. It was fun picking it just the same.

I Wish ......

I wish...I looked this good from behind! LOL

I'm back with my Crafty Secrets products. This image and sentiment is from their Sew Special stamp set. The image is actually 3 women and I just stamped it two additional times. It's easy to do when your stamps are clear...love that. I stamped both on PTI's new vanilla cardstock with Palette Burnt Umber ink. The ladies are all colored using my Copics! The sentiment was cut out with the Nestabilities oval and then mounted both the sentiment and image on the scalloped Nesties. I used a flower copper stick pin by Nunn Design on the sentiment. The sentiment is mounted on dimensionals because of the pin and the lace. The patterned paper is again from my favorite K&Co pads from Michaels. I used 2 different designs and added a strip of brown ribbon down the diagonal and then a strip of lace that I had sprayed with Glimmer Mist in Vanilla Breeze. I zigzaged the lace and ribbon together on the card. I went around the edge of the card with Tim Holtz' Distressed Tea Dye ink. Everything is mounted using SU's chocolate chip. I dumped out all my brown buttons and after digging and trying differnt combinations, came up with this one. They are literally sewn on the card. The thread is a variegated color so that's why a couple look like they have thread and the other one doesn't.

I can't wait for the new Crafty Secrets products coming out at CHA to be available for purchase. They have some really cool stuff!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was pretty uneventful which is a good thing, as Martha would say! Now, it's back to work tomorrow....patooie!

Too Hot for Coffee

I made myself a cup of coffee this morning but it was just too hot to enjoy...not the coffee the weather! Actually there is a beautiful breeze and if wasn't for that, it would be hot, hot, hot!

I started this card a couple of days ago, but kept changing my mind and trying different things and this is how it finally came out. Not sure if I'm really happy with it. It needs something more, but I liked the background paper (shabby with hints of other colors in it) and didn't want to cover up any more of it than necessary. It is from one of those K&Company paper pads at Michaels. The mug is paper pieced with paper from that same pad, so I knew they worked together. I wonder if I'll ever run out of paper!!! The coffee mug and sentiment are Flourishes and designed by Sharon Johnson (notimetostamp). There are images of some stacked coffee cups and another sentiment and a couple of other things on the sheet (I tried to find the set on Flourishes website to link but couldn't find it.)  It was stamped with Burnt Umber Pallete Ink on Flourishes cappucino metallic cardstock which a nice glimmer to it. Very pretty!! The sentiment is stamped with the same ink on the same cardstock and then cut out with one of the ovals from my Nestabilities (LOVE THOSE THINGS)!! I mounted the image and sentiment on SU's Chocolate Chip and added little pearls in the corner from Ellen's store. I decided to add some buttons to the sentiment and love running my fingers through my many buttons looking for just the right ones.  All but one, I sewed directly on the sentiment...the one without any thread was a last minute change, so it's minus it's thread!  Before anything was ever put together, I sprayed the background with Glimmer Mist in Vanilla Breeze...you really can't tell by the picture but it has a really nice sparkle to it.

A Day at the Beach

So much for my being back with a vengenance! I had the best of intentions; but that, along with a quarter won't even get you a good cup of coffee!

I love Crafty Secrets stamps!! They stamp so nicely and have such adorable images!! This one reminded me of me when I was a little girl living in Daytona Beach, Florida. I was probably around 3 or 4 and spent all my time on the beach with a pail and shovel. I loved it!!

This little gal and the seagull were stamped with Palette Noir Black on PTI Select White and colored with my Copics! The sentiment is also from the same set, Seaside and cut with the Nestabilities tag die. She is also mounted on a Nestabilities oval. I had some nice darning cotton (too heavy to embroidery with but too light weight to use in tapestry) in a blue that matched perfectly. I have a little basket of shells that my son and DIL brought back from a trip to Florida, so I took one out and sprayed it with Glimmer Mist in Vanilla Breeze and mounted it with a fat glue dot. The patterned paper is from one of those K&Company pads at Michaels.

Have a great day! Only one more day left of my vacation and then it's back to work. I think I really need it because it gives me some discipline that I don't have when I'm off. Besides it pays the bills and that's a good thing!

A Beautiful New Pincushion

Check out this package! I ordered one of Laurie's (Charming Designs) bird pin cushions and it arrived in this beautifully hand-painted package! I cut the image out to save...it is just too pretty to throw in the trash!

Now on to the contents of this gorgeous package! Lots of packaging to keep her safe from rough handlers and then.....

Click on her picture! Isn't she the sweetest little thing you've seen? Laurie's little bird pin cushions were featured in the Spring edition of Somerset Life.

Vicki Chrisman's Crafty Secrets Kit Reveal

Vicki Chrisman offered a Crafty Secrets kit challenge to 20 participants. Since I love Craft Secrets products I considered myself lucky enough to get in on the fun. We could make a card, scrapbook page, altered object, anything we wanted. The only requirement was you had to use the image and paper, and embellishments that were the kit except for the base cardstock. Vicki sent lots of extra embellishments in the kit so you had several items to choose. I had a tough time deciding what to use since they were all so pretty!  I totally fell in love with the image she sent me. It is from the Crafty Secrets Childhood Images & Journal Notes booklet. The patterned paper is from their Radiant Paper Designs pad.

I started by cutting the children from the note part of the sheet. I painted the chipboard frame with Ranger's Distress Paint in fired brick. Since Crafty Secrets patterned paper is double sided I had to decide which side and which papers I wanted to use together. Even the photos corners I cut were from some of the scraps from one of the papers I used and mounted with dimensionals.  I loved all the buttons that were in my kit so they all got used! One is the center of the flower on the upper left and the "thread" is tiny strips of the paper threaded through the button holes. The same is done to the button on the chipboard...that button looks like the green of the bottle. The other 3 buttons, I left as is. I had a choice between pompoms, lace, ribbon and rick rack and chose the rick rack since I thought I was gettig a little too busy with it. Besides I'll have those others for another time :)

This photo shows the chippy look of the paint on the frame and my flower. Everything came together great!

Thanks Vicki let allowing me the opportunity to join this talented group of ladies and play! This was such a fun project!!!

You must go over to Vicki's blog and see what the other participants did. They all turned out gorgeous!!  Here is the link http://vickichrisman.blogspot.com/2008/07/crafty-secrets-card-kits-reveled-lol.html 

I'm Back with a Vengenance!

I want to thank everyone who sent me well wishes while I was absent. The blogging community is a wonderful place with wonderful people! You made me feel loved and everyone needs that!!

I'm finally back!!! I can't believe how much the physical therapy helped me. My therapist, Heidi, gave me just very simple exercises to do and it worked wonders. I still have one week left to go and then she'll cut me free.

I've had this card in the works for quite a while but since I couldn't do much with my limited amount of sitting. I finally finished it and really love it! I used the Crafty Secrets Cotton Scraps (love those!!) and the paper, I believe, is from Memory Box but can't remember what pad (sorry). The ribbon is silk from . I love the softness of it. The three little flowers in the upper right are from a container of white wedding flowers that have been colored with Copic markers and added Stickles in the center. The flowers were introduced to me from Lauren Meader. They are wonderful!!

I frayed the image, as usual, and sewed it to some plum colored Bazzill cardstock. If you notice on the left side of the card I stamped French Script from CHF in PTI's Lavendar Moon. The sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly set that I seem to use so much. The cardfront is mounted on the plum Bazzill cardstock.

I'm on vacation this week so hopefully will be able to get back in the routine of stamping and posting to my blog. The weather here has been beautiful....been having the windows open every day and the kitties love it!!

Thanks again for the well wishes!!

This is a close-up of the little flowers. They come in a pint size acyrlic paint can in white or ecru and can be found at Michael's in the wedding section.

 

Anybody Missing Me?

I feel terrible not posting more cards but my back is still not great! The therapy is helping and today I felt really good most of the day. Then this afternoon I sat too long at my desk, then Larry invited me out to dinner, so drove there and sat at the restaurant and then the drive home. It was just too much sitting. I could barely get in the house when we got home. I needed to stamp something so grabbed this little chick image from Anna's new Sweet Expressions set. I used an Amuse orange notecard and punched a circle from a scrap piece of paper the size of the little circles here and used it as a mask. I stamped the little chick popping in from all directions as if he's looking for someone and colored them with Copics. The last little chick I also stamped on a piece of scrap of designer paper that had little blossoms on it. I cut him out and mounted him on a dimensional. I took my Quickie Glue pen and went all over his little body except for the flowers and dumped on some Martha Stewart Carrara Marble glitter and dotted a Copic marker around his little feet. The sentiment is also from the same set. I decided to stamp a row of the little chicks on an envelope and color them different colors! It looks cute! I needed to do an easy card with a limited amount of sitting and this was it, but I really like how it turned out!

Anyone for Tea?

Another of Anna's images from her new set, "Good Times" and the sentiment is from Anna's other new set, "Sweet Expressions."  I stamped the tea cup on PTI Select White in Palette Spring Moss. I ran it through my Nestabilities rectangles and left the frame on while I colored the background. I stamped another tea cup in Spring Moss on a scrap piece of PTI patterned paper and cut it out. I used my Exacto knife and cut the portion of the cup out where it shows the tea. I taped a small piece of acetate behind and colored the tea with a Sharpie and then mounted it on dimensionals over the other image. I mounted this all on a piece of SU's River Rock that had been run through the Nestabilities. The card base is also River Rock and the patterned paper is all PTI's. The ribbon is PTI's Spring Moss twill. I stamped the sentiment on a piece of cardstock, cut the ends to look like a banner and curled it and added a little Dew Drop for interest and to balance it all out, I added 3 more Dew Drops in upper left corner. I love those things!!! I got mine from Ellen's store here. I colored the little scallops around the tea cup with my Copic marker and also the tag on the little tea bag. This is such a sweet set, and along with the sentiments, a very versatile set!

New Stamps from Anna!!

Anna Wight has done it again! Whipper Snapper Designs is releasing 2 new sets today that Anna designed! This one is called Good Times and has different drinks and accessories and 4 sentiments. Very cute set and wonderful for those summertime cards! This one came out a little on the light side in the post but very pretty IRL. I stamped the drink on PTI Select White with Palette Sweet Blush and then stamped the umbrella in Palette Berry Sorbet. I stamped the umbrella again on a scrap piece of designer paper and cut it out. It is mounted on dimensionals. The drink itself is done in Twinkling H2o's. The cherry was stamped with Stampin Up! markers, colored in and covered in Crystal Effects so it looks like it was just pulled out of the drink! The background around the drink is a specialy blended Copic Marker with a few drops of B00 in a blender marker. It makes a nice contrasting background. I cut and embossed it using the Nestabilities rectangle. The base of the card is a Memory Box card called Cotton Candy. I used a piece of patterned paper from my scrap basket that went perfect with it and cut it also using the Nestabilities rectangle. The sentiment is stamped in Palette Berry Sorbet and it is in this set. I used the Fiskars Threading Water punch down the side and then colored some heavy crochet cotton with my Copic marker to a nice shade of pink. I threaded it up and down the holes and just noticed in the pic that I missed one of the holes on the way down...had to grab the card to check and sure enough I did. Fortunately it will be easy to remedy. I added a little flower charm and it's good to go! Thanks for stopping by and be sure and check out Anna's newest sets of cling mounted stamps. These are such great images with lots of possibilities!