Using Negative Space

Back again with another card for Operation Write Home.

Have you noticed some of the creative cards being made using the negative space left from a die cut? I've been wanting to try the technique for awhile now, and finally gave it a shot. Here's the result.

I cut out the cicles and label with nesties, embossed the resulting "negatives" with a Swiss Dots embossing folder, then adhered it to my stamped and colored image with pop dots. Not too inventive, but it was fun to do just the same. I'll definitely being trying this again, hopefully with a little more creative flair!

The floral stamp used here is by Karen Lockhart and the sentiment and paper is from PaperTrey. The image was colored with Copics.

So there you have it. Have you tried something different today? Give it a go, you may surprise yourself!

Taking the Plunge!

After thinking about it for some time, I'm taking the plunge and starting a blog. Who'da thunk? I figure it will be a fun way to catalog some of my creations, and maybe, someday, someone will find inspiration for their own creations!

I suspect there's a ton I need to learn. And I'm not certain how often I'll be able to add anything new, but one step at a time, right?

So, without further ado, here's my first card to share, created for Operation Write Home.  If you aren't familiar with them, I encourage you to check them out at http://operationwritehome.org/.   Really a wonderful cause and a great organization. In a nutshell, crafty volunteers create handmade cards that are then sent to deployed service men and women so they can send them home to family and friends.  It's been so much fun and such a blessing to help our military in this small way. While it may not seem like a big thing, it's clear from the thank you's they send that these cards really make a difference to them and their families. I really encourage you to take a moment and visit OWH's blog. You'll be blessed, and so will others. Love that!

So, I was trying to come up with something a deployed mom or dad could send to their child that was happy and bright.  Since kids will be going back to school soon, I thought this apple motif would be appropriate. What do you think? Would this make a little guy or gal smile if they received it from mom or dad? Sure hope so. All the papers, ink and stamps are from PaperTrey. 

Well, that's all for now. I'll be back when I've figured out how to take better pictures!

I stumbled into a sale on Overstock.com a while ago, and found this Mo Manning stamp from Penny Black at a super price. Funny how some stamps just speak to you. This one said "happy" to me! And I absolutely loved the accompanying sentiment.

The little girl and her bear were colored with Copics and matted with avocado stock. The sentiment was stamped in Chocolare and die cut and embossed  with a Spellbinders classic circle. It too was matted in avocado. A teeny sliver of the avocado was adhered along with a few melon colored pears and a bit of melon satin ribbon. A few more pearls were added to the image and both were adhered to a piece of DP that was hanging out in my scrap bin. Popped the lot onto a white card base and there you go.

This is going into my Operation Write Home stash. I'm hoping whoever gets it will smile as much when they receive it as I did when I made it. And I hope they hear "happy" too!