WMS Blog Waltz - Mother's Day

The little Irish stamp company that could, Waltzingmouse Stamps, is having a blog waltz. Yessiree, no unseemly hopping going on here - just a lovely, swaying waltz around the blogosphere.

The theme is Mother's Day, which we celebrate in Canada in May, so maybe this year my mum will get her card on time!

I am especially pleased with the text I removed from the book "Gardens of our Souls" and used for the background of this card. If you click on the photo, it should expand large enough for you to read it. The excerpt talks about mothers' voices, their tried and true quotes, like "Wear clean underwear," and even cites the Irish poet W.B. Yeats! I used only Waltzingmouse stamps (Spring Baskest and Faux Fun sets) on this card and made liberal use of Pumice Stone, one of the 12 new Distress Inks I'm playing with these days. Ribbon is a wired ombre. Hardware is Stampin' Up! As Claire of WMS would say, "Hope it tickles."

To find out where all the other stops are in the waltz, go to Claire's blog post as it has all the details.

Fool me twice!

That was the theme of this week's Created byHand Challenge, Fool Me Twice. I decided to settle for once. This card looks like a medallion was stamped to create the focal point, but actually, it is a kaleidoscope card.

I made this using a Flourishes 1 stamp from Quietfire Design. I stamped it 12 times through a 30 degree wedge cut from a piece of acetate. A Martha Stewart water lily punch for the center is accented by an amber Swarovski crystal, echoed by 12 smaller ones around the circle. The corner diamond is also from Quietfire. I think I need to purchase Suzanne's Flourished Corners set - they would have been perfect! Distress Inks were used to shade the background.

Here's a (fuzzy) close up:

Thanks for stopping by!

Easter Treats

Everytime I look at these little boxes, I smile. They were SO easy! Plus, they qualify for the Created byHand Challenge this week to "Don't Worry, Be Hoppy!" Fun!

I found the pre-made Martha Stewart-brand wedding favor boxes marked down 70 percent at Michaels. At the time, I had no idea what I would use them for, but they were plain vanilla so I knew they'd be versatile. I stamped the Stampin' Up! bunny from the Tags So Much set on the die cut label and placed the text from the Waltzingmouse Spring Baskets set beneath. The die nested nicely on top of one cut from the Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels One set in a teal and purple polka dot. A lilac band around the middle and some simple watercoloring, and ta da - little gifties for my staff. I filled them with mini eggs and jelly beans.

Here's a close up:

Thanks for taking a gander!

Three Chairs For You!

I have gotten a lot of use out of this Chairs for You stamp set from Flourishes. I like the punny sentiment. I stamped the chairs with Black Graphite Brilliance Ink. I coloured them by scribbling Bic permanent markers on acetate, then I picked up the ink with a fine tip waterbrush pen with the chamber filled with Ranger's Alcohol Blending Solution. I used the same technique to colour the white satin ribbon with a gradient pattern. Nestabilities provided the ovals and scallops.

Here are some other cards I made earlier using this set:

Easter Easel Card

Easel cards are fun. One thing I dislike about cards that are heavy with layers and embellishments - they tend to tip over. With the easel card structure, that won't happen. I used the lovely template and instructions provided by Penny Wessenauer.

I must confess after stamping for almost 20 years, it feels like cheating to use designer papers in something other than scrapbooks. For so many years stampers had to create their own backgrounds, and now the work is done for us! This paper is from a 7 Gypsies Nottinghill 6 inch square pad. I cut a 5.5 square panel. The main image is a Stampin' Up! stamp, and I like how the butterfly echoes the one in the pre-printed paper. I layered a second butterfly that was stamped on acetate and backed with glitter over the main image one. I left the wings free to flap a bit.

I used a clear button backed with more designer paper to serve as the stopper so the card front remains upright. A Spellbinders Fancy Tag was threaded with a ribbon and stamped with a Waltzingmouse sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by today. Happy Easter!

Easter Bonnet

This gal - a stamp from Lost Coast Designs - is ready for the Easter parade. I stamped her in Versafine Onyx Black and then clear embossed before painting in with felt pens.

The frame is a Spellbinders die cut that I sponged with purple ink. For the portrait background, I used the Dotted Harlequin Background from Quietfire Design and left the center lighter to create a bit of backlighting for the portrait. The mustard cardstock was stamped all over with Stampin' Up!'s paisley background.

I really like Swarovski crystals and the two used here add a nice subtle touch of bling. In real life they catch the light.

Happy Easter WMS Style

Sometimes the simplest looking of cards take a long time to come together. This one was fussy. I stamped the basket of eggs in Brilliance Graphite Black on Super Smooth Cardstock. I heat set, then painted in with Bic Permanent Markers ink that I scribbled on acetate and picked up with a brush wetted with Ranger's Alcohol Blending Solution. They are pale pastel but the scan isn't showing them well.

I mounted the white cardstock layer inside the purple card. I cut the circle and the scalloped circle out of the purple card front and the striped designer paper using Spellbinders Nestabilities. The sentiment and frame were stamped on white glossy cardstock and cut out with Spellbinders Labels Four. I mounted this with pop dots. All stamps are Waltzingmouse Stamps.