Christmas Masks

The Seasonal Mask package by Tim Holtz is the first time that I've played with masks and it has been a lot of fun.  I look forward to using these particular masks on very near future projects and projects down the road.  I sponged around the snowman using Tim Holtz Distressed Ink Chipped Saphire.  I also sprayed with the new Perfect Pearl Mists.  To add extra sparkle and texture and more of a snow affect, I used Distressed Stickle Rock Candy.

I then wanted to try another mask so I sponged and sprayed around using different distressed inks and Perfect Pearl Mists.  Now to find the time to make more and more cards and get them out in the mail before Christmas is actually here.

Fall Trip

This year we took the opportunity during fall break to fly to the East Coast.  We flew into Baltimore and visited with Howard's cousin and fiance.  They have the most adorable home in Baltimore.  It could be on one of the home shows on HGTV. 

We ventured north to Pennsylvania and took in the awesome autumn scenery.  My niece and her husband graciously put all 5 of us up for a few days.  They also have a lovely home that they are renovating one room at a time.  My girls took advantage of having horses close by and begged by niece for a horse ride while there.  On Sunday, we had a very awesome time.  I got to see an aunt and uncle that I have not seen in over 10 years.  I also got reintroduced to a cousin or two.   We also got to meet some more second cousins.  It was such an awesome time.

On Monday, we went to Philadelphia.  You need free tickes to see Indepence Hall.  When you go there, you can also pick up a booklet for children to complete while visiting the different historical sites of Philadelphia.  When they are all done, they take the booklet back to the rangers and they check it and if the children complete most of the areas, they have the opportunityto take the Ranger oath!

Tuesday, I had the opporunity to friends from high school and then we visited with my aunt again and her youngest daughter.  She was unable to  join us on Sunday .  My aunt makes beautiful jewelry, and I hope at some point she will let me feature her 

Wednesdasy, we headed back down to Virginia.  We stopped in DC on the way.  We got to observe the Veterans' Wall.  It was very nicely done.   Thursday, we went back with the rain.  We saw the Federal Bureau of  Engraving and then visited Air & Space Museum. 

Saturday was the beginning of the big weekend and we headd back to Baltimore for the wedding. 

The wedding was fabulous!  Everyone had an awesome time.  Congratulations Lauren and Scott.

Congratulations Lauren and Scott

There are times in one's life where time almost stands still.  For one week, we escaped the desert to go back east for Howard's cousin Lauren's wedding.  While there we enjoyed family and friends and beheld great historical places like Independence Hall in Philadelphia and observed great inventions such as the Wright brothers' first plane.

For me  going back home to Pennsylvania in the Autumn was an opportunity to view the natural pallette of color that God paints the country side each year with the changing of leaf color. 

We had a great time visiting with my niece and her husband and great nephew.  My sister and other niece came over every day.  On Sunday we had an awesome visit with my family.  I got to see my aunt and my dad's youngest brother.  I got to meet my cousin and his son and his sweet youngest daughter.  My girls went horseback riding which they absolutely loved and enjoyed very much.   

Compendium of Curiosity Challenge

Now listed at www.Lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com is Tim Holtz' book A COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES. 

There has been weekly challenges at the Ranger group that I belong.  It is a Yahoo Group;  it is All Things Tim.  I have been wanting to do a challenge  but needed the book.  The book is beautiful, and I love the layout. The pictures are vibrant and clear.  Instructions are awesome.  I worked on my first challenge yesterday.  The group is on Challenge #15 and so that is where I begin.  For more information and inspiration please check out Studio L3 http://studiol3.blogspot.com/. 

Now, if you have visited here before, you know that I usually give instructions on how I made my card, but I will have   to skip it on the flowers today as that was directly from A Compendium of Curiosities page 53.  The background was made using SU's French background stamp in SU Saffron Ink and then distressing with Ranger's Scattered Straw.  I wanted "follow your heart - it knows the way" to pop so I used SU Pumpkin Pie. 

Customized Cards

My mother-in-law asked me to make some Thank You cards to send to people for celebrating her ___th birthday a couple of months ago. I would have liked to play with the black and white picture a little more but I wanted to get these out. I used a tag and put some "newsprint" style paper on the tag. Distressed it with some Tattered Rose (Ranger Ink) and stamped some flowers (SU!) in Red Rose (SU!). I used some alcohol and Liquid Pearls and punched a bird and leaf out. The paper is from 7 Gypsies. 7 Gypsies is m graphic new favorite paper collection. I also have been drawn to paper from graphic 45 which you may have seen in other cards and also is shown here.

Happy Anniversary and Family Announcement

A friend asked me to make an Anniversary Card for some relatives so I tried some new things. I squeezed some Liquid Pearl - Gold into an egg carton and then dabbed a paint brush in the Liquid Pearl and "painted" over the image. The picture doesn't do the end result justice. It gave a beautiful pearlized/shimmering effect. I took some of Tim Holtz musical notes Tissue paper Tape and put on some paper and then with a heart punch, I punched some hearts out. I sponged in Bundled Sage and then stamped "Happy Anniversary". I used one of the newer corner punches from Stampin' Up to give a pretty corner edging to it.

One of the nicest compliments a card maker can receive is to be asked to make another card from someone. And that is what happened here. My friend asked me to make another card. So I measured across 5 1/4" and cut down the length of the paper. I then trimmed off some so that the length measured 10 1/2". Then I scored at 5 1/4" which makes a perfect square. I cut out in neutral paper 5 1/4" x 5 1/4". I cut out the handsome couple dancing. I knew I wanted to layer this card and this next design was very beautiful and romantic with bold splashes of pink set along with romantic pink flowers and dark and light green leaves. I added Distressed Stickles "Peeled Paint" on one of the leaves. This was just enough of an extra element to give the card just a bit of sparkle. I then took Tim Holtz musical notes Tissue Paper Tape and sponged over in Bundled Sage and then stamped a harp in Stampin Up's Red Rose. Hearts, flowers, and satin are all images of romance that I think about and therefore that is why I decided to add the Satin Ribbon and anchor both ends with hearts. I added just an extra little romance by adding the green pearl beads.

As you may know from reading my blog a few months back we lost our beloved 13 year old lab/husky mix. We were going to wait until November to get a puppy for the family. I was looking into getting a Shih Tzu, but then we decided that we truly shouldn't be spending all of the money needed for a pure bread puppy. So I started poking around to see what kind of puppies are available. I wanted a young puppy that could "grow" with us. There was an advertisement on Ebay for Cocker Spaniel/Shih Tzu mix puppies that were 8 weeks old. I had always liked the Cocker Spaniel but wasn't sure about it with children. However, the Shih Tzu breed is very friendly with children and very happy to please so we went the other day to check some puppies out.

I went there with the intent of picking up a girl puppy. And as much as I love the look of the Shih Tzu breed (all 3 girls took after their Shih Tzu father), this little fellow ran up to me and licked my face and his sisters came running too, and it was really hard to decide but he kept nudging his way up front. My husband and son were more partial to a boy puppy and since my husband prefers the big huskies dogs and since this puppy seemed to take a shine to me, we chose this little guy (who took after his Cocker Spaniel mother) . He went into his crate last night. He whined and cried a wee big but I talked to him and poked my finger through the crate and he eventually fell asleep only to wake up a little later because he had to go out. He was really good all night about waking up and doing his business outside and going back in his crate. We both got wet around 5:00 AM when the sprinklers were going, and I had a difficult time seeing the back yard as our lighting isn't so great back there.

Our family is traveling back east in October for Howard's cousin Lauren's wedding. So one major consideration and one reason we were going to wait until November to bring a new dog into the family. However, the woman that rescued these puppies also puppy/dog sits and she agreed to watch him for the week which meant we could start acclimating him with our family and we would have a safe and happy environment for him to be while we go away. By the way, since I got to pick the family dog out (meaning after 11 years of asking for a smaller breed dog), my husband got to pick the name. What other namewould you expect a Cowboys' fan to pick for the family dog, but Dallas. Go Cowboys!

Crackle Accents

There is this product by Inkssentials that I have been wanting to try for a long while. It is called Crackle Accents. So I fell into temptation and I got a bottle of it. I LOVE it!!! Sadly my first attempt at using this product was for a Sympathy card for a friend whose mother passed away recently. I can't remember the paper company but I really love the color and design. I sponged the paper with Antique Linen and Wild Honey. I used Wild Honey for the stamped image and stamped over in Vintage Photo "with heartfelt Sympathy.

I made this 3 x 3 Thank You card for a customer. I distressed the paper with a distress tool. I used Crackle Accents on the small "stamp" in the upper right corner. I sponged paper in Antique Linen and I stamped "For You" in Vintage Photo.

Pink Stitched Butterfly

This is to answer Created by Hand challenge "Take a Hike/Stitching" http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/http://. I don't do very much stitching and this was a lot of fun. I decided to stamp using the ink applicator with Metallic Silver, Raspberry, and Purple alcohol inks. I punched out the scrolled circle and sponged in Warn Lipstick Distressed Ink and Mambo Mellon (Stampin' Up) because I wanted a brighter pink. I also stamped the words in Mambo Mellon. I added a Rhinestone for good measure and Fruit Punch Stickles.

Welcome/Yellow

Ah, yellow. It is such a beautiful, cheery color. I have always loved the sun. Remember the days of baby oil instead of tanning lotion. Yes, not a good idea especially when you have skin that burns as easily as mine.



However, I have seen cards this past year that look so very warm and inviting. The colors were a mixture of yellow, orange and red. So I was glad for this challenge http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/ because it inspired me to play with my yellow inks. So lets see. The main part of the card I used Tim Holtz Textured Fades Embossing Folder Regal Flourishes and then sponged over in Mustard Seed Distressed Ink. On the corners I used Mustard Seed Distressed Stickles. I stamped my image in Mustard Seed and sponged in Barely Banana (Stampin' Up). I also sponged the edges in Spiced Marmalade Distressed Ink. I brushed over in Sun Sparkle Perfect Pearls. I colored in the bird with Sunset Yellow Alcohol ink using my Tim Holtz Fillable Pen. I then added with Yellow Stickles the bird's eye. I also used Scattered Straw Distressed Ink and went over in Mustard Seed Distressed Stickles for the middle strip of paper. Finally, I punched out the tag and sponged over in Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, and Spiced Marmalade and stamped "Happy Birthday" in Mustard Seed. I then went over the edges in Lemon Ice Ice Stickles.

Lavender Springtime Fun

I love this stamp. She is just so adorable. I used my new marker so now when I have pictures of people they don't have to be as white as a ghost. I can now bring some pinkish/peachy color. Mostly I enjoyed this card because I got to use my new 2 1/2 circle puncher from Stampin' Up and I tried sewing for the first time.

Layering is a bit of a challenge for me. I usually look to people like my friend Julie http://www.stampingimpressions.blogspot.com/ as she is an expert when it comes to layering. I used my background stamp Pretty Petals and I used my alcohol and metallic ink on glossy paper. I love using this technique as it always gives an extra dimension to projects. I used a mixture of Stampin' Up ink (markers) and alcohol ink (Fillable Pen). Enjoy!

Thank you for looking. Next time I hope to answer the challenge from Created by Hand http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/ "Welcome/Yellow".

Pearls, Fairies and Pearls a Challenge Answer

Well, it sure took me long enough. I have been contemplating this card for an entire week and I am late. The new week's challenge is already up for http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/. Well, since I finished this card, I guess I will go ahead and post it for you to see. The challenge was Fairy Romp, Beads, Pearls. I started with the middle piece where I punched the corners, stamped the swirl in Vintage Photo and painted with a mixture of Gold and Raspberry Liquid Pearls. I love the iridescent look that one captures using Liquid Pearls, and I just cannot wait to get my hands on all the new juicy colors that Ranger Ink is introducing this September. I then went over with the Tim Holtz Reinkers (filled with various alcohol inks). Today's colors are Watermelon and Clover. I used a little Fruit Punch Stickles in the middle of the flowers.

For the small square I punched the scallops and once again stamped the swirl in Vintage Photo. For this, however, I stamped off once on my scrap paper and then stamped again on this square. In this way I received a lighter image of the swirl. I then stamped over the swirl in Black Soot the saying "In the middle of Life, Love gives you a Fairy Tale." This is a beautiful card to send to an engage couple, to use as a wedding or even as an Anniversary Card. I went over this square with Tattered Rose, and Gold Metallic Ink and then painted over with Raspberry Liquid Pearl. I then swiped it over again using Icicle Stickles.

I used my Blending Tool stamped in Spun Sugar and Tea Dye Distressed inks on the card base front.

Thank you for looking. I will have to do better to catch this week's challenge. "Welcom/Yellow". http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/

Ink Challenge

I found another place for card challenges. It is sketches4all. http://sketchesforyou.ning.com/forum/topics/new-ink-challenge-group-starts

For this challenge we were to show two different ways to use ink. It was hard to limit myself to two different ways so I may have overdone it with the different ink colors. Anyway colors used in all were Stained Walnut (Words), Milled Lavendar (Roses), Tea Dye, Aged Mahogany, Vintage Photo. The border of the card was done in Vintage Photo and then I went over again in Antique Bronze Distressed Stickles.

Sheltering Tree/Green Challenge

I made this card for this week's challenge Sheltering Tree/Green Challenge by Created by Hand http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/. I started out with one of my favorite stamps from Stampin' Up (Pretty Petals). I inked it up in one of the newer Distressed Ink Colors (Forest Moss). I then sponged in Distress Ink Antique Linen. I then took another paper and my blending tool and colored the paper in Distress Ink Crushed Olive. I then went around the edges with my blending tool in Forest Moss. I inked up my stamp from Stampin' Ups (Friends 24-7) in Crushed Olive. I stamped over with the Birthday greeting in Forest Moss. Finally to finish off I colored in the leaves in Patina Stickles.

Thank you for looking.

Tim Holtz - Mask

I had heard about Tim Holtz - Masks http://www.timholtz.com/vid_masks.htmlttp://and was very curious about them so in my last order to Ranger Ink I ordered Masks to sell and try out for myself. Before I got an opportunity to play with it myself, I got an order. I asked my customer, BrendaLea, if she could send me a picture and tell me a little about what she did. She colored the white tie with tulip fabric paint and used tulip fabric spray glitter for the mask design. BrendaLea has a very informative blog where she does product reviews http://prpldy15.blogspot.com/. Thank you so much BrendaLea for sharing this picture.

An old picture, some ink and butterflies

My husband's aunt flew in for my mother-in-law's birthday. I had asked her if she could bring copies of pictures of my mother-in-law when she was a child because I wanted to make a book for her. I miscalculated how much time I would actually have to work on the book and will have to make that as a gift and give to her another time. In the mean time, I took a picture of my mother-in-law (when she was a baby) and her grandmother. I painted around the pictures with alcohol ink. I also just gave a touch of a tint on the baby dress. I wanted to add some layers so I framed the picture by cutting a slightly larger square and punching the square with a scalloped corner punch from Stampin' Up. I colored it in Tattered Rose and also went over in Tattered Rose Distressed Stickles. I also added color with alcohol ink, and blending tool. The butterflies were also made by using alcohol ink on glossy paper, and metallic inc and then running the butterflies through the Cuttlebug machine. Finally, I finished the card off with two different size scallop circles and alcohol inc with the wording Look Who's Turning ( ). I am also answering the challenge from Created by Hand Challenge. http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/

Tomorrow a customer used a Tim Holtz Mask to make a Beautiful Tie.

Happy Birthday Roberta

This is my most unique card yet! In celebration of my mother-in-law's ____th birthday, I took her drawings and asked a local rubber stamp company if they could make the drawings into a stamp. Actually we decided to make two stamps. One is just the head and the other is the dress so I can add the head to other designs down the road. This stamp set I am affectionately calling "Roberta".

I wanted this little beauty to dazzle just as my mother-in-law does so I blinged her up with Stickles and Perfect Pearls. With liquid pearls I made even her cuffs and waist shimmer in gold.

Challenge

I made this card for the challenge presented by Created By Hand Challenge http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/ Freedom...Stars.

I used various alcohol inks and silver or gold metallic ink. The stars were made with glossy paper and the base of the card is regular card stock paper. The message stamped in Blue Stazon ink says, "Sometimes on the way to a dream, you get lost and found a better one."

A Little Grunge

I didn't plan it this way. I was playing with blue colors and an alcohol ink called Lake Mist and with Gold Metallic Ink and just dabbing with the Tim Holtz Ink Blender and this really cool color came on the paper.

I wanted to try out the new tissue paper tape that I purchased and see what I could do with that. So I put that down and stamped color on that as well. After I put the color down, I was trying to think which of my stamps would be a good addition. It definitely wasn't on the feminine side like most of my cards are so I didn't want a flower or a heart.

I then thought of my Circle Circus (SU) set and stamped in Brilliant Blue (SU). I remembered the bird that I had punched out a few weeks ago and knew that would be an excellent addition to this card. I quickly dabbed some more Ranger Ink Alcohol Ink Lake Mist on another sheet of paper and punched out the stem with the leaves. The frame for the Birthday Greetings was punched using Scallop oval puncher (SU) and covered in Cracked Vintage Photo paint.

Coloring Flowers using Tim Holtz Fillable Pens

I have been wanting to try this for a while. Someone (either child number 2 or child number 3) got into my ink that is best used on Glossy Paper (Stazon Black) so I had to wait to do this with my glossy paper. I stamped the image of the flower and then chose different colors to fill up my Tim Holtz pens to fill in the flower. I then took the pens and also colored around the outside of the image. I used a touch of Gold metallic refill ink and various Ranger Alcohol Inks with my inking tool to get the metallic and marbleized effects that I wanted. I used Stazon Blue ink and stamped a different flower stamp all around and then colored over using once again the gold metallic ink and various Ranger alcohol inks.

Tomorrow - a grunge birthday card.

CHOO CHOO

A friend of mine is celebrating her son's 1st birthday and she asked me to make Thank You Cards. I chose this cute train stamp. I took my lap desk, stamp and some inks with me and I stamped away on the way to California. I "painted" by taking a paint brush and running it through Chipped Sapphire, Fired Brick, and Mustard Seed. I then went over with Perfect Pearls powder. It is hard to see the shimmer. When I got back home, I sponged with Chipped Sapphire and then went over with Distressed Picket Fences along the edges. It is a simple but very shiny card which is great for a young boy.

California

This past Fourth of July weekend we went to visit friends, Sandy and Pete and their daughters. While visiting we went to Disney Land one day and Huntington Beach.

My family with Buzz Lightyear.

Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog and my daughter, Alicia.

Goofy gives my husband a great big puppy hug.













Minnie and Emily. My four year old was so excited to see her favorite Disney Character.

Daniel first started to like the beaches two years ago when we went to visit family and friends in NJ. It was so nice to be able to go to the beach during this visit to California. Finally, I got to see the Pacific Ocean and get my feet wet. Brrr. It was cold!

This has sure been a busy month. I have been trying to entertain the children in the hot Phoenix heat. It can be somewhat challenging. However, the trip to Pinetop last month and our recent trip to California sure did help. California was so lovely. The weather was in the 70s and 80s. A friend of mine told me yesterday that we only have two full weeks off before school starts. I can't believe it. We didn't get to do half the things I wanted. Well, I still have two more weeks.

In between trips, entertaining children I have worked here and there on card projects. I was asked to make Thank You cards for a friend's birthday party. I will post those tomorrow, plus another card or two.
Thank you for visiting.

Simpler Times

I knew when we went on vacation to Pinetop, Arizona, I would find a different stamp than I usually see. I love the details of this stamp, and the rural setting which reminds me of Pennsylvania. This would have made a perfect stamp for a Father's Day Card for my dad if he were still with us. This stamp just brings back memories of the simplicity of my childhood which is another reason that I liked it so much. Simple. It is hard these days to lead simple lives and it seems that we are hit every day with something new to think or be concerned about and sometimes we just need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and place our faith in our Heavenly Father.

With all of that said, let me tell you a little more about this stamp. We strived on our recent vacation to relax (and that doesn't come easy with 3 young children). However, the goal was to enjoy the resort with the indoor pool, racquetball court, basketball court, pool tables, and ping pong. On some down time I planned on working with my inks but b/c space was limited I tried, really tried to think about what I might need. Paper and inks and that is where I stopped. I didn't bring Stickles with me (unless a couple of bottles accidentally fell into my container - oops) . I didn't bring glitter because I honestly didn't want to deal with embossing and that also would have meant that I would have needed to bring my heating tool so it was really right down to the basic.

I first stamped the image and then with a paint brush I "painted" by dabbing the brush in blue color the sky line. I also did that with the green grass using Peeled Paint. The leaves on the tree were made using a Tim Holtz Refillable Pen and Adirondack Alcohol Inks. I was nervous about bringing my alcohol ink bottles with me b/c of the mess that could be made so I only brought my pens with ink in them. That, I must say worked out perfectly.

An Ode to Max

Well, no pictures today. I don't have any current pictures of our 13 year old dog, Max. Max was a lab, golden retriever, husky mix. I took one look at Max and said, "he is going to be a big dog". But he was so loveable and furry. He was more like a great big cub bear than a puppy. However, we took that great big fur ball puppy home. He was so cute! Having a dog prepares you a little for having children. I knew with how my husband treated Max that our children were going to be well spoiled. Once when my husband was gone for the weekend, I had to go outside with curlers in my hair because he refused to go outside without being on the leash.

And then we had one, two, and three children and yet there was a fourth, Max. After we would get the children down for the evening and think, ok, now we can relax but no there was Max ready for his turn to have some attention. Can you blame the poor baby? Where does an 80 pound dog fit in with three young children? Well, he did and we made it through and so the family was growing up and some growing old.

We had him for six months when he ran through the snow one day and hurt his hip and at nine months of age we were told that he had hip problem and we were told he would need surgery. Other than that, he was in pretty good shape throughout his life.

Well the past year has been difficult. He started having trouble walking and some other issues. We recently went on vacation and when we picked him up he had had issues while at the vet/kennel. We thought he was doing better but this morning when I came downstairs I noticed he was really sick. Well, had places to go and then came home to check on him and he was gone.So that was that. We said our good-byes and took care of what needed to be done and here we are back home trying to forget the day that is thankfully behind us.


Linda

Circus Girl

I have seen these "pin up" girl images around on different blogs and projects, but didn't know where I could get a hold of them and, to be honest, not too sure what I would do if I had them to use. Then one day, I came across Paper Imagery Designs http://www.paperimagerydesigns.com/ and, HELLO, I found many wonderful pictures to choose from. So I got this delightful collection http://www.paperimagerydesigns.com/item/Pin-Up-ATCs-760-628. My package came with all of our mail that was collecting at the post office since we were on vacation (see below posting).

I was settling down with the family to watch a movie with inks in hand and trying to decide what to make when the mail just came walking in and with it was my package from Paper Imagery Designs. The pictures are bright, colorful and beautiful. I set out to cut one of the pictures out so I could make a card.

So I attached it to another paper and contemplated what to do next. And then it came to me. Something that I did a week or so ago. I mixed drops from Re-inker bottle of Tattered Rose Distress Ink with my new favorite from Ranger Ink, Acrylic Metallic Pearl Dabber Paint, and painted it across the background paper and image. I guess I was tired that night because I couldn't think what more I wanted to do with it plus it needed to dry so I put it down and picked it up the next day. From there I wanted to play with some more of my Distressed Inks and the metallic dabber so I made a couple of background cards with these products.

I then decided that the corners needed a little something so I pulled out my scallop corner punch from Creative Memories and punched away. The picture is quite beautiful on its own but I just wanted to add a dab of something so I added Crystal Stickles to her crown and Cotton Candy Stickles to her outfit. Now she sparkled too! I then remembered the beads that I had gotten awhile ago. They are pretty pinks and purples and wasn't sure at the time how I would use them but since these are colors that I tend to move towards, I knew they would be used, eventually. I tend to hold on to my things but really wanted to dress this up. So then I decided as I looked at it that it would make a great gift tag or small bookmarker. I then added thread from the Bastille company. I still wanted to add some more beads and then remembered my collection of beads that I rarely use and went to work stringing beads.

Hm, now for the next part. As I mentioned above, the night before I was playing with some Distressed Inks and the dabber. I had this pretty pink/peachy looking background which I thought would be perfect with the tag so I put the tag in the middle of it and was trying to figure out what to do next. I then noticed the small butterflies and it came to me to add butterflies from the Stampin' Up die cut that I got a few months ago. I took some other paper that had already been played with and rolled it through the Cuttlebug and punched out the butterflies. I also wanted to this to be versatile. You can either keep the tag with the rest of the card or pull it out so I made a pocket for the tag. I stained a smaller strip of paper, scored it a few times, stamped with a butterfly image and attached it. I wanted a pop of color so I took a blue shimmer paper and ran that with the butterfly die cut through the Cuttlebug. I liked it but it just seemed too much of a contrast with my pink/peach color card. I then decided to paint another card with pink and metallic pearl and once it was dried, I ran that through the Cuttlebug. I added a little Fruit Punch Stickles to highlight the butterfly. I placed this on top of the blue butterfly so that a little of the blue could be seen. It is like two butterflies in flight together.

Now for the final layer which is the actual card itself. Once again I added Spun Sugar Pink and Wild Honey around the edges. I wanted to give it a touch of Distressed Stickles and chose Tattered Rose because it gives it the slightest touch of pink stain with some matting. All in all it is a perfect combination.

A Change In Pace

I didn't make a card this past week because we headed up to Pinetop, AZ, for a family vacation. It was nice to get away and relax. We went to Woodland Park for a walk. It was really pretty there. My youngest who just loves ducks was happy to see all of them in the lake.

Going to Pinetop reminds me of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The trees are so tall, green and beautiful. We also got to see Lilly pads on our nature walk. I went a little crazy taking pictures. It is such a beautiful park. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of the scenery.

We also took in a Car Show and Arts & Trade

Fair while we were there. It was fun looking at the old style cars.