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 - 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

               

A Cookie For Santa - Take 2

The second November Challenge over at If You Give A Crafter A Cookie is full of holiday inspiration !! And it ties right in with the November Stamp of the Month from Anthony's Paper Craft . A wonderful image of Santa holding a chocolate chip cookie that was left for him by the children is a fabulous stamp for your  holiday cards ! And for the entire month of November, if you add this stamp to your basket, you will receive free shipping ( USA only ) .

I was proud of myself because I used paper scraps to make this card !! I have 2 scrap drawers in a rolling cart - 1 for solid colors and another for patterned paper. I had the plaid papers that I used as well as the snowflake paper. Unfortunately that only reinforces my need to save all those scraps !!

• I stamped the Santa image on pieces of white wood-grain paper and  a scrap of snowflake paper, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
• I colored the Santa image  and frame border using my favorite Brea Reese markers and Akashiya SAI Watercolor Brush Pens .
• I cut the snowflake background and adhered it to the wood-grain background.
• I layered a tartan plaid strip across the center of a  piece of  green plaid paper cut to fit my Kraft card base. I loved that the tartan plaid scrap had navy blue on it to match the lighter blue snowflake background.
• I wrapped a piece of black checkered ribbon around the plaid papers, tying a bow off to the left side of the card. 
• The Santa image was adhered to the center of the plaid papers on top of the ribbon,using Tombow Adhesive  -MONO Adhesive + Permanent Runner .

My fellow Anthony's Paper Craft Design Team members are posting each day this week with this fun Santa image.  You can see the other projects on the Anthony's Paper Craft Facebook Page.. Take a look at all of the great stamps HERE that Anthony's Paper Craft  has to offer , and be sure to add this Stamp of the Month to your cart through November to get free USA shipping. 

I also want to give a shout out to my Challenge teammates at If You Give A Crafter A Cookie. And to our sponsor this time -Fred She Said. If you link up a project before November 29, you just might win some free digis.  Take a look at the Design Team's inspiration here  from the photo shown below :

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity for some holiday inspiration !! See you again soon..

Debra Davison

October Cookies - Take 2

Of course we would have to do something  Halloween - themed for the latest Challenge over at the If You Give a Crafter a Cookie blog. Witch's hats, Spider webs, Jack-o-lanterns !! Orange and Black and White. There is so much you can do with these .. And the cookies - as always - look amazing !!

I found the cutest witch by Vera Lane Studio and just had to turn her into a card for a sweet friend !! She was so much fun to color and I got to use my favorite Halloween washi again too !! 

• On a black chalk-board card base, I placed several coordinating strips of Tim Holtz Idea-ology "Materialize" Design Tape across the bottom .
• I printed the digi witch from the Bewitchingly Cute set by Vera Lane Studio and the sentiment from the Wee Witches set, also by Vera Lane Studio,
• I cut out the sentiment to fit on the left side of the card base, leaving space to place a strip of Tim Holtz "Materialize" Design Tape along the side.
• The witch was fussy-cut and then colored, using a variety of my favorite markers - Sharpies, Flair pens,  and Faber-Castell .
• The sentiment and witch were adhered with Tombow Mono+ Adhesive Runner and Tombow MONO Aqua Liquid Glue.

Our wonderful sponsor this time is Little Blue Button Stamps . If you link up a project with our Cookie-inspired theme, you could win a prize from them !! This challenge runs for 2 weeks so be sure to link-up before November 1. Now head on over to the BLOG to see what my teammates have created for this spooky Challenge !!

Thank you once again for coming to visit Meticulosity !! I've been busy creating, but not posting much, so will have to remedy that !! Next week, I will be back with Celeste for our blog collaboration ALL about coffee and cards .. And I will be attending the Stamp Scrap Art Tour in Hampton, VA this Saturday and Sunday, and will definitely be blogging about that. I have not been to a Rubber Stamp show in over 20 years !! Look out credit cards, HERE I COME !! 

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Most Grateful

We are in for some stormy weather here on the East Coast so to take my mind off of Hurricane Florence for a bit, I decided to get  creative.. As a member of the Design Team for Anthony's Paper Craft, I have a variety of amazing stamps to get my creative juices flowing !! Since I am ready to be done with the summer we've had , with temperatures reaching near 100 degrees on many days, I decided to make a Fall-themed card. 

I recently found the perfect 6x6 paper pad at Tuesday Morning. Fall colors and patterns had me immediately thinking of cooler temps and also cards that I could make. I decided to paper-piece my card so that I could more adequately highlight the wonderful new papers I had found. 

• On Kraft cardstock bases, I adhered a different pattern of paper from the  American Crafts Cedar Lane 6x6 paper pad .
• I stamped the pumpkins from the Anthony's Paper Craft stamp set Pumpkins onto 3 different complementary patterned papers, also from the Cedar Lane paper pad, using Memento Espresso Truffle ink.
• I then stamped the smallest pumpkin once on Kraft cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
• The sentiment from Greetings Set 2 was stamped on woodgrain paper,  and cut out. 
• The medium pumpkin was adhered flat to the right side of the card base The larger pumpkin was adhered near the bottom right of the card, covering a portion of the medium pumpkin and popped up using  Stampin' Up Dimensional Foam Tabs.
• The smallest pumpkin was adhered to the right lower corner of the card over the medium and large pumpkins using American Crafts Foam Tabs. These are thicker than the Dimensionals and  allowed me to raise that pumpkin up higher. 
• I used the pumpkin that I stamped on Kraft paper for the stems of the patterned paper pumpkins. 
• All paper and images were adhered using a variety of Tombow Adhesives - MONO Adhesive+ Permanent Runner and MONO Aqua Liquid Glue.
• On the largest card, I adhered a dotted border across the top and tied a bit of Orange/Black twine around that to finish the card. 

Pumpkin stem detail

Confession time -- Making these cards did take my mind off of the weather for a few hours, which was a lovely distraction. But I know I must not have been paying attention to detail as much as I normally do, because I adhered everything to the front of the card upside down. The opening of the card is at the top !! Oh well, I'm sure I'm not the only one with a story like that to tell !!

Thank you for allowing me to share my creativity with you .. I hope you like the stamps I used and that you will check out the SHOP at Anthony's Paper Craft . There are many fantastic stamps to inspire you and some great images to get you ready for Fall and the holidays .

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste 8/26

It's hard to believe that August is almost over. Right around the corner are pumpkin spice lattes, sweater weather and everything Autumn. But for this collaboration with Celeste, I chose something different, nothing Pumpkin !! Steampunk is our theme this time. And Murphy's Law was in effect.I had a paper pad chosen to use with great grungy, steampunk designs and misplaced it.. The stamp/die set I wanted to use was also missing in action !! If there was ever a sign that I need to destash, this was it !! Luckily, I figured out a back-up plan but it was touch and go there for awhile !!

Viva Las Vegas Stamps came to the rescue with their City on Snail stamp.  And a stamp I found at Hobby Lobby by American Art Stamp  "Gears of My Heart"  also found its way into my design. This card is all about my absolute LOVE of Snail Mail. I am in several postcard/card swap groups and send Snail Mail on a regular basis.

• I stamped the snail image on a piece of Neenah Stardust White cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink..
• The Steampunk Heart was stamped with Ranger Perfect Medium on Neenah Stardust White cardstock, then embossed with American Crafts ZING Rouge embossing powder. I fussy-cut the image.
• Also using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, I stamped the Long Love Snail Mail by Savvy Stamps onto a scrap piece of ledger paper, cut it out, then distressed the edges.
• Using Tombow Adhesives, I adhered the snail, heart and sentiment to a black/red patterned card base. This base was in a box of cards inspired by the Twilight books and has some great patterns in it !!
• I left room under the City on Snail image to place a row of my favorite stamps. 
• A gear was placed on the heart to add some dimension. My guy, Brian actually bought me a small bag of those gears to use on my cards. Could this mean that he finally understands my love of cards ( AND snail mail ) ?!?!?!

Today's coffee is a wonderful Blonde Roast from Starbucks.  It's in the cutest cup sent to me by a Snail Mail friend who lives in Cali. I'm not a traveler but have many friends who understand and even share my love of coffee cups !! I've received Starbucks mugs from all over the world !!

Thank you for visiting me here at Meticulosity for another collaboration with Celeste. Check out her take on our Steampunk theme over at her blog Crafting Junky. Autumn will be arriving soon and I'm looking forward to some fun fall color schemes and inspiration. So come back in September for more coffee and cards with us !!

.Debra Davison

Christmas in July with APC

I have always loved Christmas & crafty Christmas supplies are no exception !! It's never too early to start on Christmas cards, so I am bringing you some early holiday cheer with my first cards as a member of the Design Team for Anthony's Paper Craft. I hope my cards will inspire you to check out Anthony's wonderful collection of stamps. My first 2 cards have a vintage look and combine some favorite APC stamps with a much-loved ( and hoarded ) Tim Holtz paper pad !!

• On a scrap piece of text paper, I stamped 4 ornament images from the Anthony's Paper Craft stamp set Ornament Set 1 with Memories India Black Ink. 
• I also stamped the ornaments on 2 card-sized pieces of very pale pink paper from the Tim Holtz Holidays Past paper pad . I positioned the ornaments side by side/ one a bit lower than the other,  leaving room at the top and bottom of the paper for my sentiment and banners.
• Using StazOn Midi Ink Pads in Emerald City, St. Valentine, Blue Hawaii and Jet Black, I stamped the 4 scenes from Ornament Set 2 onto the 4 text ornaments and then fussy-cut  ONLY the ornaments ( not the ornament top or bow ).
• The sentiments - also by Anthony's Paper Craft  - were stamped on a green piece of paper, also from the Holidays Past paper pad, using Emerald City StazOn. They were then cut to fit on the cards.
• I made several long and short banner flags for the cards. The smaller ones were made with a paper punch and the larger ones were cut by me to fit the spaces.
• I colored the ornament tops and bows with some Brea Reese and Tim Holtz Distress markers.
• All elements were adhered using a combination of Tombow adhesives - MONO Adhesive+ runner, MONO Aqua Liquid Glue and Foam Tabs. The foam tabs were used to pop up the sentiments. 
• The text ornaments were adhered over the stamped images on the background paper. Short banners were placed at the top left of each card and a longer banner at the bottom left. The sentiments were each placed at the top right.
• A piece of Maya Road "Sweet Candy" twine was tied around the top of the banner on the Seasons Greetings card. 
• On a ledger card base from DCWV Vintage Collector, I adhered the  Seasons Greetings card and the Happy Holidays card is on a white base. 

I love the vintage look of these cards and the stamps by Anthony's Paper Craft were perfect. I'm excited to be a part of this Design Team and can't wait to show you more Christmas in July projects throughout the month !! Anthony will be in my area in October for a stamp show and I look forward to meeting him in person. I will give you more information about that in another post. I might even be teaching a Make & Take at the show !! Thank you to Anthony for giving me this opportunity to work with his stamps . I look forward to working with all of the other DT members. Shout-out to Michael Trent who introduced me to Anthony's Paper Craft. He is also on the APC DT and can be found at World of Michael Trent . 

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

March Cookies - Take 2

As we all head into warmer weather, what better than a Springtime theme for Cookie Challenge #90 over at the IF YOU GIVE A CRAFTER A COOKIE Challenge Blog !! Our inspiration photo is full of bunnies, chicks, ducks, eggs and fabulous spring colors . I had recently bought a couple 6x6 paper pads at Tuesday Morning and knew they would be perfect for a Spring-themed project. Our fabulous sponsor for this Challenge is Little Blue Button Stamps. 

I don't send many Easter cards or have many Easter stamps, but I did recently buy a few at the amazing Hobby Lobby clearance. I found wood-mounted stamps clearanced for $1 and $2 dollars so somehow they jumped into my cart. I do love wood-mounted stamps but have been trying to downsize recently to make my stash more manageable !! As usual, my card did not turn out like any of the ideas I had in my brain, But I am thrilled with it and now just need to decide who to send it to. 

Spring is in The Air

• Using  a piece of pale yellow Bazzill card stock, I made the card base.  
• The floral images were from a piece of Pebbles "Garden Party" paper . I cut off the 4th floral design in the bottom right corner and placed a piece of coordinating paper from the same pad in its place. 
• The Easter basket is a Mason-Row stamp from Hobby Lobby. I used Memories India Black Ink to stamp the basket onto Stardust White cardstock, as well as a few scraps of coordinating spring-colored paper.
• I cut out the basket and eggs, colored them with some favorite markers and then adhered them to a fussy-cut basket image. 
• I popped up the basket in the lower R corner of the card with Tombow foam tabs, then positioned a Tim Holtz Small Occasions sentiment above it.
• To complete the card, I placed 3 sequins above the sentiment and numerous rhinestones and pearls on the flowers.  
• All items were adhered with Tombow Adhesives -  both MONO Permanent Adhesive+ Runner and MONO Aqua Liquid Glue.

Take a look at my teammate's projects here and be inspired  by their Spring designs.  Each challenge is open for 2 weeks. Link up one of your own creations by April 4 for a chance at a prize from our sponsor this time, Little Blue Button Stamps. 

Thank you so much for visiting Meticulosity 

Debra Davison