Sending Sunshine Spring Gazebo Card

 

Hi Friends, 

Today I'm sharing a pretty spring card I created using Heartfelt Creations 3D Large and Small Wild Roses stamps, dies and shaping mould. I also used Anna Griffin's gazebo die, brick embossing folder and sentiment stickers.  I absolutely love these flowers and they were very easy to make using the shaping mould.  They almost shape themselves, they are that easy to create!  Between the leaves, pink and lilac flowers, I used 10 different colored archival inks.  Then added some Dimond Crystal Glitter for petal sparkle and seed beads for the flower centers.  Let's take a closer look at these lovely flowers: 

Well that's it for me today.  I hope you enjoyed this lovely spring card!  Until next time, have a crafty day! ~ Dawna 

Two Hearts Love Valentine and Parisian Inspired Amour Valentine

Morning Friends,

Today I'm sharing a special Valentine made for my dear husband Richard.   We will be married 30 years this May so I wanted something special to mark the occasion. After almost 30 years, you get to know each other pretty well. And like all couples we've shared a lot of joy and happiness and endured our fair share of ups and downs. Its not always easy, but our shared faith remains the one constant that helps us overcome wherever life throws our way.  

To make this card, I began by playing with 1/2" strips, originally thinking that I would basket weave them, but after doing so, they looked too busy.  I loved how they looked just staggered in different colors so I went with that for the background.   I finished the background off  by double matting it for a clean and simple look.  Then, I sewed two different hearts together to say that with love, two hearts beat as one. The hearts open to a sentiment that reflects this shared meaning in our lives.  I finished it off with some lovely Prima flowers and their beautiful open fret work die leaves.  I love the vintage colors of these papers by My Minds Eye.  The bold color combination, while subtly vintage, is still quite striking with the black and cream accents. 

Using the same MME paper collection, here's one more Parisian inspired 'Amour' Valentine card.  This one is available at my Etsy today.  Very similar techniques only I used a 6x6 negative heart overlay which is attached to a blank card so you can add your own sentiment. 

Thank you for dropping by and I hope you enjoyed this share. Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy Valentines Day!   Until next time ... Big Hugs ~ Dawna

Sunshine Chalk Cards

Morning Friends,

A few weeks ago my local stamp store, The Stampin Post in Old Town Temecula, CA hosted a card class and taught us how to work with powdered chalk and white ink.  We used these adorable stamps from Darcie, learned several tips and all had a great time.  

I love the papers and sentiments used on these cards, they are so happy and just make me smile.  Here's the whole collection we created:

And here's a few more close ups:

A Pint of Thanks and a Quart of Gratitude

Sending Sunshine Your Way

Tomorrow May Rain so I'll Follow the Sun

Hello Sunshine

All of these Darcie stamps are no longer available at Darcie's site, however, they are still available at The Stampin Post.  Feel free to contact the shop if your interested in making a purchase.  

Well friends that's it for me today.  I hope you enjoyed these happy cards.   Until next time, be inspired and create something from the heart!    Hugs ~ Dawna

April Birthday Club

Front of Linny's Tag

Morning Friends,

I'm doing a little  catch-up on my blog today, so please forgive me if you've already seen this creation.  I will explain how I made this lovely tag and provide links to most of the materials, so if you'd like to know about that, feel free to follow along. 

This happy birthday tag is for my sweet friend Linny.  She's the kind of friend that always makes you smile, laugh, cry and everything in between.   But mostly, Linny always has something silly to say that reminds me not take myself or life too seriously.  I  love her for that wonderful quality and I'm so grateful to have her friendship!  

Linny loves romance and the vintage style so when I saw this wonderful image, I knew it would be perfect for her.  Last month I made my first tag (see Martica's Angel Tag) and I thought I would try my hand at it again for Linny.  I love the way the front turned out and here's a peek at the back.  I did a little experimenting with different stitches on my electronic sewing machine and loved how these stitches turned out: 

Back of Linny's Tag

I had a lot of fun creating this tag and kept the steps pretty simple.  To create the base tag, I made a front and back side so I could individually stitch on each side.  I shaped the tops before I started sewing.   I used black cardstock in the middle and trimmed it up so it highlighted the scalloped tag top and gave the tag a nice thin framed look.  The bottom was complimented by adding a green scalloped ribbon at the bottom.  I made sure to glue the scalloped ribbon on the back of one of the tags so when I glued all three layers together it was captured in the middle layers.  I finished off the top with an eyelet and piece of black velvet ribbon.  To embellish the bottom I used black chiffon double ruffled ribbon and ran a rhinestone trim across it to give it a pretty splash of bling!  

Back of Linny's Tag

Front of Linny's Tag

To create the front, I feather stitched around the edges of the vintage image then backed it with pink cardstock.  I finished the edges by distressing them with Prima's chalk edger in black coal.  I slanted the image on the front and anchored the top and bottom corners with a piece of Prima's new medallion lace.  I blackened the lace pieces by spraying them with Prima's color bloom spray, vintage coal misting ink.  Then to anchor the image by creating a flower cluster with a center champagne pink rose, pink Prima botanical flowers, sweetheart blossom,  white rose buds and a few leaves under the flower cluster.  I balanced the top off  by adding a Tim Holtz vintage Parisian metal plate.  And voila, there you have it friends, all done! 

I was very happy with how this simple, yet elegant, tag came out.  I was especially pleased that Linny loved getting it!  Thank you for dropping by and having a peek.  If you have an extra minute to leave a comment, I always appreciate hearing from you.  Have a wonderful day and remember,  when create something from the heart you live life inspired!  Dawna ~ <3