Gift Card Holder

Gift cards are a popular choice for gift giving ideas. I wanted to create a gift card holder that would be as fun to receive as the gift card itself!
I used the Come Softly image from the Ching-Chou Kuik collection that is available on Sweet Pea Stamps Plate #25.
Before stamping the image I colored the entire gift card using a combination of distress inks and homemade pearl-ex watercolor sprays. I rubbed several distress ink pads onto a craft sheet, sprayed with water, and pressed the card holder into the mixture. After drying this application with a heat gun, I sprayed the card holder with the pearl-ex watercolor sprays. I still wasn't quite happy with the coloring so I sponged china blue distress ink around all the edges of the gift card holder. Okay, now I was happy! Once the paper was dry I stamped the Come Softly image using India Ink black. I wasn't crazy about how the coloring looked on the image so then I painted some areas using twinkling H2O's and added highlights with a glitter pen.
I used a Cuttlebug border embossing folder on the bottom edge of the front flap.
Here the top flap is opened, but the bottom flap still closed. On that bottom flap I stamped one of the sentiments that is available on plate #25. I also stamped some stars in coordinating colors.






On the inside of the top flap I attached an embossed piece. I used a piece of Core 'Dinations paper, ran it through the Cuttlebug with an embossing folder, trimmed the piece to fit on the flap, and sanded it to reveal the purple color that is on the reverse side of the paper.
With the bottom flap of the gift card holder opened you can see the center section where the gift card is placed.

Sweet Pea Stamps Blog Hop - Tuesday, Jan 26th

Welcome to the first day of the Sweet Pea Stamps Blog Hop... and welcome to my blog!!! The Sweet Pea Design Team Members have some beautiful art to show you on this hop. I am the 3rd stop along the hop for today; hopefully, you've already visited Mag's blog and Connie's blog. If you haven't, be sure to go back and check them out... there is a prize to be won here!!!! A gift certificate to spend at Sweet Pea Stamps!!! You don't want to miss a chance to win that! In order to win you must visit all of the blogs on the hop and post a comment at each blog. And I'm not the last blog on this hop for today. I'll direct you to the next Design Team Member's Blog at the end of this posting.
A winner will be selected from those of you hopping along with us on Tuesday, and another winner will be selected if you hop along with us on Thursday and post a comment to all of the participating blogs on that day too!!! Two chances to win!!! What more can you ask for?? For more info about this blog hop visit the Sweet Pea Design Team Blog.
And be sure to check out this enchanting image at the Sweet Pea Stamp website. She is the Haiti Relief Image and will be available Jan 29th. 50% of stamp sales of this image will go to Doctors' Without Borders.


And now ... let's get on with the Blog Hop...

It is my pleasure to work with 'Black Rose Fairy'. She is one of the images from the Ching-Chou Kuik Fantasy Art Collection on sheet #7, and is available on Sweet Pea Plate #29. I couldn't stop at just one card, so I've made 5. Each of the images was painted with Twinkling H2O's and after the paint was dry I added some highlights with a sakura glitter pen.
For this card I cut the image out using a nestabilities die and my Cuttlebug machine. I used the next size larger in the same nestabilities dies to cut and emboss a piece of gold card stock, mounting the image onto it. I looked through my tons of decorative card stock packs and found the multi-colored paisley and the gold embossed green pieces. I cut and ripped each on a diagonal and then attached to the rust-colored card. Once all the pieces were attached to the card it looked 'unfinished', so I got out my fabric flowers and chose 3 coordinating colors attaching them to the card with a large gold brad. I think this may be my favorite of the 5 cards I made for this blog hop. Check out the rest and let me know which is your favorite....

I trimmed the upper half of the image for this card, but left the vines that are part of the bottom of the image.
I cut a piece of core 'dinations card stock slightly smaller than the light blue card. Core 'dinations card stock is a type of card stock that has a color core, rather than white. You can tear or sand this card stock to achieve some unique results. I ran the piece through the cuttlebug with an embossing folder and then sanded the raised areas to get the tone on tone look shown. Before attaching the embossed piece to the blue card I punched 2 rectangular holes in the left side and slipped a silver ribbon through to simulate a bow. Then using a thin silver thread I attached a silver charm to the center of the bow. I ran my image through a xyron and attached her to the lower right of the card. The card still looked bare to me, so after rummaging through my stash I found a large silver leaf and attached it across the top of the card.
There are many ways to work with this image. For this card I used a nestabilities die to cut and emboss the image in my Cuttlebug. I then mounted it onto a piece of background paper that a friend had given me. That piece was also embossed with a cuttlebug folder. I edged the layer with a silver krylon pen before attaching to a piece of decorative card stock that was also edged with the silver krylon pen. The purple card was punched with decorative photo corners and the matted image slipped into the corners. She didn't seem quite finished so I took a silver star bead, ran some purple wire through it and strung some small seed beads to the ends of the wire, curling the wire on each end so the beads would not fall off.

Here is an easy card to make with the Black Rose Fairy, or any of the fairies that are available at Sweet Pea Stamps.
I trimmed the image, leaving none of the background. Starting with a piece of lavendar card stock slightly smaller than the dark blue card, I ran the piece through the cuttlebug with the script embossing folder. But before I did that I rubbed my adirondack denim dye ink pad onto the embossing folder so that the 'unraised' areas of the piece would look shaded. I used a 'ticket' style corner punch on the piece and then attached a wine colored ribbon down the center of the card vertically. After attaching that piece to the dark blue card I attached the image in the center and added some silver peel offs in the corners and edges of the card. That was just the little extra that the card needed!

Here's another very simple card made with this wonderful image...
After trimming the image I mounted her onto a piece of decorative card stock that had been cut and embossed with a nestabilities oval die in my cuttlebug. I cut a piece of purple card stock slightly smaller than the orchid card and ran it through the cuttlebug with one of my cuttlebug embossing folders. Then I used a decorative corner punch on the piece. Before putting all the layers together and attaching to the card, I edged the 2 layers with a turquoise marvy metallic marker. I also used the sakura glitter pen to add highlights to the embossed areas of the purple card stock. After attaching all to the card I punched a couple of rectangular holes in the center near the bottom and slipped a purple multi-colored ribbon through to simulate a bow. Can you tell I'm drawn to purples and blues??

Be sure to leave a comment on my blog so you are eligible for the gift certificate drawing that will be held at Sweet Pea Stamps. And now it is time for you to move on to our next Design Team Member, Jennifer.... so hop on over to Jennifer's blog.
Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to visit the Sweet Pea Stamps Blog on Thursday, Jan 28 for the 2nd day of the blog hop.

Joy Fold cards

I am enjoying making and giving these 'Joy Fold' Cards. To get more info on the specifics of what size the pieces are and how to put them together google "Joy Fold Cards".
I used the central image and the sentiments found inside this card that are found on Sweetpea Plate #2. Both the base and center panel of this card were cut from a wine-colored card stock. I used some handmade background papers that I had laying around on the various panels of this card. I stamped the central image onto the background paper using india black ink and then trimmed before attaching to the front of the center panel.
I've partially opened the card in this photo. The butterfly closure was created with a Cuttlebug die and then embossed with another cuttlebug embossing folder. Before embossing the butterfly I rubbed a metallic brilliance ink pad on the folder so that the crevices of the butterfly would be metallic. I then applied clear embossing powder and heated. I attached the butterfly to the left panel using raised foam squares so that the corner of the center panel would easily fit under the wing of the butterfly and remain closed.
With this card fully opened you can see the handmade background papers I used to cover both the left and center of the base piece of the card. On the left side I cut a piece of wine-colored card stock (the same used for the base and center panel), punched decorative photo corners, and inserted a mauve-colored piece of card stock that was stamped with one of the sentiments available on this Sweetpea plate. The simple 'Happy Birthday' sentiment was stamped inside the center panel leaving space for the person sending this card to write a personal message.

For this Joy Fold Card I used an image from the Ching-Chou Kuik Fantasy collection; it can be found on Sweetpea Plate #21. Also, instead of creating the card in the landscape orientation, I decided to switch it up and orient the card in a portrait mode.
The base piece was cut from a rust colored card stock. I used various pieces of coordinated patterned card stock on the base and center panels of this card. On the closure for this card I cut one of the funky flowers from the patterned card stock and used raised foam adhesive squares to position the flower.

I'm holding the card partially open in this pic. I've opened the small bottom panel of the base and left the center panel closed at this point. It is easy to see the central image. I stamped her onto white card stock with india black ink and then painted her with Twinkling H2O's. I trimmed the image into a rectangle and then used a decorative corner punch. I then matted the image onto the same rust card stock that I used for the base piece of the card and used the same corner punch on that layer. Finally, I mounted the layered piece onto the front of the green center panel piece of the card.
You can also see the coordinating patterned card stock that I used on the inside of the base piece.



On the inside of the center panel of this card I stamped one of the sentiments from Plate# 21.... " Have a Magical Day". It may be a little difficult to read since I stamped it over the patterned card stock piece that I attached to the green panel. I purposely left the other side of the center panel blank so that the sender of this card could write a note to the lucky recipient.
These cards are fun to create and a breeze to make using some of the coordinating packages of card stock and scrapbook papers that are on the market now.

Joy Fold Card

This style of card is called a 'layered card' or 'joy fold card'. I used Ching-Chou Kuik's image found on Sweetpea plate #21 to adorn this card. I stamped the image on white card stock with india black ink and painted with Twinkling H2O's.
Now I'll attempt to explain how the card was put together!!
The card is made of 2 pieces of card stock:
- the base (olive green) is 8 1/2 x 4 1/4" and is scored and folded 3" from the left side
- the front panel (pink) is 8 x 3" and is scored and folded in half.
I cut a piece of decorative scrapbook paper and attached to the front panel, and on top of that I attached the image. The front panel piece will open from left to right (hope that makes sense). And when the card is closed flat it lays on top of the left side (panel) of the base piece. You'll see this better in a picture I have posted further on.


I attached a piece of decorative card stock to the right panel of the base. On top of that and centered I attached the left side of the 8 x 3" piece of card stock - for this card it is the pink piece. This is where you would stamp or write the sentiment/message.







I attached pieces of decorative scrapbook paper to the inside of the front panel and to the outside of the left panel. (The flower that you see on the left panel is added later on.)





At this point you want to fold the card flat in order to determine where to place the item that will secure the front panel. For my card I used my cuttlebug with spellbinders die to cut and emboss 2 flowers. I punched a hole in the center for the brad and then determined where to place the flowers so that just the edge would fit over the corner of the front panel.




The last step for my card was placing some decorative scrapbook paper on the inside of the left flap. I needed to do this in order to cover up the back of the brad I had used on the front of the left flap to hold the flower petals.
I used my cuttlebug dies and embossing folders to create a butterfly, and a spellbinders die to create a flower that I attached to the inside left panel.
There are so many variations with regard to decorating and embellishing a layered card. I love that fact that this card provides the creator and the lucky recipient with multiple layers of surprises.
If you google 'joy fold card' you'll find more ideas and pictures that will help you to see how this card is put together.

Diagonal Tri-Fold Card

I used 2 images and one of the sentiments from Sweetpea Plate #17 when creating this diagonal tri-fold card.
The basics of this card design are:
- a 3 1/2 x 10 1/2" piece for the base. This piece is scored at 3 1/2 and 7" with both ends folded to the middle
- then score each end of the base piece on a diagonal, with both scores performed in the same direction. At each end of the base these are folded to the front of the card. This is confusing and may be better understood by looking at some of the following pictures.
- cut a piece of decorative card stock to 3 1/4 x 3 1/4". This will be used on the front panel. Then cut this piece in half on the diagonal and adhere to the 2 triangles that are the front panel of the card.

The angel image I used on the front panel was stamped with india black ink onto a piece of card stock that I had sprayed with homemade color mists I created using water and pearl ex.
The angel image attached to the front panel is only attached to the upper left triangle of the card front. To open this card untie the ribbon and then flip the left side open.
When I created this card I taped the ribbon onto the card behind the image used on the card front. You wouldn't need to permanently attach the ribbon.

Now, flip open the right side and you can see how the card looks opened. I used another image and a sentiment from the same plate (#17). The angel image is a duplicate of the image used on the front panel... just in miniature form. And the sentiment is perfect for this card and for someone special... "We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another."
The miniature angel images were stamped with black india ink onto an alcohol ink created background. I stamped the sentiment with denim adirondack dye ink.
Here's another look at the open card so that you can see how the folds work to create this card. I think that if you google 'diagonal tri-fold card' you may find other examples of this design.
You can find these stamps at Sweetpea Stamps.

Easel Card

I'll bet you create cards pretty enough to display!!! Then here's just the card design for you... an easel card. I used one of the Ching-Chou Kuik images and a sentiment on Sweetpea plate# 20. After stamping the image on white card stock with black india ink, I painted it with Twinkling H2O's, and then trimmed around the image. I attached the image to a piece of decorative card stock that was cut to 3 3/4 x 4" . At this point I inserted a white snowflake eyelet in each of the corners. I threaded decorative fiber through the eyelets and tied in the back to secure. Then I attached this to a piece of pale pink card stock that was cut to 4 x 4 1/4". This is the front of the card and is attached to the base of the card as described below next to the picture showing a side view of this easel card.
On the inside of this card I used the sentiment "Do you believe...." which is also on plate# 20.
I stamped the sentiment on a small piece of the pale pink card stock with Raisin Adirondack dye ink and trimmed with decorative edge scissors. I layered that onto a piece of the same decorative card stock used for the front and trimmed with the same scissors. I placed a white snowflake brad just above the sentiment making sure to leave a little space between the brad and the paper. You don't want to attach the brad flat to the card since it needs to support the front of the card when you display as an easel as shown in this picture.
Here's a side view of the easel card to help you see how this card is put together and how it works.
This card happens to be 4" (across) x 4 1/4", but you could alter the size based on the size of the image you place on the front of the card.
There are basically 2 pieces to the card:
- 8 1/2 x 4"... this piece is scored and folded in half and then the top half is scored and folded in half again. This is the base of the card
- 4 1/2 x 4"... this piece is the front of the card. The bottom half of this piece is what is attached to the top 2 1/8 x 4" section of the base of the card.
A brad is placed anywhere from 1 to 2" up from the bottom of the base (mine is the white snowflake brad). Where you place the brad will depend on how large the sentiment or stamped image or decoration is that you place at the bottom of the card (in my case it is the saying "do you believe...").
To set the card up as an easel... when you open the card, flip/turn the front of the card so that the front bottom edge is resting up against the brad.
I hope this helps, but if it isn't clear just google easel cards and you'll find other samples that may help you to design this type of card.
Special thanks to my friend Maggi.... I received her Christmas card today... It was an easel card!!! So I copied the design.

Fantasy and Fibers with Sweetpea stamps

This image is from Sweetpea plate #21. This is one of the many Ching-Chou Kuik designs available.
I created the background for the stamped image using thin glossy paper and alcohol inks. I used 3 of the alcohol inks applying them next to each other on my felt applicator tool. I applied them diagonally across the glossy paper to create the subdued stripes. I then stamped the image onto the glossy paper using blackindia ink, trimmed the corners with a corner rounder, and applied a green marvy metallic marker around the edges.
I found some decorative card stock that worked well with the blues and greens in the background, cut it just shy of the size of the green card, applied the greenmarvy metallic marker to the edges, and punched a fiskars border punch on the bottom edge. The decorative card stock had an embossed corner that I had positioned in the upper left of the card. I used anexacto knife to cut around the middle two loops of the corner and then slid the glossy paper under it. After putting all the pieces together on the green card I wrapped the fuzzy fiber twice around the spine of the card and tied in a knot at the top.

Here is another image from Sweetpea plate #21. This wonderful plate contains 4 captivating images and 2 wonderful verses that can be used with these images or with any of the other wonderfulSweetpea images.
After stamping the image with black india ink I painted her with Twinkling H2O's and then trimmed around the image. I used a corner/photo punch in the lower left corner of the deep wine colored card. I cut a piece of lavender cardstock straight along the left and bottom edge, then tore a jagged edge diagonally, and punched the bottom left corner with the same corner/photo punch. I had some coordinating decorative scrapbook paper that looked great with this color combination. I cut a piece to fit into the lavender piece and again tore a jagged edge on the diagonal. It is difficult to see in this photo, but I ran a purple marvy marker around the 4 edges of the card and across the torn edges of the decorative scrapbook paper. I happened to have just a scrap left of the decorative paper so I slipped it behind the image before putting all the pieces together on the card front. I had the perfect fibers to add to this fantasy card, so I wrapped them once around the spine of the card and tied with a knot.

Getting ready for the 'Holly Days'

I make lots of Christmas cards each year.... like about 75!!! For me, making all 75 exactly the same seems a little boring, so I like to make maybe 15 of each style, changing a little bit here and there to keep my interest.
For all of these cards I used the Christmas Holly stamp found on Sweetpea plate #12, and 2 of the fabulous vertical sentiments that are on Sweetpea plate #13. I also kept the color scheme basically the same - pink cardstock for the card, dark wine, deep mauve, or plum colored cardstock for the layering, white or light pink cardstock for the stamped image, and raisin Adirondack dye ink.
Also, for all of these cards (except the last one) I began by first stamping the vertical sentiment along the right side of the card and then stamped or placed the ribbon embellishment along the bottom edge. That way I knew how much space I had left for my focal point.
Quite some time ago, I had taken various colored sheets of cardstock and sprayed them with gold webbing spray. One those sheets happened to be dark wine, perfect for the color scheme of these 'Holly Day' cards. After stamping the sentiment and the holly on this first card I cut a piece of the dark wine cardstock to fit in the space left on the card front. I edged the piece of white card, that had been stamped with the Sweetpea holly image, with a gold krylon pen before attaching to the wine colored cardstock. After trimming the wine colored cardstock and punching all 4 corners with a decorative corner punch, I edged it with the gold krylon pen and then mounted the stamped piece onto it. Then I attached it to the card front.

Here's the second card... I mounted the holly stamped piece onto a slightly larger piece of gold cardstock and trimmed the gold to create an even border. Next, I mounted that piece onto a larger piece of web-sprayed dark wine cardstock. After using a decorative corner punch on all 4 corners of the wine colored piece I edged it with a gold krylon pen. I attached the piece to the pink card that had been stamped with the vertical sentiment along the right side, and a holly border stamp along the bottom of the card.






I had recently purchased a new decorative photo corner punch and wanted to put it to use. I cut a piece of the dark wine colored cardstock that was larger than the piece stamped with the holly image. I punched one corner, inserted the stamped piece, and trimmed the 4 sides to create an even border around the image. I edged all 4 sides with a gold krylon pen before attaching to a piece of mauve handmade paper. I trimmed the handmade paper with a straight edge scissors on 3 sides, but trimmed the right side with a decorative edge scissors. The vertical sentiment was stamped along the right side of the pink card and decorative ribbon attached to the bottom of the card.




Once again I started by stamping the vertical sentiment along the right side of a pink card. After doing that I attached the strip of decorative ribbon along the bottom of the card. I cut a piece of plum colored cardstock to fit within the newly created borders, but before attaching to the card front I trimmed the right side with decorative scissors and edged the entire piece with a gold krylon pen. I like the festive look that the krylon pen offers a card.
I cut a piece of gold cardstock slightly larger than the piece the holly was stamped on and layered both of those onto the plum cardstock. Can you tell by now that I like these color combinations???






I didn't use the vertical word stamp for this card. For the background I stamped versamark onto dark wine colored cardstock using a holly stamp that I have. I brushed gold 'powdered pearls' onto the card. The powdered pearls sticks to the ink and brushes off the uninked portion of the card. I edged both the background and the smaller piece with gold krylon pen. But before I attached the sweetpea holly image to the background I attached a piece of decorative ribbon vertically onto the background. The entire piece was then attached to a white card.

Frame It!!!!!

Here's a great idea for a gift... or, for yourself!
Start with this Magenta frame. I got mine from Sweetpea Stamps.
It is a square frame and has some depth to it. There is a core of foam between the front and back chipboard pieces.
You could color, paint, or stamp directly onto the frame itself, but here is what I decided to do....





I took an 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of white glossy cardstock and applied alcohol inks (juniper, clover, sailboat blue, and silver) with a felt applicator tool. I applied glue to the frame and laid it down onto the back side of the glossy paper. I trimmed somecardstock from around the outside and using and exacto knife cut an 'x' on the inside of the frame. I folded the inside edges in and glued them down and then folded the outside edges in and glued them down also.


Now for the fun part...
I stamped a verse and a mermaid image from plate #3 onto white cardstock and colored with H2O's. I cut them out and glued them onto the frame in opposite corners. In the lower left corner I used glossy accents to apply a few small sea shells and micro beads. In the upper right corner I used glossy accents to adhere several pieces of colored sea glass and more micro beads.
Now, I just need to find a picture and frame it!!! Or, maybe I'll give it as a gift!!

Halloween Cards

Halloween is just around the corner and the Halloween stamp set from Sweetpea stamps is just the answer for some cute cards.
On these first two cards I added a few embellishments to spice up the cards. I found some cute little halloween colored pom poms and added some to these cards.
The small bat stamp that comes with this set is great as a background as shown in the orange card, or stamped in the foreground as seen in cards that follow.

Here are 2 more cards ....
Once I pulled out my halloween colored cardstock there was no end to the combinations of cards that could be made with this set of stamps.
I thought the 'happy halloween' stamp made a great background for the other images.
On some cards you'll see some 'doodling' along the edges. When I had a card that looked a little bare or unfinished I found that adding a little border with a marker worked wonders.
Finishing touches like ribbons or colored gems also added to the appeal of the card.

How about these 2 cuties....
On both cards I used some self stick 'halloween-colored' gems to add a little glitz.
The little witch looked good when I framed her with a piece of black cardstock. I used a ticket punch on the orange cardstock which gave me the perfect space for adding the colored gems. The orange ribbon provided the finishing touch for the card.
I combined the bat boy with some of the decorative scrapbook paper on the orange card. I used the colored gems in the 4 corners of the card.

Had enough yet???
Here's the 7th card I made from the Halloween set. Once I started I just couldn't stop!
On this one I used a combination of decorative scrapbook paper, 4 of the halloween stamps, and some markers to spice up the card.
How can Halloween be scary when this set of stamps is so cute???

Banner for Alexa

I love the bright colors... and I think my niece, Alexa, will love it. I made it for her birthday, which isn't for another month, but I was on a roll so I got this done early.
Here's what I did....

• Cut triangles from bright pink and lime green cardstock - 3 green and 2 pink 3 1/2 x 4", and 2 green and 3 pink 4 1/4 x 5 1/2".
• Trim edges with decorative scissors and then color edges with lime green and bright pink markers.
• Using double stick tape place each small green triangle onto a large pink, and each small pink triangle onto a large green.
• Cut each letter of Alexa's name using the cuttlebug and the Babyface alphabet dies.
• Color the edges of the alphabet pieces with markers and attach to points of each small triangle with double sided tape.
• Stamp 5 Sweetpea images (from plates 8, 9, and 10) onto white cardstock with black india ink.
• Color images using colored pencil, gamsol, and blending stump method.
• Cut each image and attach one to each flag using double stick tape.
• Attach decorative flower trim to tops of each flag with glue dots leaving some extra trim at each end.
  

Gift tags

Why not create some cute tags????
Using the 2 little girl images from Sweetpea plate #9 and some colored cardstock, I did just that. These can be used to accompany a gift, or attache them to the front of a greeting card as the focal point.
I have 3 young nieces who will love to receive these along with their birthday gifts this fall.





For all 4 tags:

• Stamp Sweetpea little girl image with black india ink
• Color some areas with glitter gel pens
• Color other areas with glitter glue
• Using a black gel pen, draw a series of dots and dashes around the edges of the tags
• Apply glitter glue to dots around the edges of tags
• Select fibers and ribbons that coordinate with paper and slip through the tag hole
• If desired, string colored beads on ribbons and fibers

For Red tag:

• Punch hole in center of red puffy fabric heart and attach gold heart shaped brad
• Attach fabric heart to tag using glue dot

For Yellow tag:

• Select 2 fabric flowers of varying size, insert colored brad through center and attach to tag

For Orange tag:

• Punch hole for balloon shaped brad
  
• With exacto knife cut small slit along the little girls dress
• Slip piece of fiber or yarn through slit along dress and through hole for balloon brad
• Place balloon brad in hole, wrap fiber around several times and press the brad open to hold fiber

For Blue tag:

• Apply gold krylon around all sides of word bead
• String gold wire through holes in word bead and curl ends
  
• Attach to tag using glue dots

Altered notebook

These Sweetpea images and verse are from plate #3. There are several more images and verses on the plate, but I used a small notebook so only had room for these 3.
I started with a 3 x 5" notebook. To make it easier I unwound the wire coil so that I could work with the cover. I cut a piece of white glossy cardstock to fit the front cover. I stamped a background image with versamark, dried with a heatgun, and then applied 3 colors of alcohol ink. I then stamped the mermaid, the shells, and the word (attitude) with black india ink. I added some glossy accents to the shells on the mermaid, but it is hard to see. Maybe adding some glitter to that while wet would have been a good idea. I then glued the glossy cardstock to the cover of the notebook, punched holes through the glossy to match those on the cover, and then rewound the coil through the notebook.
To add a little pizazz, I attached a few fibers to the coil and tied a glass fish bead to the end of one of the fibers.

Sweet Pea Stamps

Hey, You aren't going to believe this.... because I don't....
I was selected to be on the design team for Sweetpea stamps!!!!
How cool is that?? It means that I will be creating various things using their stamps and posting the artwork and instructions to their blog.
I'll add a link to Sweetpea's website and to the Sweetpea Design Team blog on my blog. You'll be able to hop over to look at their collection of stamps and to link to the Design Team blog where you can see the many ideas that will be posted by me as well as the other talented member of the design team.

Sweetpea birthday card

This cute birthday card will be perfect for some little girl. Actually, what I'm thinking of doing is making more using this set of Sweetpea stamps and giving a packet of cards as a gift to my niece and my granddaughter. Then they can give them to their friends for their birthdays!
I stamped the little girl image onto watercolor paper and colored with Twinkling H2O's, then mounted her onto black glossy cardstock. I had some Paper Adventures embossed cardstock that I cut with a decorative scissors and attached to the blue card. But before attaching that I strung some silver metallic ribbon through a star shaped brad and attached it to the embossed paper. I stamped one of the verses from this set of Sweetpea stamps above the little girl.
Here's the inside of the card using 3 more of the images available on plate #9. One of my nieces has a birthday coming up so I think I'll give this to her.
Just as with the image on the front of the card, I mounted the watercolor paper onto black glossy before attaching to the inside front.