Julie Nutting Stamps

I ran into Julie Nutting stamps while browsing a few card making blogs and fell instantly in love with them. I immediately purchased a whole collection on Amazon. I love the infinite possibilities of being able to create beautiful cards with these stamps.

My first creation was a farewell card for the organist of my choir who was leaving.  Knowing her love of fashion, I immediately made a card she could identify with and which spoke to who she was.  Here it is:

This stamp is called Megan. I stamped and colored her using Copic markers then paper pierced the skirt and top with card stock from my stash.  I then used Stickles to embellish the hem of the top and her boots. I layered the cut-out on a fancy frame and placed it over a colored burlap to match the colors in the skirt. The background paper is from the Animal Prints digital paper by Digi Diva.

The second card I made was for a 50th birthday party. This card started out with me creating a checkerboard flooring technique (tutorial is found here). Once I made the floor, I thought a Julie Nutting stamp would go just right with it. I Gessoed the card stock paper and used watercolor and reinkers to create the background. I then attached the flooring I made to the card stock.  I stamped the Doll with Swing Dress rubber stamp, cut-out the doll, colored with Copics.
I then paper pierced the skirt, again using Animal Prints by Digi Diva and embellished the skirt and blouse hem, and shoes (as well as added earrings and a bracelet) with Stickles. I cut out a dance hall ball, used Stickles to give it some dimension, and added some gold thread to give the appearance of a Disco ball hanging from a dance floor.  I finished the card by adding a Happy Birthday tag.

My third creation is a framed art using Julie Nutting's Lorena rubber stamp. For this I used watercolor paper to make the background. I used a mixture of pinks with a tinge of orange watercolor and swirled it on the background. Once dry, I stamped the rubber stamped image to the background and colored it with Copics. I placed the card stock in my printer and printed the scripture to the right of the stamped image (Genesis 1:31). I then used a double-sided card stock by Beyond the Page. I stamped the image again on the card stock and paper pierced the top and hem of the skirt with the black and white polka dot pattern (on one side), and the skirt with the pink Damask pattern (on the other). I attached these to the stamped image using glue stick, then embellished with rhinestones in pink and black. Once done, I glued these to an Cheetah print card stock from my stash, then attached that to the pink Damask paper used on the skirt. I then framed and embellished the finished art piece.

Here is a larger view of the art work and below that, the finished product.

Chalkboards Galore!

I have been AWOL since my last post because I have been working in overdrive mode to make a few invitations for family members. My cousin is turning 70 in March and wanted me to come up with a cute invite to celebrate this milestone. After thinking about it for a while, I came up with the concept of a chalkboard invitation.  I surfed the Internet for ideas and found what I was looking for at one of my favorite go-to places for graphic art, www.mygrafico.com. I purchased the Chalkboard Invites from Blackleaf Studios and got to work. Here is the finished product, all print work. The font I used is called Pastel and I found that on www.dafont.com.  I paired the invitation with brown paper bag envelopes to give it the look/feel of a chalkboard.

My next invitation is still a work in progress, but I can show you a sample of what I'm making.  It is a wedding and it will take place on a beach at dusk.  All I had for inspiration was the above information, as well as the colors yellow and orange.  Again, inspired to use the chalkboard theme, I decided on a palm tree, beach chairs, and sand background.  I love to work with graphics and my program of choice, believe it or not, is always Microsoft Word. I began by looking for a palm tree image (I found one I liked in MS Word clipart), I then searched for a sand graphic that would work well on a dark chalkboard background, as well as beach chairs with the color scheme the bride-to-be requested.  I found them both here.  Below is a sample of what I've come up with so far.  I will post the finalized invitation once I'm done putting it all together.

Post Valentine

Yes, I know, Valentine's Day is long past, however, since we're still in February I think it's not too late to post cards, what do you say?

I made these cards a while back, however, because I've been super busy, I wasn't able to post them to my site, so for your viewing pleasure, here they are:

I made this card especially for someone who wanted to give it to their hubby. Drawing inspiration from here and using the sketch on the left, this is what I came up with.  The background papers we digi papers purchased from Mygrafico. The papers are by Cupcake Cutiees and they're called Hearts N Love papers. The Love of My Heart sentiment was printed on Gina K Designs Red Hot and Dark Chocolate cardstock from my computer using the Channel font, and I finished by embellishing with brown ribbons and two pearl pins to which I added tiny pearls at the end so they won't stick anyone, lol!  The card on the right (below) was made using the same papers, but the embellishments were from my stash. I made this one for my brother to give to his wife. I love the play of red and chocolate, don't you?

These other cards were quickies made using cutting files I purchased from the Cutting Café. They were easy to make using Make-the-Cut. These are the finished products. Most of the papers I used were part of a stash I've had sitting around for a long time.