4 years of Meticulosity - # 3

This will be the last of my anniversary blog posts BUT the first of my posts for the Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop !! It's been 4 years that I have been blogging and blog hops have been a fun part of all of those years .  I've blog  hopped with Design Teams, for challenges and also to show my love of coffee  !! This Coffee Lovers Hop is definitely a favorite !! I am hoping to post something everyday during the Hop - from May 25  to June 1 - and will highlight some of my favorite company's stamps. 

• For my first card, I've used fabulous digis from Windows  and Girls on the Block - both by Vera Lane Studio. 
• I printed the images on Neenah Stardust White cardstock and also on a piece of cloud paper ( the window image ).
• I fussy cut the window, the sky images and the coffee cup.
• Using Tombow adhesives, I adhered a piece of  Echo Park "Party Time" paper to a sky blue cardstock base.
• I colored the window and coffee cup with a variety of my favorite markers .
• The sky areas of the window were adhered and then the entire window was placed in the lower right corner of the card.
• I placed some brown glitter on the coffee cup and then popped the image up on the windowsill with Tombow foam tabs.
• A sentiment from Tim Holtz Small Talk "Occasion" was placed on the upper left side of the card. 

Every Summer has a Story

Thank You for visiting Meticulosity and helping me celebrate my 4th anniversary. I will be choosing 2 commenters to win some fun supplies - there will be a papercrafter goodie bag and also a Snail Mail/stationery  prize . I'm glad to be able to combine my anniversary with the always fantastic Coffee Lovers Blog Hop !! There is alot of coffee inspiration at the Hop and I hope that you will be inspired !!

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

est. 2014

4 Years of Meticulosity - the 2nd post

Thank you to everyone who visited and/or commented on my previous blog post celebrating my 4th anniversary as a blogger !! Today I have some cards that showcase a favorite new line of supplies - "Crafty Girl" from Simple Stories . They have coordinating paper, washi, stickers, and die cuts. And I LOVE all of it !!  Sometimes I want to make a quick card without getting out my stamps and inks and this line is perfect for that . The blend of crafty designs with flowers is a fun combination to work with. 

I'm having a giveaway for my anniversary and plan to choose 2 winners from those who comment on my anniversary blog posts this week. One prize will be papercrafter's supplies and the other will be Happy Mail / stationery goodies. I love sending snail mail and many of the cards, postcards etc. that I make find their way to my Snail Mail friends.

All of the supplies for these cards are from the Crafty Girl line, except for a few rhinestones and the cardstock bases. Tombow Adhesives  were used to adhere all elements. I  actually made all 3 of these cards in 45 minutes - right before typing this post AND while my new kitten was napping !! She succeeded in knocking several things off my desk as I was preparing to make these cards, so I was  lucky that she decided it was time for a nap after a long morning of acting crazy and bird/squirrel watching !!

Eat. Sleep. Craft. Repeat

Crafty and Happy

Makers Gonna Make

Tomorrow is the start of the Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop so look for 1 more anniversary post with a coffee theme. Thanks again for all of your support, kindness  and comments these past 4 years. I've met some amazing people through my love of papercrafting, Snail Mail and blogging . Many are now my friends !! So it's nice to be able to celebrate with all of you .. Remember to comment for a chance at some fun supplies chosen by me. 

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity  

est. 2014

Debra Davison / Meticulosity 

4 Years of Meticulosity - #1

It's so hard for me to believe that I have been blogging for 4 years now. May 19, 2014 was my very first blog post and the rest is history. I have learned alot, met many creative people ( some who are now good friends ) and have been a part of several design teams. I have always been a lover of paper and my love of card-making has also been a part of my love of snail mail. I am in several swap groups for Happy Mail   -  a Coffee Lovers card swap, the Love Notes postcard project and the Global Postcard heART Swap. April was National Letter Writing Month and I was in a fabulous group hosted by Lindsay Ostrom. She assigned  me a penpal for the month and  I also sent mail to approximately 50 others in the group !! 

I want to thank everyone for your support of my creative side. Your visits to my blog and comments have really been a wonderful part of these past 4 years. So I want to share my anniversary celebration with all of you and have a fun giveaway !!  Because so much of my creativity is tied into my love of Happy Mail, I will have 2 giveaways. One will be papercraft focused and the other will be Happy Mail / stationary focused. All you have to do is comment on any of my Anniversary posts this week and you will be entered into the drawing for a prize. The prizes will be a variety of my favorite things from some of my favorite companies. No one has donated anything - these are all coming from my heart !!

A few quick cards made for this post combine my love of cardmaking with my love of snail mail. And these snail digi stamps from Vera Lane Studio are just the perfect images to use !!

• I printed the cute snails from the Snails Pace set from Vera Lane Studio on my favorite Neenah Stardust White cardstock.
• I also printed the images on a floral paper and a heart paper and cut out the shells to paper-piece on the snails.
• Some of my favorite markers were used to color the snails and shells - Faber-Castell PITT Artist pens, Sharpies, Ranger  Distress and Stampin' Up markers.
• The snails were then adhered to some of my favorite card bases using Tombow adhesives - both an adhesive runner and my favorite MONO Aqua Liquid Glue.

Some of my favorite images to stamp are coffee and cats. And a favorite technique of mine is paper-piecing.  I am a paper, stamp, ink & washi junkie !!  And I LOVE  to color and watercolor !! I have enjoyed learning techniques from many of my online friends and hope I have inspired you to get creative too !!

Waffle Flower Flora Cats, Vera Lane Studio Girls on the Block

Hampton Art  Quiet the Worries

I hope that you will take a minute and leave a comment for a chance to win one of my prizes in celebration of my 4 years as a blogger. Tell me about a favorite company or technique of yours. Or let me know if I've inspired you. I couldn't have done this without all of you and your support. Please  sign up to follow me as I start my 5th year of Meticulosity !! 

Thank you so much for visiting Meticulosity

Meticulosity - extreme attention to detail

The Starbucks cup that gave my blog its name !!!

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

May Cookies - Take 2

What an absolutely  perfect theme for our second May challenge over at IF YOU GIVE A CRAFTER A COOKIE. Brian and I recently adopted a sweet little kitten from the Virginia Beach Animal Care and Adoption Center and she has really stolen our hearts. Well actually, she chose Brian and the rest is history !! We had to say good-bye to our much-loved Anna a year ago and I have not even wanted to think about getting another cat. But I was starting to feel like it was time to begin looking and Brian definitely  was ready. Sooooooooooooo  I thought the process would take awhile and give me time to really get used to the idea, but that's not exactly what happened.  The first day we looked, we saw a cute little white kitten named Maxine. Well, she wrapped Brian around her little paw and we now have had her almost 1 month.  She has the cutest little face and I thought she looked like a little pixie, so now we have our sweet Pixie Dust . And that is why this theme is perfect !! Our sponsor for this challenge is Beccy's Place - they have a fabulous variety of clear AND digi stamps. Several team members have used their digis for this challenge. 

 

Pixie is the friendliest kitten ever and always so happy to see us when we come home from work or even just enter a room. She loves to roll around and really enjoys having her belly rubbed.  That inspired my card for this challenge !!

• I placed a gold doily in the lower right corner of a Molly & Rex card base and trimmed the edges. These cards look like they are water-colored and are fabulous !! I got them on clearance at Michaels.
• I stamped the cat image and sentiment on Neenah Stardust White cardstock using Memories India Black Ink . The stamps are from the Waffle Flower Flora Cat  stamp set. I fussy-cut the cat and trimmed around the sentiment.
• The cat image was colored using a variety of my favorite markers - from my beloved Faber-Castell PITT Artist pens to the Sharpies I buy at the office supply store.
• A piece of Recollections washi was placed at the bottom of the sentiment, which was then adhered to the lower right side of the card base on top of the doily. Tombow Mono Adhesive+ was used on the sentiment and the doily.
• Tombow Foam Tabs popped up the cat image onto the upper left side of the sentiment.
• A turquoise, pink, black and gold sequin were scattered on the front of the card to complete it and give it a bit of shimmer.

Take a look at my teammate's creations from this challenge's inspiration.  You can find them here.   Be sure to also look at Beccy's Place - they are providing a prize to one lucky person who links up a project for this challenge. I hope you will pull out your favorite dog/cat/pet stamp , get inspired and join us !!

And if you are ever looking for a pet, please remember to check out your local SPCA or Adoption Center. There are so many pets who need to be rescued to find their forever home. We are grateful for our little Pixie every day !!

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity !!

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

May Cookies - Take 1

It's time for our first challenge of May over at the If You Give a Crafter a Cookie Challenge Blog and this one is all about Fairies.  Our sponsor this month is A Day For Daisies and they have the sweetest variety of stamps, from fairies to books to flowers to mermaids. I hope you will take a look and maybe even be inspired to link up a project to this challenge. Someone who links up will be randomly chosen to win some digis from our sponsor.

I have always loved moon designs and was immediately drawn to the Talking With The Moon digi. I love to paper-piece and this digi really lent itself to that technique. I especially loved the pinks and blues in our inspiration cookie photo as you can tell in my finished card.

• I  printed the image on Neenah Stardust White cardstock and trimmed it to keep a small edge around it.
• Using my favorite Faber-Castell PITT Artist pens and some Distress Markers, I colored in all of the image except for the moon and the fairy's dress.
• I love using scraps of paper ( that I call snibbles, which is what my mom called them ) . I also printed the image on a large enough scrap of yellow star paper and another of the blue floral paper in order to fussy-cut and paper-piece the moon and her dress. 
• I used an older MAMBI cardstock paper pad to find a piece of marbled paper with colors to match the digital image. I cut the marbled cardstock to leave a small edge around the image.
• A piece of pale yellow cardstock was used as a card base to tie into the moon image.
• Dazzling Diamonds Glitter  by Stampin' Up was used on the wings and several yellow stars  to add a bit of shimmer.
• The word WANDER was found in my Memory Planning Sticker Book from MAMBI. I love to use planner goodies in my card designs.
• This is one of those cards that you have a  rough idea for in your head  and are really pleased at how it turns out !!

I am sure that my teammate's have really done a fantastic job with this challenge . There were so  many great digis to choose from. You can check them all out here , where you will also find links to each member's blog. This challenge runs for 2 weeks and I hope you will link up a project - a card, planner page, tag or ATC. Whatever you are inspired to create from our amazing Fairy Cookie photo!!

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity for this first May Challenge.

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste 4/29

Celeste and I are back for our blog collaboration and this month our guest is Maria Giselle. She is a friend of Celeste's and blogs at Maria Giselle's Creative Cuts. They met at a Copic Certification class a few years ago. Celeste chose our inspiration for this month and I'm excited to see what they both created !!

When I think of Spring, I think of sunshine and flowers and bright colors. I knew exactly what I wanted to use for my project - several digital designs from Vera Lane Studio.  I've seen amazing projects made with these digis and was excited to try one for myself !! Vera Lane Studio has an amazing collection of digi stamps and collage sheets. You really should check them out !!

• I started by printing these -  Circles and Stems collage sheet, Little Houses collage Sheet and Mayke's Markers digi girl - on my favorite Stardust White cardstock.
• The collage sheets are already colored so I just fussy-cut the elements I needed.
• I colored the girl with a variety of my favorite markers and then fussy-cut her out. Faber-Castell PITT Artist pens and Tim Holtz Distress Markers are my go-to markers !!
• Painted With Love paper from Stampin' Up was adhered to a bright pink cardstock base.
• Tombow MONO Aqua Liquid Glue was used to adhere all of the elements to the background paper, except for the girl, 
• She was popped up using Tombow Foam Tabs. 
• I dipped a pencil eraser into my  turquoise ink and used that to color her eyes. 
• A Wink of Stella Glitter Clear Brush Marker added some shimmer to her hair and lips. Dpn't you just love her heart-shaped mouth ??
• I printed " Spring At Last " from my computer onto cardstock, cut out the words and adhered them to the card to finish this project.

I hope you like my bright, sunshiney Spring card. You can check out Celeste's at Crafting Junky and our guest's at Maria Giselle's Creative Cuts. Leave us a comment and follow us if you don't already.

Today's coffee choice for me is Pecan Praline from Community Coffee. They have amazing coffee and the best flavors !! My cup is one I've had for years with a design of North Carolina lighthouses.  We are very close to the NC border and my guy, Brian is from NC. I actually had been storing brushes and markers in the cup but decided to use it for coffee !!

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity. Celeste and I hope to see you again next month for our May collaboration. May is the 4th anniversary of my blog and I will be having giveaways each week so be sure to follow me to check that out. 

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

April Cookies - Take 2

The second challenge for April over at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie is all about bees and daisies and black,white and yellow !! Challenge # 92 will be live from April 19 - May 2 and we hope you will take a look at all of our projects and also think about linking one of your own. Our sponsor this time is one of my very favorite companies - Bugaboo Stamps. I was inspired to use one of their digis for my project. 

For those of you that don't know me well, I am a bit of  planner person. I'm not dedicated to 1 type of planner or planner supplies. This year I have been using 2 planners - a KikkiK and a Daphne's Diary. For this challenge project, I decided to create a planner layout with the digi Girlz-Flowers . My 2018 Daphne's Diary Planner is absolutely beautiful to start with. It has pockets, stickers. bullet pages and amazing designs. I made my layout for the week of this blog post and hope you are inspired to get out your planner and be creative !!

• I printed the digi and cut the image to fit my page. I also printed it out on some scrap patterned paper and fussy-cut that to make her skirt. 
• Using my favorite Faber-Castell PITT Artist pens , I colored the digi stamp. 
• I had printed the digi several times and cut out a few daisies to use on the opposite planner page .
• I will admit that I am a sticker addict from way back to my childhood. For these planner pages, I used a fun Mini Sticker Table from Carpe Diem - Bloom. I'll even admit that I love this sticker book so much that I bought 2 !!
• My favorite grass washi was placed across the bottom of the Bugaboo Digi and I made a scalloped border from my Sizzix "On the Edge" Scallops Die by Tim Holtz and placed it at the top of the digi. 
• Black and white Candy Buttons from Basic Grey were used for the center of the daisies and completed my layout. 

For a chance at a prize from Bugaboo Stamps, link up a project from April 19 - May 2.  Bugaboo Stamps has some of the best coffee-themed digis too and you all probably know by now how much I  love anything coffee-related !! Take a look at the Challenge Blog for inspiration from my teammates. Leave me a comment here and let me  know what planner you use and where you find inspiration for your layouts. I'll choose someone at random to receive some fun planner supplies !!

Thank you for visiting my creative side at Meticulosity .

Debra Davison / Meticulosity