Easter baskets

I am trying so hard to use what I have... to not run to Archivers or any other scrapbook store every time I have an idea and can't find just the right thing in my stuff. Ya, I know... not really the best way to stimulate the economy, but hey, if you could see my stuff you would know that I've stimulated the economy plenty over the years! :o)

So, when I wanted to make little Easter treats for my staff at work, I found these little white handled boxes that I picked up at JoAnn's a long time ago. Who knows what I wanted them for back then! lol

I covered all four sides in green cardstock and added a strip of glitterfied polka dot paper (Doodlebug) around the top. The tag is my favorite part. I stamped Hunny Bunny (Whipper Snapper Designs) on white cardstock, colored the image with Copic markers and lightly airbrushed the sky with blue. *Happy Spring* is stamped using my Karen Foster snap stamps (yup, another forgotten goodie) and then attached the image to a pink scalloped circle. The tag is attached to the box with a felt flower and a brad. Throw in some yummy candy and there you go!

For the guys, I used some awesome bag/boxes that I got from a friend a year (or two?) ago. These were easy peasy! I filled the bag with candy, set it in the box (base), tied the bag with a little ribbon and added the tag.

When I did the tags for the girls boxes, I colored Hunny Bunny with a grey marker (C1) just around the edges. I like the hint of shadow, but couldn't achieve that soft look I wanted. Then, when I masked the bunny to spray the sky, I realized that I could achieve the look I wanted with the airbrush! So... since I was going to cut the bunnies out for the guys tags, I tried it. WaLAAA.... perfect soft effect.

I'm going in early in the morning to set these on their desks. I hope they like the containers as much as the candy! LOL.

Happy Easter to you!

HB

You're my favorite

Nothing turns a dull, dreary day into a bright sunny one like playing with new stamps and springy papers!

I just HAD to have this Hunny Bunny stamp from Whipper Snapper Designs (did you ever wonder what HB stood for? Well, there you go... it's what my husband affectionately calls me. Years ago he shortened it to HB. lol)

I colored the image with Copic Markers and then added sky and grass with my Copic Airbrush System.

The paper (Doodlebug Designs) is all sparkly polka dots and I wanted the center of the felt flowers to have that same look, but I didn't have any brads large enough for the center hole. Instead I put a small piece of yellow cardstock behind each flower and then filled the hole with yellow Stickles. I let it dry overnight to be safe, and then attached the flowers to the card with dots of glue. Here's how the flowers look before I filled in the centers.

The sentiment, from Sweet Expressions (Anna Wight for Whipper Snapper Designs) is stamped in black with a swoosh of yellow marker. I ran the sentiment flag around a pencil until it softened up and had some curve to it. The sparkly dot is punched from the paper, but it just wasn't bright enough, so I touched it up with an orange marker.

We're suppose to get snow tonight here in MN. Thank goodness I can have Spring in my stamp room! :o)

HB

Happy Easter Sale!

hey hey... Our Craft Lounge is having a sale! All Easter stamp sets are 15% off!
What a great way to start filling your own Easter basket! :o)

I used Hoppy Anna Mae for this card. Don't you just love that little bunny!

My favorite thing about these sets is they are so fun and easy to paper-piece and create lots of elevation.


Hop on over to Our Craft Lounge and get started on your Easter cards early! It's right around the corner ya know!

HB

With Sympathy - PTI style

Well, I needed to dust a bit here on the 'ol blog. I not only haven't blogged lately, I haven't stamped either.

We lost my dear sweet Mother-in-law a couple weeks ago, so needless to say there just wasn't time, nor any mojo to want to stamp. But, as usual, death seem to come in threes and last week I lost a cousin and yesterday I found out a past client died. So I had to hit the stamp room to make some special cards.

I pulled out my favorite Papertrey Ink sets Damask Designs and Beyond Basic Borders. Even being mojo-less you can make beautiful cards with these sets.

I love to create backgrounds with Damask and Vintage Cream pigment ink (PTI)! It's subtle yet really pops. The butterflies are from two different Martha Stewart punches.

(you can click on the images for a closer look)

I bought a pack of beautiful textured cardstock from SU! a while ago, and the Sage Shadow and Chocolate Chip colors were perfect for a male card. I stamped the vine image from Beyond Basic Borders in Sage Shadow ink, colored the dots with a brown Copic marker and then put a tiny dot of brown glitter glue on each.

I used the same butterfly punches on this card, using the textured cardstock for the large layer and cream for the small.

Well, it sure felt good to stamp again. I have a plethora of new things on my table just waiting to be played with... so hopefully the mojo will start working it's way back. :o)

Thanks for stopping by!

HB

Hello!

Do you ever buy paper for a specific holiday, thinking you are going to make all kinds of cards for family and friends? And then the holiday comes and goes and you didn't use even half of all the cute papers you bought? Best laid plans... right?

That's what I did for Valentine's Day this year. Since I didn't get any (yes, I said any, as in none, notta, not a one) Christmas cards mailed this year, I thought I would send Vday cards. Well... February wasn't any less busy than December, so now I have all this cute heart paper.

Good thing is... hearts are good all year long! :o)

I love this little friend tree (Hero Arts)! I stamped it on ivory cardstock, cut it out and then gave it a green hue with my Copic Airbrush. I stamped it again on pink paper, cut out the word HELLO, and attached it with a little foam tape.

Don't you just love that plump little bird! LOL! I love birds. A couple glitterfied hearts in the corner and I now have a stack (albeit small stack) of cards to fill with hugs and put in the mail. You don't think they'll mind getting hearts in March, do you?

Thanks for stopping by!

HB

Playing with PTI

I got to play with the new Papertrey stamps last weekend. I adore how these designs stand on their own. No pretty papers or ribbons or tons of bellies needed!

This is the new Damask Designs (Raspberry Suite by the adorable Dawn McVey) stamped on Berry Sorbet with Fresh Snow pigment ink. That is my new very favorite ink! It's amazing how crisp the white stays after drying!

The next two cards are made with Beyond Basic Borders (Pinefeather Press by my sweet friend Pine!). I am soooo going to love the versatility of this set!

The first card uses the little tree, stamped in Fresh Snow pigment ink with little pearls attached to the ends of the branches. Thank you is stamped on a strip of Spring Moss bitty dot paper.

This card uses two of the border strips in the set, stamped in Vintage Cream pigment ink (another new favorite!) on New Leaf cardstock. I used my tracing wheel to faux stitch between the stamped lines. The leaf image is stamped on cream cardstock with pearls added to the little dots.

I have many more ideas swirling in my head for these sets. I hope you don't get sick of them! LOL

HB

Supplies: Stamps, ink, cardstock - Papertrey Ink

Misc: Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Nestabilities, tracing wheel, pearls and rhinestone (Hero Arts), buttons from my button jar

The same but different

I got to stamp this weekend! wooHOOO! It seems like forever since I had any motivation to put rubber to ink. But, I had some new rubber (and come on, what better motivation is there than new rubber!?!)

I bought this cute fishing paper (Sweetwater) a while ago and it was a perfect match for the Bear-ly Fishin' set from Our Craft Lounge. Instead of making two identical cards, I decided to mix things up a bit.


This one, I stamped the bear and fish and then before coloring them, I created the background using my Copic Airbrush System. I love the soft look of the sand, water and sky. Then, using Copic markers, I colored the bear and fish. Any hint of the *sand* or *water* on the bear and fish were covered when I colored them in.



With this one, I colored the bear and fish first and then created the grass and water using the markers only. I used the Colorless Blender to shade out the edge of the grass so it merged more smoothly into the water.

A fun way to mix things up, don't ya think?

Thanks for stopping by!

HB