Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste - 4/28

For our April collaboration, Celeste suggested we use a stencil. Of course, I have many stencils in my stash, so all I had to do was choose one !!  It's been a very challenging month around here  -- let's just leave it at that. And one way that I relax is to read a great book and escape into someone else's world.  While I was reading this week, I decided that I needed a new bookmark . A bigger bookmark, And that is how this month's project was born. 

I immediately thought of the stamp Nerd Bird from Rubber Moon and designed by Lori Sparkly Franklin. I chose a large tag from my stash - I think it is by Prima Marketing.  And of course, it had to have some washi too !! The stencil is a Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Holiday Knit.

• I started off by selecting the area I wanted to stencil and masking that area off with some painter's tape. I then used  Brea Reese Gold Modeling Paste to stencil the design at the top of the tag. 
• I immediately sprinkled some Tumbled Glass Distress Glitter  over
  the modeling paste and shook off the excess, then allowed this to dry for several hours.
• I had stamped the Nerd Bird image onto a piece of watercolor paper,  a piece of yellow-patterned paper and also a piece of brown-patterned paper.
• The bird and nest images were cut out of the patterned paper and the complete image was cut out of the watercolor paper. 
• I layered 4 strips of coordinating washi to the bottom area of the tag and 1 piece of washi at the top above the stenciling. 
• The bird and nest were adhered to the watercolor image after I colored in the books with some favorite markers. 
• I then adhered the entire image to the tag at the top of the 4 washi strips. 

This tag is fun because it has space on the back for me to write down the books I have read. I have several other Book Nerd friends and we are always recommending books to each other. And nothing is more frustrating  than not being able to remember the title of the fabulous book you just finished !!

My coffee this time is good old Folgers  with Coconut Caramel Latte  Creamer . I picked up this mug at Home Goods and it about sums up how I want to handle this month !! Head on over to Celeste's blog - Crafting Junky - to see what her stencil project is. We hope that you will leave us a comment and also sign up to follow our blogs. 

Namast'ay in bed with my cat

Feline going back to bed

Thank you so much for visiting Meticulosity !!

Debra Davison

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas - April

Well, here we are with another successful month of Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas . Lisa and I are creating a Christmas card each week so we are ready for the holiday season and not in panic mode as card-sending season approaches !! The last 2 weeks have been crazy for me -- from a crushed foot ( my guy's ) to a broken crown on my tooth to multiple car issues resulting in many $$$$$$$$ spent.  Nothing we can't handle and we know we are lucky in so many ways but ----  sometimes enough is enough !! So this post won't be lengthy and detailed because I am off work tomorrow and   want to go to bed early and read a book .. I've been thinking about that all day ..

For my first card, I used the Snowstar Girl stamp from Impression Obsession. This stamp was designed by my talented friend, Lindsay Ostrom and you can check out all of het IO stamps  HERE. I used a bright green card base and stamped the image on kraft cardstock. A few different patterns of washi from Tim Holtz and a Paper House sticker sentiment were all I needed to make a fun card. I colored the image with a variety of my favorite markers and topped off her hat with some glitter. I'm  loving this card and hope you do too..

#1 - Believe in the Magic of Christmas

For my second card, I used a cute elf design that hadn't even been inked up yet - the stamp is Elf Christmas  from Unity  Stamp Company. I started off with a star-patterned red card base.  The image was stamped on Kraft and colored. I  placed 2 strips of coordinating holiday washi by Tim Holtz at the top of the Kraft piece and then tied a strand of holiday twine around the Kraft at the bottom of the washi strips. The sentiment from Elf Christmas was stamped and then adhered at the bottom of the stamped image with another strip of  washi. 

#2 - Elf Christmas

My next card gets away from the traditional holiday colors of red and green and uses another Unity Stamp Company image - Winter Forest. On an ivory card base, I placed my image  and sentiment  that were stamped on watercolor paper. Tim Holtz washi was placed at the top and bottom of the image and several coordinating sequins added a bit of shine at the top of the sentiment. Some coloring on the trees finished this card .

#3 - Winter Forest

And last, but not least - I love socks !! Especially Christmas socks !! So, this Warm & Cozy stamp, also from Unity Stamp Company, was begging to be used in our Christmas Countdown !! A quick and simple card , using the stamped image & sentiment and a piece of holly washi tape. Just a bit of coloring and this card was finished !! I thought about adding some sequins or candy dots or Nuvo drops but then just decided to leave well enough alone ( sometimes a hard concept for me to grasp ).

#4 - Warm & Cozy

Now that you've seen my cards, take a look at Lisa's over at her blog -   Life of a BZScrapper .Take a moment to sign up and follow us and leave a comment telling us if you're starting on your holiday cards early along with us. Have we inspired you to make even 1 Christmas card ??  I want to help you this time by having a giveaway of some Christmas goodies - just leave a comment on my post for a chance to win . 

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity !!

 

Debra Davison

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