Elegant distress???

When we think of distress inks, we think muted colors, lots of browns and an overall shabby look.  Since distressing is not my forte, but I absolutely LOVE Distress Inks and how they work together, I thought I'd try what I do best -- keep it out of the shabby chic area.  And this is what I came up with.  I'm planning on doing this technique at our next Cape Cod event.  So, if you're in the area and want to attend, be sure to contact The Crop Shop and sign up.  The announcement should go in their newsletter later this week.

As you can see, I decided to use the same colors, but by using different stamps and the ever-present dies (my life would not be complete without a Memory Box die), it gives you an idea of how you can use the same colors and present two varying looks.

I also got the chance to use my new Distress Markers -- oh what fun!  That butterfly on the card on the left was done using these new markers.  I am so looking forward to playing with them more and more!  Another new item I used is Goosebumps on the Dragonfly, but I jazzed it up some more by adding Glitter Ritz.  Am just loving these two products combined!

Well, if you'd like to learn these techniques, be sure and check with The Crop Shop, or if all else fails, feel free to email me and I'll give you the information.

Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!

Crafting on the Cape...

Well, strange things do happen all the time, and the strangest is that we did hold the Crafting on the Cape after all.  We had a lot of late sign-ups, so we moved forward with it.  Here are a few pics of some of our crafters and venue.

Here's Dee, Chris and Nancy setting the store up.  Hey, I was busy taking pictures!  It's kind of hard to take pictures and set up stock at the same time.  They do good work!

You can see some of the croppers in the background and what a great venue it is.  It's so full of light with windows all around us.  They even have a full restaurant on site which was wonderful and the food was superb!  A very pleasant place to be.

Here's Chris teaching the Zutter class.  All in all, paper crafters went home with 8 projects!  They had a blast and promised to come back next month with more friends.  Now that's what we want to hear!

So if you are reading this and know of any ladies down the Cape dying to resume their card making and paper crafting classes, tell them about our event.  Next one is May 6th and then we break for the summer from June thru August.  We will resume again on September 8th (the weekend AFTER Labor Day) and then back to the first Sunday of every month.  Our plan for May is to have a National Scrapbook Day event along with the paper crafting.  We'll have a minimum of 4 teachers on hand with lots of fun projects to do.

Keep crafting and Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!

Happy Easter from the bunnies & chicks...

I must admit that I came across both these projects in a long ago surfing expedition in the wee hours of the morning.  I forgot to mark where I'd found them, but luckily drew some crazy sketches at that hour of the morning.  With sketches in hand, I went to my die box and pulled out what I thought would work.  After a few minor hiccups, these are the results.  I just love them and thought I'd share them with you.

I was originally going to teach these down the Cape, but we had to cancel the event.  Maybe next year!

You can probably guess the dies used are a series of hearts, ovals, and round dies.  If put together correctly, this is the result.  A little inking here and there and some use with my fine line  pen, and we had some cute expressions on the little darlins'.  I thought the bunny ones could be used for baby cards as well and perhaps the chicks and egg card could be used for a Mom-to-be (maybe even for twins or triplets -- heaven forbid!).  So enjoy!

Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!

Pesky little birdie

He's baaaack!  My little birdie from Memory Box is out on a limb.  I needed to make a quick card for my son's birthday and, bless those dies, they rescued me faster than you can say 'die cut'.  I'm rather proud of this card -- the ONLY reason is that it was a simple card and we all know I don't know how to DO simple.  It's not that I don't like 'simple' -- but I have a really hard time "dumbing it down" if you know what I mean.  I always look at a card and think "it needs more or I'll tweak it this way".  Then after 3 hours I just MIGHT have a finished card!   Here's my card and I used the new background text paper from Papertrey Ink, did some edge tearing and using a finger dauber, I started with Vintage Photo around the edges and then finished it with Dark Walnut.  I then lightly drew more ink into the entire layer to dull the beige background a bit.  All that was left was to adhere the die cuts (Reedbird and Woodland Branch) to the page, wrap some raffia around it and stickle the branches.  I also did some outlining of the bird with a white opaque pen.  Easy peasy!  Who knows, with a little practice, I just might get better at simple cards.

Here's the birthday card.  You'll note that the sentiment is a wee bit blurry and I was counting on my son's not having his glasses on -- shhhh!  he'll never notice the blur!

I might add that he never mentioned the blurred sentiment -- he did, however laugh his head off at his birthday present.  I got him a t-shirt that says "I pick things up, then put them down." (I love that commercial!)  We had a lot of laughs over that one.  

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment.  Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!

Off to Pennsylvania...

Yep, I'm on the road again!  I have a vendor show with my Craft-Dee BowZ this weekend and this could be the start of something really big.  So wish me luck.

One of the trades I made with the show's principals is a free booth in return for my teaching a class.  So I was blessed to be able to combine JustRite Stamps, Spellbinder Dies and Webster's Pages in the following projects.  I hope they like them.

Webster's Pages has an interesting and eclectic look to them.  My challenge was to keep the ephemera to a minimum since they don't send you any of that stuff (yes, a little hard to believe, but true).  All they send is the stamps, dies and paper.  So I had to get creative in other ways.  One thing I did do was use an embossing plate of all sea shells for the background.  The way I got around this was to prep that layer of this card with the embossing plate, plus I did all the stamping of the seashells leaving it for them to simply cut out and glitter.  This card is ultra simple in that it is just edging with ink and layering the pieces.

The second card was a simple layering and cutting as well.  Again, all the stamping is done for them and it's a matter of edging with ink and cutting out some shapes.  You may make note of the cute little bow on the lobster.  Well, heck!  I gotta get Craft-Dee BowZ in there somehow!

Well, that's it.  It should be fun.  Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!

Gosh I love Memory Box!!

Are you tired of hearing me say it?  Well, I'm not tired of using them!  Here are a couple of cards I made that will be offered at The Crop Shop on Wednesday, March 8th.  I used the Elegant Scrollwork die (one of my very favorites) for both cards, but in very different ways.  I also used the Reedbird die to change things up a bit.  I think I got stuck on the color blue (one of my favorite colors).

If you'd like to take this class, call The Crop Shop and reserve a seat!  I hope to see you there.

Ciao for now.

Ciao Bella!

To my Sweetheart...

This is the card I'm sending to my sweet little granddaughter for Valentine's Day.  She did such a wonderful job on the video she did for me for my Craft-Dee BowZ blog, that I wanted to create a card that says love in so many ways.  I'll mail this off to her today, but just wanted to post something for Valentine's Day.  Hubby, of course, is my other Sweetheart, but making those masculine cards can be daunting!  Hmmm, maybe I'll try anyway!

I used several dies by Spellbinder, Memory Box and a border punch by Martha Stewart.  All in all, a relatively quick card to put together.  And do make note of the lovely double-loop bow made with my Craft-Dee BowZ.  Hope she likes it!

Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!