Blog Hopping with Serendipity!

Today the Serendipity Design Team is showing off BRAND NEW  COORDINATING STAMPS AND DIES! We are having a Blog Hop to introduce them to you today and you have a chance to win them for yourself too! Hop around and leave a comment on all the blogs and two winners will be chosen from the comments each winning a complete set of stamps and dies for the Heart or the Easter Egg. 

The winners will be announced on the Serendipity Blog on Monday, March 5th.

Here's the hop order for today... 

Sue

Miriam

Kathie

Jenny -----> You are HERE!

Jeannie

Amy

And now on my project... 

I actually took pictures as I was working to give you a mini tutorial on the card I made.

 I paired the Easter Egg Dies up with this cute little rabbit stamp. I'm still addicted to making shaped cards... so again I pulled out my Spellbinder's Grand Dies to create the card base and several layers.

LEFT: put a piece of wide Scor-Pal Tape on to card stock. Cut the solid Egg shape. 

RIGHT: Cut the Scroll Egg Die using pink paper. You can see the die cut nice and clean. I use a Grand Calibur Die Cut Machine and no shims to cut this.

Remove the protective covering from the Scor-Pal Solid Egg Shape, revealing the sticky surface. Add the scroll pink die cut directly over the adhesive. The open areas are still sticky, so be careful not to touch them or get anything stuck! 

 Next, I added Transparent Micro-Fine Glitter to the Egg. Above you can see that I liberally dumped some glitter over the egg. I used my finger to push the glitter in to all of the open areas. The glitter immediately grabs to the adhesive.

 After completely covering and rubbing the glitter in to all the open adhesive areas, use a hard bristled brush to help remove any stray glitter. 

 Above you can see that I stamped the little rabbit and cut it out with a Circle Nestie. I airbrushed a little BG23 while the paper was still in the die. I also added my piercing while the paper was still in the die, using the inside edge as my guide to stay neat. I used an Xacto Knife to cut out the little rabbit paw. I lifted the paw edge up and tucked the egg under it.

 Now on to the coloring. Since the egg will be covering up the right side, I didn't bother coloring that area. You can see the Copics I used in the above picture. 

 I added the cute "Somebunny" sentiment on the inside.

You can see I added a few more details to the front of the card.... Adhesive Gems, Bow and Glossy Accents over the Eyes and Nose. The bunny circle is popped up with foam tape to raise it up a little higher. All of the paper is from Jillibean's new 6s6 paper pad - Southern Chicken Dumpling Soup---adorable little Easter patterns!!!

Remember to leave a comment below on this post for a chance to win and continue on hopping! Here's the order again...

Sue

Miriam

Kathie

Jenny -----> You are HERE!

Jeannie

Amy

• Stamps by Serendipity Stamps: #1244E - Rabbit with Carrot, #1254 DCL Egg Scroll Stamp and Die Set, #1243D Somebunny loves you
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: All printed paper from Jillibean - Southern Chicken Dumpling Soup 6x6 paper pad, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Pink DP by Bo Bunny
• Other: Spellbinders Circles, Spellbinder's Grand Circles, Spellbinder's Grand Scalloped Circles, Copics, Bow Easy Tool, Foam Tape, Micro Fine Transparent Glitter, Ribbon by SU, Piercing Tool, Glossy Accents, Foam Tape

Happy Shamrock Day

Another St. Patrick's Day card for today. I used paper from the Kaisercraft Chapter One paper pad for this one, mixing a few different patterns together. I used SPellbinder's Grand Labels Large to create the card base, and used the same size die to cut another layer to completely cover the card front.

Here are the Copic Markers I used to color the image. Below you can see the full image to see how I cut it up and changed it up a little bit. 

I changed up the image a little but, stamping the sentiment by itself and cutting it out with a circle nestie. I carefully cut out around the hill line and the hat. Then I added some cut out clovers back above the hat popped up with foam tape.

Here is the finished card. I used Crackle Accents on the hat band and buckle. A few Swarovski Crystals for a bit of sparkle on the clovers. The top of the hill image is popped up with foam tape, as well as the cut out clovers. The bottom of the hill panel is glued flat. A full tutorial for this card will be up on the Outlines website later this week.

• Stamps: H-1018 Sketchy Clovers by Outlines Rubber Stamps
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: Kaisercraft Chapter One 6x6 paper pad, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
• Other: Copics, Bow Easy Tool, White Ribbon, Foam Tape, Perfect Layers Rulers, Emerald Swarovski Crystals - Sizes 5 and 7, Spellbinder's Circle Nesties, Crackle Accents, Ink Blending Tool

Four Leaf Lucky Clover

Today the Outlines Team is showing off St. Patrick's Day cards and projects. Super cute designs this week so make sure to check them out! You can always play along with us for a chance to win each week, find all the details on the Outlines Blog. See what lucky designs the gals cooked up this week: Lisa Silver - Kecia Waters - Sue Kment -  Jeanne Strieff - Julie Warner

 This little shamrock is a quick little image to color and of course like many of the Outlines images offers the perfect little spots to add all the fun embellishing touches!

 Leaving the clover image in the die cut, I used the inside edge as a guide to help me keep my piercing somewhat neat!

 Here are the Copic colors I used to color the clover. You can see I also colored a second inside part of a clover. I had planned on cutting that layer out and popping it up, BUT it got covered up and hidden and totally forgotten. Out of sight, Out of mind!!! I totally forgot about it until I found it when I was cleaning up my mess! 

I dressed things up with a Memory Box DIe cut on the right side of the card, love that die! And also used two twine colors to wrap around the card and make a little floppy bow. It seems no card I do is complete until I add pearls using the Viva Pens.

• Stamps by Outlines: D-1020 Clover Jewel, AA-848 TIny Happy Shamrock Day
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
• Paper: DP from Kaisercraft's paper pad Chapter One, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Green Metallic Card Stock
• Other: Viva Pearl Pens - Light Green and Green, Paper Piercing Tool, Spellbinder's Labels One, Spellbinder's Labels One Small, Spellbinder's Nested Lacey Pennants, Bakers Twine - Caribbean Teal and Peapod Green, Piestra Tile Die by Memory Box, Corner Chomper

Simple Congratulations

 A simple Congratulations card for today. Quick and easy, my color choices were inspired by the Kraft Funday papers. I love the colors mixed in with the kraft background. The paper also has more of a rough feel to it, like a brown paper bag feels to the touch. 

 I stated by stamping my image in Memento Tuxedo Black on Neenah Classic Crest Natural White (ivory in color). I airbrushed Y28 around the edges.

 I finished coloring, using the Copics shown above. I added a 1/16" red card stock mat using Perfect Layers Rulers.

I pierced holes around the border of the image and popped it up with foam tape on the card front. I added the simple hand cut banner, bending it a little and using Dimensional Silicone under the bend in the banner. A little button and jute string bow to finish this off. Finished card size is an A2.

• Stamps: All stamps are by Impression Obsession - F2446 Streamers, B3560 Congratulations
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: My Mind's Eye Kraft Funnday 6x6 paper pad, Red, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White
• Other: Bow Easy Tool, DImensional Silicone, Piercing Tool, Perfect Layers Rulers, Copics, Foam Tape, Misc. Button

Birthday CAKE.... #2

Using the same stamp as yesterday... I created this card and thought I would share it today, even though it's kind of a repeat! I created the card base using Spellbinder's Grand Labels 4. The challenge call at Crazy for Challenges this week is to work strips and polka dots in to your project! Both are in the image, so I'm playing along!

I stamped a fun sentiment on the inside of the card. When I stamped the image, I stamped it a second time to cut out and extra piece of the present to pop it up over the original.

Here are the Copics I used to color the image. I chose colors trying to match them to the DP.  I added a 1/16" pink layer to the image using Perfect Layers Rulers. The small polka dots along the bottom I left blank. I am going to add embellishments  in those empty spots. 

Here is the finished card.... all dressed up with pearls and crystals. At the end of the week this card will be posted on Outlines Website with a full step by step tutorial. Each week I do a three card tutorial for Outlines.... you can find them HERE!

• Stamps: H-1066 Split Layering Collage - Enjoy, D-1076 Birthdays are... by Outlines Rubber Stamps
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: Bo Bunny's Sweet Tooth 6x6 paper pad, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White (ivory), Kraft
• Other: Spellbinder's Grand Labels 4, Bow Easy Tool, Ribbon by SU, Viva Holo Glitter Liner, Viva Clear Glass Effects Pen, Viva Lilac and Cream Pearl Pens, Swaorvski Crystals - Light Rose Sizes 16, 7 and 5, Foam Tape, Ultimate Glue, Pink Button

Birthday CAKE!

Square Cards.... thats what the Outlines Team is about today. Any theme, any colors as long as it ends up square! Play along with us each week for a chance to win a gift certificate! Find all the details on the Outlines Blog. The themes are all over but the cards are great this week -- check out what the gals cooked up: Lisa Silver - Kecia Waters - Sue Kment -  Jeanne Strieff - Julie Warner

 Lotsa layers on this one! Of course the layers are made easily with Perfect Layers Rulers. The card finishes to be 5 1/2" square. The papers are all bright and fun for a birthday theme, mixed with white and black layers to help define the layers. I only used a portion of the stamp image. You can see the full image below. You can mix the different panels up so many ways, using all or pieces to create with.

H-1066 Split Layering Collage - Enjoy by Outlines Rubber Stamps

 Here are the Copics I used to color the image. I think the E70's are a good color for "chocolate" and if I'm making a cake (or to be honest...  buying a cake, lol!) it's gonna be chocolate!

I finished off the card by embellishing with a Clear Via Pen and a White Ice Viva Pearl pen. I used the clear pen to outlines the balloons and some parts of the icing on the cake. I used the white pearl pen to do the little dollops of icing in between the cake layers.

• Stamps by Outlines: H-1066 Split Layering Collage - Enjoy, A-839 Tiny Happy Birthday
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Black card stock, All other paper is from Lily Bee "Harvest Market" 6x6 paper pad
• Other: Bow Easy Tool, Spellbinder's Fleur de Lis Squares, Perfect Layers Rulers, Dimensional Silicone, Viva Decor Ice White Pearl Pen, Viva Clear Glass Effects Gel Pen, Copics, SU Photo Corner Punch

Calla Lilies

I used the two smallest sizes from Spellbinder's Grand Labels One to make the card base and the blue layer. I think the Grand Size Nesties have to be in my top ten of products. I love the idea of using them for shaped cards, changing card making completely from our traditional square and rectangle card shapes! The moment I saw this stamp I wanted to color it immediately. I loved this image!

I am really really liking these new Copic Greens, G46 and G43! I have been reaching for them over and over whenever I am coloring any leaves. The flowers remain white basically, so very easy to color this image, or not color it in this case! To make the white of the flowers stand out I added BG000 to the background.

After I added the bow and the card was assembled I added Glossy Accents to the flower edges, basically outlining them. In the light that little glossy edge makes the flowers really stand out, but it does not show up well in the picture.

• Stamps: by Northwoods Rubber Stamps - PP8490 Calla Lilies
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: DP by My Mind's Eye - 12x12 #291119 Blue Stash Paper/Fresh Beauty Summer Dress, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Mustard card stock
• Other: Mustard Ribbon by May Arts, Bow Easy Tool, Copics, Spellbinder's Grand Labels One LF-161, Glossy Accents

Kitty Card!

Today the Impression Obsession Team is showing off cards to just say Hello! You can always play along with our Challenges, find all the details on the IO Blog. See what all the ladies created this week:

Dina, Julie, Jeanne, Laura, Vicki and Daniela

 The expression on the little cat is too darling... looks like he would be trouble! And the expression on the Momma cat looks like she is resigned to just dealing with her little trouble maker! Of course you know I love the kitty cats and was thrilled to see this image in the new release. A great image just to say hello to another kitty person! 

 Here are the Copics I used to color the image. I know the colors are not traditional kitty colors but I wanted them to stand out from each other and try some different colors out for fur.

With the shading provided in the image these are much easier to color, rather than having just an open space with no hairs/shading. Not an artist here... so it's a always a big help to me when I color if the real artist (Gail Green created this image) gives me some hints or guidelines to suggest darker and lighter areas for my colors. The cats are a larger image, so just simply framed and added a few mats, keeping the embellishments to a minimum on this one. Finished card size is an A2.

• Stamps: by Impression Obsession - F7669 Cat and Kitten, A3759 Hello
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Rich Cocoa
• Paper: Misc. DP, Brown, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White 
• Other: Bow Easy Tool, Perfect Layers Rulers, Jute String, Marth Stewart Border Punch, Spellbinder's Ovals and Scalloped Ovals, Copics, Adhesive Crystals

CAS Heart Card

Today the Outlines Team's assignment was to create a card with the color combo red, black and white. As always you can play along with us for a chance to win a gift certificate to random player each week. Find all the details on the Outlines Blog. Check out what cards the team came up with today:

Lisa Silver - Kecia Waters - Sue Kment -  Jeanne Strieff - Julie Warner

 I thought I'd get one more Valentine done. I stuck to the red, white and black color combo and this CAS design for my card today. A cute quickie card! The most time consuming part was cutting out the heart layers. I used Perfect Layer Rulers to add the red and black 1/16" mats, finished card size is A2.

I stamped the heart six times, three on red and three on white. I cut out the various layers. I used Copic R37 to add red to the white hearts. I used foam tape in between two of the layers stacking the hearts upward. To add a little extra but still keep things really simple for a fast and easy card, I used a Viva Glass Effects Pen to add Clear Pearls along the red dots and over the center heart. While the clear pearls were still wet I sprinkled a dusting of Microfine Glitter over them, shaking off any excess. Gives just a tiny bit of sparkle, but still keeps this in the simple card category. 

• Stamps: by Outlines - H1004 Grand Heart
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: Red, Black, White
• Other: Bow Easy Tool, Perfect Layers Rulers, Viva Clear Glass Effects Gel Pen, Foam Tape, Microfine Translucent Glitter, Red Maraschino Baker's Twine, CB Folder

Easter Basket

This week the Serendipity Design Team is making Easter cards. 

Two brand new beautiful scrollwork images are available in the Serendipity Store:

you can find them HERE and I'll be showing off some samples using these soon!

Check out what cards the team came with up for the challenge today:

Amy -  Kathie - Miriam - Jeanne - Sue

 I used an older Spellbinder's die Classic Frames for this image, one of my favorites that I don't use often enough, to frame this sweet little Easter Basket image. 

 Here are the Copic Markers I used to color the basket. For the grass I used G43 and G40 and for the sky I used B000, softening the edges with the Blender Pen. Since the paper colors were so light I wanted to keep my coloring in very light/pastel colors.

I added just a hint of glitter to some of the eggs using a Viva Glitter Holo Pen. I added a few pearl embellishments along the bottom edge of the frame. The die and image are the focus on this card, so everything else is pretty simple. Finished card is an A2 size.

• Stamps: by Serendipity Stamps - 349G Easter Basket
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: DP by Memory Box, Yellow, Blue, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
• Other: Bow Easy Tool, Viva Holo Glitter Pen, Viva White Ice Pearl Pen, Perfect Layers Rulers, Copics, Spellbinder's Classic Frame Dies, Blue Ribbon by SU

Outlines - Gettin' Sketchy Today

This week the Outlines Team has a sketch to play with. I love sketches, they make me do something different! Above is the sketch that Lisa created for us, and I loved creating with this layout in mind. Each week you can always play along with us for a chance to win a $25 GIft Certificate, fins all the details on Outlines Blog. Check out what all the ladies cooked up this week: 

Lisa Silver -  Sue Kment -  Jeanne Strieff - Julie Warner 

 I was determined to use this new embossing folder, loved that little open box. The stamp image is actually two butterflies together "Lily and Layla" but just one fit in the little embossed box. All of the pattern paper is from My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pad - Vanity Fair. I added a little sentiment banner, but other than that I was pretty true to Lisa's great sketch.

 I stamped the butterfly three times on pattern paper from the pad, cutting out the layers as shown.  I stamped the image inside the embossed box and added a light shadow around the edges and also colored the body using the Copics shown in the picture above.

Here is the finished butterfly. I gently curled the wings and applied each layer using Dimensional Silicone under the wings, to hold the bend and keep them all popped up. Then.... a few sparkly crystals and a coat of glossy accents over the entire butterfly to help it stand out on the card. I used Perfect Layers Rulers for all the straight line layers... makes it so very easy!

• Stamps: all stamps by Outlines - F1181 Lilly and Layla, B603 Nature's Delights
• Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa Brown ink
• Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Natural White, My Mind's Eye 6x6 Vanity Fair paper pad, Brown, Maroon
• Other: Crumb Cake ribbon from SU, Spellbinder's Circles, Perfect Layer's Rulers, Bow Easy Tool, Crystal Lacquer, Foam Tape, Dimensional Silicone, AB Crystals Size 5, Picksey Pick Ups, Crafts Too Embossing Folder - Floral Frame
  
  

Valentine Candy Basket

Silke had this adorable little sketch posted for this weeks Tuesday Challenge over at Flourishes and I thought I would ink up some of the Valentine stamps and play along. Fins all the details of the challenge HERE.

 I loved this little candy basket image, fun to color and embellish too. I pulled my papers from My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pad "Love Me". The sketch was a quick and easy one to follow. After choosing my papers, I added Kraft paper in the mix and added a kraft layer to all the long rectangles using Perfect Layers Rulers.

 When I am adding piercing around the edges of a Nestie shape, I keep it in the die. And follow the edge of the die to add my piercing. While they may not be perfectly spaced... it does help me to have the edge to follow.

 Here are the Copics I used to color the image. LOTS of pinks. Not my norm, lol!

 On the inside of the card I added a sentiment from Flourishes Heartlines set. Love this sweet little set! A piece of left over DP added along the bottom of the liner.

Love the Parisian Motif Dies mixed up with the Circles, you can see how the circle tucks right under the motif edges. I did pop several layers up with foam tape, adding a little dimension. I used the Clear Effects Gel Pen to add a little shine to the XOXO and the little dots in the image... giving it a glossy shine.

• Stamps by Flourishes - Heartlines and Love Sweet Love
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
• Paper: My Mind's Eye "Love Me" paper pad, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White, Kraft
• Other: Spellbinder's Circle Dies, Spellbinder's Parisian Motifs, Viva Decor Glass Effects Gel Pen, Piercing Tool, Adhesive Crystals, Ivory Seam Binding, Copics, Perfect Layers Rulers