Praying Vintage Style

Posted on November 7, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I needed to make a sympathy card and when I saw the challenge over at the Paper Players this week I knew I could use it to make the card. My friend who lost her father yesterday loves this style.

I pulled out a set I haven’t used in a long time, Everything Eleanor, because it has some beautiful vintage-style elements. I started by lightly painting a sheet of Typeset dsp with a layer of gesso to soften the newsprint. After that dried I added my elements.

I used a color scheme of Kraft and Lost Lagoon. The bottom layer of dsp is from the All Abloom dsp stack, and the sentiment is from Thoughts & Prayers.

Sympathy cards are always so hard to make. I like the soothing colors on this card and the pretty, muted images.

Enjoy your Friday! Thanks for stopping by!

A Mother’s Day Card

Posted on May 5, 2014 by amyoneillblog

It’s time to get those Mother’s Day cards in the mail. I had to make one more yesterday and I decided to use the new sketch over at Retro Sketches.

I went through my stamps and couldn’t find but one small stamp for Mother’s Day. I completely forgot about the stamp that was included in the last My Paper Pumpkin Kit, and it would have been perfect! When I can’t find exactly what I’m looking for, I go to MDS and use the search function. I found a great stamp there from the All Holidays download. I colored it the colors I wanted and printed it out on Whisper White card stock. Easy Peasy!

I started by stamping the Dictionary background stamp on Smoky Slate card stock with Versamark ink. Then I stamped the pretty flourish from Everything Eleanor with Crushed Curry ink over it.

I stamped three flowers with the Petite Petals stamp set and punched them out with their coordinating punch, and then punched out three little flowers using the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and layered them on top. I added some ribbon and Gold Sequin Trim on top, and layered a Regals button on that.

Have a great Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

Artisan Finalist Blog Hop — Day 9

Posted on August 18, 2013 by amyoneillblog

Well, we’re almost to the end of our blog hop for those of us who were selected as the 20 finalists for Stampin’ Up’s Artisan Award, but were not selected for the Artisan design team.

Today I have my fifth and final card to share with you.

I used some of the Flower Trim (if Stampin’ Up! should ever decide to bring this retired product back, I would be so happy), and dyed it with a sponge dauber and Calypso Coral ink. I die cut a heart from some scrap card stock using one of the Hearts collection framelits, and hot glued the flowers on it.

Here’s a look at the inside:

You can venture on over to Breelin Renwick’s blog now to see her beautiful project, or you can work your way backwards starting with the amazing Wendy Weixler. Either way, you’re sure to find a stamping treat for the eyes.

Enjoy your Sunday evening! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Loving Thoughts
Ink: Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette
Paper: Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper, 2011-2013 In Color Designer Series Paper Stack, Neutrals Designer Series Paper Stack
Accessories: 5/8” Flower Trim, Hearts Collection Framelits, Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, Calypso Coral Baker’s Twine, Delicate Details Lace Tape, Scallop Edge Border punch, 1” Circle punch, Color Spritzer Tool, sewing machine

Eleanor Meets Floral Fusion — FabFri18

Posted on May 10, 2013 by amyoneillblog

It’s time for another challenge at Fab Friday, and this time it’s a color challenge.

Considering that I rarely use any of these colors, this was definitely a Challenge (with a capital C) for me. I was hoping inspiration would strike all week, but it didn’t. So I sat down with the Everything Eleanor set, since I hadn’t used it in a while, and pulled out the colors. And after playing with some of the elements for a while, I was finished. And I kinda like how it turned out.

That’s one of the things that I love about challenges — they often get you to try things that you might normally not try.

Well, I hope you’ll play along with us at Fab Friday. You have two weeks. Enjoy your Friday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Loving Thoughts
Ink: Primrose Petals, Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit
Paper: Very Vanilla, In-color dsp stack, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple
Embellishments: Floral Fusion Sizzlit die, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Pearl Basic Jewels, Color Spritzer Tool, Gold Glow Smooch Spritz, Raspberry Ripple, 3/8″ Stitched Satin Ribbon, Soft Suede 3/8″ Taffeta Ribbon, Victoria 5/8″ Crochet Trim

A Recycled Butterfly

Posted on April 7, 2013 by amyoneillblog

Today at the Paper Players Nance Leedy has a fun theme challenge for us:

I took a piece of the cardboard box from my last Stampin’ Up! order and ran it through my Big Shot with the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die. I then peeled off the top layer of the cardboard to expose the ridges in the middle, and painted it with some white acrylic paint and then sprinkled on some Silver Glass Stampin’ Glitter. I dyed a flower from the 5/8″ Flower Trim with some Pink Pirouette ink and adhered it to the center of the butterfly.

Here’s a test for you to see how observant you are. I made a careless mistake on this card. Can you figure out what I did wrong? I didn’t even notice it until I was photographing the card. You get a star for the day if you guessed that the text on the background dsp is upside down. Ugggh! I hate it when I do things like that, and unfortunately it isn’t a rare occurrence. I’d already spent too much time on this card, and couldn’t face redoing it, so it is what is.

I hope you can join us in the challenge this week at the Paper Players. I’d love to see what you recycle. Want to see what the rest of the design team did? You can check them out here:

Enjoy your Sunday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Fabulous Phrases
Ink: Summer Starfruit, Baja Breeze
Paper: Summer Starfruit, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Subtles dsp stack
Embellishments: Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Baja Breeze 1/2″ Seam Binding Ribbon, Large Scallop edgelit, Color Spritzer Tool, 5/8″ Flower Trim, Silver Stampin’ Glass Glitter, White Acrylic Paint (non-SU), cardboard

A Sympathetic Eleanor — PP131

Posted on February 3, 2013 by amyoneillblog

It’s time for a theme challenge at the Paper Players this week.

They aren’t my favorite card to make (and definitely not to send), but it’s always great to have sympathy cards on hand because we all need to send them from time to time. So join us in this challenge and make a sympathy card for your stash.

I pulled out a stamp set that I haven’t been giving enough love, Everything Eleanor. I think this set is so pretty and I really should use it more. I colored the flower with my markers and a blender pen.

I hope you can find some time to join us in this challenge at the Paper Players. Check out what the other designers created here:

If you missed yesterday’s post, you may want to check it out — blog candy! Enjoy your Sunday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Loving Thoughts
Ink: Midnight Muse, Pool Party, Raspberry Ripple, So Saffron
Paper: So Saffron, Whisper White, Comfort Cafe
Embellishments: Basic Pearl Jewels, Sycamore Street Ribbon and Button pack, Pool Party Baker’s Twine

Embrace the White Space

Posted on September 27, 2012 by amyoneillblog

I still struggle with white space. I’ve been trying to get comfortable with it, but it doesn’t come naturally to me. It doesn’t help that whenever I show a card with considerable white space to my husband, he usually says, “It needs something right here,” as he points to the white space. But sometimes, nothing looks right there — it’s better just white.

Well, I struggled with the white space on this card. I tried placing little banners made of patterned paper up in the top right corner, and I thought about adding brads… But in the end, I liked it best with just white space. Do you ever struggle with this too? I think we just need to embrace the white space sometimes.

Enjoy your Thursday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Fabulous Phrases
Ink: Pool Party, Cajun Craze, Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse
Paper: Very Vanilla, Comfort Cafe, Champagne Glimmer Paper
Embellishments: Pearl Basic Jewels, Regals Designer Buttons, Linen Thread