April Cookies - Take 2

As soon as I saw the Inspiration Photo for Challenge #115 over at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie , I immediately thought of the rabbit-shaped gift cards I recently saw at Starbucks. I love it when an idea pops into my head like that !!

I knew I wanted to create a scene for this card and these cute flowers and the sun from Unity Stamp Company's Susan K Weckesser's Create Your Day stamp set were absolutely perfect !! I had a gorgeous Spring day to take a picture of my card and I hope that you like it .

• On a pale blue card base, I placed a piece of blue striped paper from the  fun 6x6 paper pad by My Mind's Eye " Well, Hello "  .
• I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the 3 flowers and the sun .
• The sun was paper-pieced with a yellow-checked pattern also from the Well,Hello paper pad.
• The flowers were colored with my Faber-Castell PITT Artist pens.
• A piece of blue/green patterned washi from Scotch was placed along the bottom of the blue-striped paper.
• The rabbit was adhered in the lower Left corner with double-sided removable tape so the recipient can use the gift card !!
• The Hello and bee are puffy stickers from Jen Hadfield for American Crafts.
• I placed a blue,pink and gold sequin on the card for a bit of shimmer.

Hop on over to the IF YOU GIVE A CRAFTER A COOKIE  blog to see the rest of the Design Team's projects. We hope you will be inspired to link up one of your own. This challenge runs from April 18 - May 1. Thank you all so much for stopping by my own little corner of the crafting world - Meticulosity. I greatly appreciate it and also the comments you make.

Debra Davison

April Cookies - Take 1

The Inspiration photo for Challenge # 113 from If You Give a Crafter a Cookie is so much fun. There are so many elements to choose when designing your project. Bees, flowers, hexagons, amazing colors -  endless creative possibilities !! We hope that you will be inspired to link up a project before April 18.

I wanted to use the hexagons in my project because I have a cute punch and it was perfect for this Challenge. I only had 1 small bee stamp ( I know !! Can you believe it ?!?!?! ) so searched for a digi stamp and found this cute  Bee Mine Honeybee Girl from Just Me Digital Stamps on Etsy.  I really enjoyed this Inspiration picture !!

Believe in Yourself

• I began with a pre-made watercolor -look card base.
• I chose the My Mind's Eye "Howdy Doody" paper pad because it had the wonderful colors from the Inspiration photo in it . Using my hexagon paper punch,  I punched enough hexagons out of 4 coordinating paper patterns for several cards. 
• The Honeybee Girl was printed on Neenah Stardust White cardstock and colored with Brea Reese & Faber-Castell Markers. The image was then fussy-cut.
• I arranged the hexagons in 2 rows on the left side of the card - 6 on the far left and 5 for the other.  They were adhered with 1/2 inch Glue Dots.
• A piece of natural teine was tied around the left side of the card between the hexagon rows.
• The Honeybee Girl was adhered to the lower right of the card with Tombow MONO Aqua Liquid Glue. 
• A Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush marker was applied to the the girl's shoes and wings for some added shimmer. 
• Golden rhinestones were added to he ends of the antennae,
• Believe in Yourself is from Tim Holtz "Quotations" Metallic Stickers. 

Be sure to look at my teammates' projects over at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie , We would love for you to follow us and leave us comments. This Challenge runs from April 4-17 so get started on a card or tag or  other project to link up. We also choose our favorite projects from those linked up. I hope that Spring weather is reaching you wherever you live. After a few dreary, rainy, chilly day here, we are supposed to have temperatures in the 60's and 70's for the next week. 

Thank you for stopping by and taking a look at my card. I hope that you will leave a comment.

And thank you for visiting Meticulosity !!

Debra Davison

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste - 3/31

Once again, Celeste and I are here with our cards and coffee. Hard to believe that April is almost here and it is Spring already. I know that I am ready for spring temperatures and flowers and spending time on the deck with my morning coffee. Our inspiration for this month was a picture found by Celeste.  We hope that you will be inspired too !!

I wanted a bright, cheerful, flowery card to get me in a springtime mood. I immediately thought of a digi stamp set from the Etsy shop - Polka Dot Orchard. I am one of the first members of their Design Team and look forward to showing you  many of their fun stamps !! I used the digi set " It's Your Day ".

• I started off with a Molly & Rex watercolor card base. It had matching colors to the patterned paper that I used.
• The digi images of the cup, teapot and sentiment were printed out on a piece of patterned paper - American Crafts "Lucky Charm" Sunny Day paper . This paper is brightly colored floral on one side and a pretty pale pink on the other. Perfect for this card !!
• I fussy cut the cup and teapot and trimmed the sentiment to fit the card.
• I colored areas of the teapot with a pink Brea Reese marker .
• Pralines & Cream Fairy Dust Glitter by Clearsnap  was placed on the top area of the cup with Tombow MONO Aqua Liquid Glue. I think it looks just like my tea after adding some cream and honey.
• I placed a strip of turquoise glitter washi along the bottom area of the card base.
• The teapot was positioned to look like it was pouring tea into the cup. 
• I adhered the sentiment in  the upper left corner. All paper elements were adhered with MONO Adhesive+ Permanent Runner.

I hope that you will take a look at all of the fun digi stamp sets over at Polka Dot Orchard. I had fun with this card and actually made 2 more. I can't wait to see what Celeste has come up with to celebrate Spring -- head over to her blog @ Crafting Junky and take a look.  For my drink this month, I chose tea to go with my card. I am drinking a Matcha Green tea from a bright red floral Starbucks cup . With just a hint of cream and a bit of honey !!  Brian just refinished a small wrought iron table and 2 chairs that were his parents and they are outside on our deck.  I will be drinking my morning coffee and tea out there whenever I can !!

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity.

Debra Davison

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas - March

I can't believe that March is already almost over . Lisa and I have been busy making sure we keep up with our weekly Christmas card commitment. We hope that you all have been enjoying our creations and that we are inspiring you to start on your holiday cards with us !!

For my first 2 cards, I again used the Oh What Fun stamp set from Unity Stamp Company. I colored the girls with a variety of my favorite markers -  Brea Reese, Faber-Castell and Staedtler. I stamped approximately 20 of these girls last month so I would have them ready for a quick card. I placed the background papers on cranberry card bases. 

For my next card, I used another Unity Stamp Company set - Noel  . I stamped the tag image on watercolor paper and then colored in the holly leaves, berries and postmarks. I added a touch of shimmer to the postmarks with a Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Pen. After fussy-cutting the tag, I wrapped some holiday twine around the bottom . I made a mat of scrap paper on the cranberry card base and then added a strip of pink plaid paper across the card. Several rhinestones were added to the top left side of the card as a finishing touch. 

My last card uses 1 of my favorite supplies - tags !! I found  a stack of holiday tags at Tuesday Morning and thought they would make fabulous holiday cards. I added another favorite element - coffee cups, so how could I go wrong !?!?!? 

Pebbles "Cozy & Bright" tags were perfect for some quick cards. The tags came in a pad with 6 different designs. I paired them with some fun coffee cup images - Coffee Petites from Stamplorations.  It's hard to see but I added some Wink of Stella Clear Glitter  Brush Pen  to the coffee. I made 7 of these tag cards. I used my Pink Scotch ATG Gun to adhere all elements on all of the cards I made this month..

I'm excited to see Lisa's cards and know that you will love them as much as I do !! Take a look at her cards on her blog - Life of a BZScrapper . We would love for you to follow us and also leave us a comment to tell us what you think of our crazy idea to make a Christmas Card a week throughout 2019. Are you working on yours too ??? 

Thank you for joining me at Meticulosity !!

Debra Davison

March Cookies 2019 - Take 2

Cookie Challenge #113 at If You Give A Crafter A Cookie is a fun take on one of my favorite images - Ladybugs !!  But I quickly realized that I didn't have any ladybug stamps at all . An Internet search came up with thousands and I finally chose a cute digi-stamp from Star Stampz on Etsy. I loved that our inspiration photo this time had purple ladybugs and continued that theme in my card ..

I am somewhat of a paper hoarder but when I was designing this card,  I knew that I wanted to use my Graphic 45 "Secret Garden"  Patterns & Solids paper pad. It had the perfect colors that I was looking for and once again, I mixed a few patterns !! Thesepapers are gorgeous and I;m glad that I finally took the plunge and used them for this card !!

• I printed the Spring Ladybug image on Neenah Stardust White cardstock , trimmed it and then cut a piece of Kraft cardstock as my card base .
• The image was colored with my favorite Faber-Castell PITT Artist pens .
• The stamped image was matted with 2 patterns from the  Graphic 45 "Secret Garden" paper pad of Patterns & Solids.
• Several rhinestones were added for some sparkle.
• An 'It's the Little Things" wooden embellishment completed the card.
• Tombow MONO Adhesive+ Permanent Runner was used to adhere all elements.

This Challenge runs from 3-21 to 4-1 and we hope that you will link up a creation of your own.  Are you partial to basic RED ladybugs or will we see some other unique colors  !?!?  I'm thinking I just might have to make a turquoise one next !!  Take a look at all of our Design Team projects HERE . 

Thanks so much for visiting Meticulosity once again !!

Debra Davison

March Cookies 2019 - Take 1

The fact that Spring is coming is freakin' Awesome !! Our weather here in Virginia Beach has been crazy - 70 degrees one day and in the 30's the next. I've been fighting cold after cold and I'm really sick and tired of it .. Plus it's rained so often that I am feeling like  a duck.. So when I saw the latest cookie challenge at If You Give A Crafter A Cookie, my first thought was that Spring would be here soon ( hopefully with better weather  ) AND that is freakin' Awesome !!

I went with a wildflower theme  to get me in a Springtime mood. I had the perfect supplies for this card !! The library card pocket, washi, and floral stamp are all from various Crate Paper "Maggie Holmes" collections that I found at Tuesday Morning !! National Letter Writing Month is coming up in April and I am in a fabulous group that provides a pen-pal for the entire month. I will be sending the card I've made to mine and using all of the other supplies to create more fun items to mail !!

• I started off with a wildflower card base.
• I spelled out the word AWESOME at the top of a tag using my stash of thousands of letter stickers. Am I the only one who still loves stickers ?!?!?! I then placed the tag in the pocket.
• The floral circle was stamped on Neenah Stardust White cardstock, colored with my Brea  Reese markers  and then punched out with a decorative circle punch.
• Multi-colored rhinestones were placed at intervals around the edge of the circle and then adhered to the library card pocket with Foam Tabs.
• Strips of washi were placed at the top right and bottom left of the library card pocket and then adhered to the card base with Tombow MONO Adhesive + Permanent Runner.

This card is so bright and cheerful that I can't wait to send it out in the mail. I wrote a message on the tag telling my penpal how much I am looking forward to the entire month of getting to know her better !!

This Challenge runs from March 7- March 20, so link up a project of your own that is freakin' Awesome !! And be sure to head over to IF YOU GIVE A CRAFTER A COOKIE and check out all of the great projects by my fellow Design Team members.  I hope that you will follow my blog if you don't already and also leave me a comment about my current project ..

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity.

Debra Davison

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas - February

Thank you to everyone who commented on our first Crafty Elf posts !! Lisa and I are keeping ech other motivated and can't wait to show you February's cards. After some sort of glitch with comments  ( I think it's a problem with Google + ), I've chosen a winner at random for  a Crafty Elf stamp. Vannessa Osbourn was new to my blog and I'm so excited to have her and thrilled that she won . Can't wait to see what she does with the stamp - send me your snail mil address and I will get it in the mail !!

For my first card, I inked up a holiday set that I never got around to using for my 2018 cards. It was a quick card to color and I cut  several extra images for more cards. I loved the vintage look of the background paper and couldn't wait to use it on a card !! I hope you like it ..

• On a Cranberry cardstock base, I adhered a piece of Vintage Xmas Tree paper from  American Crafts  All I Want For Christmas Is You paper pad .
• Using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink,  I stamped the girl image and the sentiment  from  the  Oh What Fun stamp set by Unity Stamp Company on  Strathmore Mixed Media Paper .    
• I fussy-cut the girl and colored her with a variety of my favorite markers - Faber-Castell, Brea Reese and   Staedtler. 
• I cut the sentiment, mounted it on a piece of dark green cardstock  and adhered it to the top of the card base in the center.
• I had cut the tree paper so the image was to the left and mounted the girl on the right, using Foam Tabs.   
• I adhered 3 green rhinestones on her coat as buttons.
• The pom-pom on the hat and the whipped cream on the cup were highlighted with some extra fine white glitter.      
• Tombow Adhesives were used to adhere all elements ( MONO Adhesive+, MONO Aqua Liquid Glue and Foam Tabs ).       

Now, for my next 12 cards - YES, I did say 12 - I gathered these supplies :

1. My favorite holiday washi
2. My favorite Sizzix On The Edge Scallops Die
3. A variety of sequins, rhinestones and other doo-dads !!
4. My MONO Adhesive+ Permanent Runner
5. 12 cardstock bases - I used A2 sized.
6. Scraps of holiday paper
7. A 12x12 piece of American Crafts Christmas paper with 12 journal card designs on it. I cut the images apart and had 12 holiday designs to work with. 

I added a cute Rubber Moon Tree Cup stamp to the snowman.

Washi and/or border scallops were added to all cards.

Green-striped Candy Dots were added to the Merry Christmas card.

All others had scallop borders or washi.

Sequins were placed on the tree and a washi frame was added.

I used a fun corner rounder on Season's Greetings.

Happy Holidays has washi, a scalloped border and dots added.

I've had friends tell me that they would love to make their Christmas cards throughout the year but just don't see how they can manage.  These 12 cards I made take minimal time and you can add as little or as much stamping as you'd like or as time allows. I only added stamping to 1 card but they all will be stamped on the inside.  I actually cut the paper into 12 cards and made 4 each week, along with other cards and Design Team projects. If I had just sat down to make all 12 cards at once, I probably could have finished them in 2 hours or less. 

Lisa and I have really been enjoying our Countdown and hope that you are inspired to make some Christmas cards throughout the year too. I hope you will comment on my February cards and then head on over to Lisa's blog at  Life of a BZscrapper to see what she has created. 

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity !!

Please join Lisa and I next month as we continue our Countdown.

Debra Davison