For a Vintage Look

Over at the Just Magnolia Challenge Blog this week, the challenge was to make a Vintage card using Magnolia images (of course) Well, since I only recently purchased a few Magnolia's I was stumped as to how to use either of them for this challenge, and I KNEW I wanted to participate in the challenge because I really like the vintage look. As I thought about it over the last couple of days - knowing the deadline to enter was getting close, the design began to come together. I knew that I wanted to use my Baja Breeze DP from Stampin' Up! (now retired - so sad!) as I think it just has that vintage feel to it. I finally decided to use my Beach Tilda - it was her or Picnic Tilda - but I didn't want to use the bathing ring with her so I had to think of SOMETHING for her to 'sit' on. I decided that the nestibilities die would be wonderful for that. I was going to use some crochet lace until I remembered that I had this piece of chocolate chip satin ribbon and it worked beautifully with the design that was coming together. I used a Martha Stewart border punch for the 'lace paper' and added the prima flowers to the ribbon for the final touch. Tilda is colored with prismacolor pencils in colors that coordinate with the paper.I distressed the edges of the bg cardstock and sponged with chocolate chip. I really like the way this turned out and think it looks very vintage - what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by the spa today - I hope you have enjoyed your visit and do come back soon.

~Paula~

Back to Sugar Nellie

After playing with my new Magnolia stamps the past few days, I began to feel that my Sugar Nellies were being ignored, so I decided to finish coloring this beautiful image for the Sugar Nellie challenge over at the Paper Craft Planet. The challenge is always to use a Sugar Nellie, but this week the challenge was to use BLUE. I had started to color her pants blue, so I just finished and it was so fun to color this precious image. I used some new to me (now retired) DSP from Stampin' Up! and layered that on the new Crumb Cake Cardstock (formerly Kraft). I used a scallop punch as a mask to do the bg on my image - thought it looked like floating clouds (sort of). I chose my flowers from my stash (just can't WAIT to get my flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts!!) I was trying to decide what sentiment to use. I originally had planned on some short 'skinny' phrase that I could turn sideways and place under the image mat, but then I found this stamp in my stash and it was PERFECT for the challenge - I don't usually do the inside of my cards - I leave them blank as I send most all of my cards to the troops overseas so they can send them back to family - so I leave space for them to write. However, I couldn't resist adding the rest of the phrase on the inside - with a complete change of color!! The saying says this: "if you're feeling blue - try painting yourself a different color. -Hannah Cheatem age-8"
I found these adorable sentiment stamps at Michael's awhile back and just HAD to get them. I remember when my kids were young and they said such silly sayings - wishing now that I would have written more of them down - I have a few written down, and I remember a few that were just hilarious - but most I don't and it would have been wonderful to catch them all like this. Perhaps I will just have to gather sayings from my friends grandchildren until I am blessed in that way!

Thanks for stopping by the spa today - I hope you have had a nice relaxing visit do come back again soon as I am posting nearly daily now.

~Paula~

Just Sitting Here!

That is what my sweet Tilda is doing. Before I even started coloring her, I chose the DP - it is a retired one from Stampin' Up! called Tea Party. I just love the soft colors in this beautiful paper and it made for a wonderful coloring session. I have been SO impressed with all the cards I see by the members of the Magnolia-licious Yahoo Group and the cards in the Magnolia Ink that I have wondered how my simple cards even measure up. Well - I think I am on the right track.
My Card Base is Certainly celery, then pretty in pink. I matted the image with So Saffron. After I colored the image, you would think it would be quick to throw the rest of the card together, but it took well over an hour (maybe two) of contemplating before I finally settled on the design. I added the roses at the top - but really wish I had some more of the bigger ones - they are on order from Wild Orchid, so soon I will get to play. I added the rhinestones for added bling and think it gave just the right touch to finish off the card.
Now, on a side note - while I was coloring her - I remembered while I was in College I had a pair of overalls that I LOVED and they were light blue - it was a fun memory.

Thanks for stopping by - if you'd like to take a browse, feel free and I love comments - it makes me feel really special that you took the time.

Have a wonderful rest of your day - wherever you are in the world.

~Paula~

Loving my Magnolias!!

My friends over on the Magnolia forum on yahoo were right!! I started out with a peek at a magazine, then bought two more - then bought a few stamps and now I want MORE!! But alas, I will have to wait as I am placing my big Stampin' Up! Order next week and I just placed an order with Wild Orchid Crafts for their BEAUTIFUL flowers. I have looked at SO many beautiful cards made with these flowers that I just HAD to order myself a selection of them. I bought some of the lace too - however, I forgot to add the pearls, oh, well - maybe next time!
So, after looking at the cards in the magazine and from the members of the Yahoo group, my little Beach Tilda looks so plain sitting on her bathing ring. I used a retired Stampin' Up! Designer Paper for my mat behind my Tilda. I masked my image and sponged the blue - a mizture of bashful blue and night of navy for my background behind her. I colored her with the prismacolor pencils - I really like the way they look. I cut the edge of the cardstock with one of my Stampin' Up! border punches, though it is hard to see because of the crotched lace I added (a Joann's find). She still looked real plain, so I added the flowers and the sentiment from Sweet Impressions and for added bling - the three little pearls.
Now I am off to my craft room to see if I can come up with something really spectacular - of course, I still only have these images and the picnic Tilda - so not sure what I will be able to create - sometimes these images are limiting and sometimes the skies the limit - today, I feel I am limited! I may break down and order a few more images before the day is out - we will see - watch for my next post to see how the day goes.

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy a cup of tea/coffee while you browse.
~Paula~

My VERY FIRST TILDA

I have seen the images and wasn't all that drawn to them. Then I saw an issue of Magnolia Ink, and flipped through it, and put it back on the magazine rack. Then I went back to the bookstore with my husband, and he saw the magazine and picked it up and I said, 'yeah' I have looked through that one. But the design of the cards really caught his eye and he encouraged me to get the magazine. So, I did - I mean, what do you do when your best friend/husband encourages your hobby? I brought it home and flipped through it some more and he encouraged me even more - and by the end of the evening, I had placed my first order with Magnolia-licious. My first order was actually for the first issue of the magazine and the latest one - I had bought volume 2. A couple days later I ordered my first few stamps. These stamps are SO versatile and I can see using the images in multiple ways. My little cutie is sitting on a bathing ring as she floats by with her greeting. I purposely put her on an angle, so it isn't the boat that is rocking making you see crooked! :) I started with a base of Pacific Point(SU) that I embossed with one of the new Tim Holtz embossing folders - this one is called Collage. I then layered a piece of Marina Mist(SU) run through with the top note die and sponged on the edges with pacific point ink. My image is Beach Tilda sitting on the Bathing Ring and colored with prismacolor pencils. I cut her with the nestibilities label 8 die and then sponged the edges again with the pacific point. I added the bit of crochet lace that I picked up from Joann's this weekend and layered the image on top of all this adding the flowers from prima. I was going to add a sentiment that said 'miss you' but when looking through my stamps I came across this stamp that I recently purchased from Great Impressions - stamp #E648 and it fit PERFECTLY with the image. Had I chosen the sentiment first, I would have positioned everything a little differently - but I still like the way my first Magnolia turned out.

More Blog Candy - Check it out!

Do you like blog candy? I sure do - and I discovered that Wild Orchid Crafts has some new items in their store and they have asked THIS blogger to give away a wonderful bundle of candy. Wouldn't you just LOVE to have these goodies for making all those vintage cards? Did you happen to check out the Magnolia card on Bev's blog? WOW - amazing wonderful awesome work.

Thanks for stopping by and good luck to you on the blog candy - I know I would love to have all those pearls and lace!!

~Paula~

New Item on my Blog

Did you notice the clocks on the left side? If you scroll over, you can see where I found them - aren't they cool? I decided to add the clocks because I participate in card challenges and some of them are sponsored by companies overseas. There is usually a deadline and that deadline is based on that country's time - so to keep everything straight, I decided to add the clocks. It is kind of fun to see how the world operates in terms of time.

Stop by the Spa later, I just might have some more cards to show you. In the meantime, grab a cup of your favorite morning beverage - mine is TEA, OR if you are in another time zone - grab your favorite afternoon beverage - and enjoy a sit with me.

~Paula~

Another Sugar Nellie Challenge

Over at The Sugar Bowl the challenge sketch for this week is a fairly easy one.
The lines are pure and simple - which is good because my mojo is waning right now. I recently got some new Sugar Nellies and decided they needed to see a little ink. I am also promoting Christmas in July - so it was quite appropriate to ink up this little cutie and make a Christmas Card with her. The theme for the challenge was BLUE - hmmm, I didn't remember that until I looked at the blog post again - well, I did include blue on my card - so I let out a big whew!! I used the new Cherry Cobbler from Stampin' up! for my card base and layered it with some designer paper from Stampin' Up! that is now retired. When I layered all the pieces, including the image - it just looked to plain to me, so I added a bit of Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon behind the image and some flowers for the finishing touch.
It was good to get back to my stamping area and create a bit - even if I don't feel the mojo very strongly right now. I will be getting some new stamps in the next day or so - some MAGNOLIA'S!! I haven't any of these yet and just discovered them fairly recently through a magazine called "Magnolia Ink" - it is a FABULOUS magazine FILLED with much inspiration - and my style of stamping/creating, so I am off to go look at the new magazines and see if they spark some creativity.

Thanks for stopping by the spa today - I hope you have enjoyed your stay and hope to see you again real soon.
~Paula~

Clear Blocks

The other day I was stamping some of my unmounted images and decided to use the new 'C' clear mount block I got in my Stampin' Up New Demonstrators kit - WOW!! These are in the new catalog - the link in the sidebar will take you to my Stampin' Up Website where you can view the catalog. I have several acrylic mounting blocks for use with unmounted stamps, but the Stampin' Up one is BY FAR THE BEST I have used. It is basically the depth of the wood mounts - and it even has the groove in the side. The clear mounts that I have bought from local stores are sharp and much thinner making it more difficult to hold while stamping the image. I am completely sold on these new Stampin' Up mounts so I will be ordering the entire set when I place my next order. I encourage you to place your order for these mounts as well - you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for stopping by today - I am working on some more Sugar Nellie cards today - it is just slow going since my creative mojo is waning.

~Paula~

Christmas In July Special

If you haven't had a chance to check out my New Stampin' Up Website I encourage you to do so. I have a special going on throughout the rest of the month. Buy any Christmas Stamp Set and get 10% off your order. You will need to send me the order information though rather than order this directly from the website. While you are there, check out my NEW BLOG with some new SU projects.You will find the link to the new blog under the 'about me' tab.
Looking forward to Stamping Christmas with you.

Relax and Enjoy your day - I will be at the spa (the real one) all day.

~Paula~