Moved Nicole

I was in water color mode again today and this time I used Incredible Like You for my card. Aren't these colors so serene?!  My color palette consists of Grapefruit Grove , Pool Party , and Pear Pizzaz .  The softness of all the colors just makes this card so perfect for a watercolor! First step was to heat emboss the stripes in white on the watercolor paper .  From there I added color with an aqua painter and Pool Party ink pad .  Some areas came out darker which I really like. The flowers are watercolor as well and fussy cut.  Each was stamped with Grapefruit Grove then softened with the aqua painter .  They are layered under and over the sentiment that is heat embossed on watercolor paper as well. Final touches are always important.  Pear Pizzaz leaves came from the Eclectic Layers Thinlits in the main catalog .  I trimmed them down so they would neatly tuck under the flowers.  A couple of cute little wooden element butterflies add extra dimension and were FREE!  They ...

I used to make shaker cards ALL.THE.TIME.  It's been FOREVER since I've made one, so today was the day!  I was inspired by challenge GDP174 from the Global Design Project for this week. This image immediately brought a shaker to mind, Ionly had to figure out what stamp set to use.  Since I just made a card with Butterfly Gala Bundle , I had supplies out on my desk for that bundle so I went with it! I have been dying to give the new Rectangle Stitched Framelits a try, so that became the base of my design.  I chose to do a flat shaker to keep it easier.  The card is simply a Granny Apple Green card base with a layer of the same color card stock and a designer paper as the top layer.  I would have used designer paper by itself, but with a shaker you want a sturdier cover.  The paper comes from the gorgeous FREE Botanical Butterfly Designer Series Paper from the Sale-a-bration Catalog . I cut the center of the shaker frame with a stitched rectangle , then created a frame to go ...

It's the time of year when we start looking forward to spring, especially those of us in the frigid cold areas of the country.  In Ohio we are experiencing the polar freeze and have wild chill temps around -25!  So to get away from the cold I stamped a beautiful butterfly card with the gorgeous new Butterfly Gala stamp set. For color inspiration, I looked to the Sale-a-bration catalog .  The Designer Series Paper Botanical Butterfly is full of beautiful colors.  The blues and purple stood out so Highland Heather and Balmy Blue became my color palette. The stamp used for this card has a small butterfly over a larger butterfly.  I created a pattern by stamping the butterflies in rows.  All of the small butterflies are colored with Highland Heather Stampin' Blends and the larger are done with Balmy Blue .  The lighter of each color is in the center with darker shading around the edges. With all that was going on in the background, I needed something to make my sentiment st...

If  you look at my recent posts, you may notice that I am really into the new Flowering Desert stamp set.  Today's idea is a little different.  I went with water color using an aqua painter and ink pads. I love the water color effect.  It's soft and has beautiful color variations.  I achieved this look very easily with just a few steps. I stamped the cactus with Lemon Lime Twist on water color paper.  Using the aqua painter, I went over the original image to get the initial water color look.  Then with Granny Apple Green I added in more color gradually shading from the left to right.  In areas that I wanted a darker bit of color, I waited until the area was dry then layered on more. Once I had the color the way I wanted it, I used my Light Shaded Spruce Stampin' Blend marker and added detail. I added in a pop of color with Lovely Lipstick flowers on the cactus and a smaller plant in Shaded Spruce .  Last detail of the watercolor is a bit of sand using Soft Suede .  I...

The new Occasions Catalog not only brings amazing products to create with, but an easier way to do it!!  It's the new CLING STAMPS that make stamping with red rubber easier!  All of the clear block rubber stamps that I've gotten over the last few years have never had the stickers added.  I found that the stickers kept the stamps from staying on the clear block.  Well those days are over!  Stampin' Up! has introduced new CLING STAMPS that stay on the block with the stickers on!  They have started out with quite a few of the new stamps having this cling sticker and I am super excited about it.  I tried out one of the stamps and have a card and tip to share with you.  This card uses the Sale-a-Bration set called PART OF MY STORY.   I loved the sentiments in this set immediately, very sweet and very useful!  With this set having the new cling stickers, I thought I'd show you how I use mine.  The stickers are quite tacky, so getting them off the block without damage is para...