Garden Butterflies, Angels and a Mini Tutorial!

Mixed Media Garden Scene

*SCACD Hop is Here*

Welcome back friends!  Happy Friday... and YAY, it's the weekend!!!  Do you have some fun planned for the next couple of days?  Either Saturday or Sunday, hubby and I will be going out to celebrate 5 years of being breast cancer freeeeeeee : D  I say breast cancer free cuz two and half years ago, JESUS healed me from uterine cancer.

I can imagine you might be a little skeptical at my last comment.  That's OK...  Here's my story:  JESUS came to me in a dream.  He was on the right side by my head.  I felt wetness on my chest and looked down to see that it was His Blood.  I rejoiced as I knew in my heart that He was fulfilling what He had spoken to me previously:  "Healed By the Blood of the Lamb."

At that point, He reached into my abdomen (which I felt, and moaned in pain) and took something out.  He left then, walking away on my left side...  There's much more to my story, but the main point is to share with you how JESUS HEALED ME!!!


I will continue to shout on the mountaintops that JESUS still heals today.  I have lots more stories of His healing power and His presence.  In case you don't know Him, here's a simple truth:  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life... He is REAL!


Have you entered my Celebrating 5 years of Healing Candy?  You can enter following the link at the end of this post...

*...and now it's PEEKER time!!!* 

Aren't they just the BEST ever???  If you're following the hop today, you should have come from Donalda's blog.  This is Donalda's last hop with us as a DT member : (   We will miss you, sweetie!!!  If you'd like to start at the beginning, hop on over to Danni's blog.  You'll want to see every bit of inspiration from these oh-so-adorable images!  If you get lost, the entire Hop List is on the Store Blog.


Here's mine... Meadow Peeker by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD from the newly released Peekers 3 Collection.  What a cutie pie!!!

Of course she's stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and colored with my fave copics.  I've used the following colors:  Fence - E19 E18 E17 E15 E13 E11; Hair - E25 31 YR21, Skin - E11 E00 E000; Dress/flowers - R85 R83 R81 RV00 RV000/Y19 Y11; Grass - G28 G24 G21 G20.  A bit of bling was added to the flowers on her dress with Stickles and I popped on tiny gold pearls for the flower centers and the butterfly bodies.

Everything on this card was adhered using ScraPerfect BEST GLUE EVER!  You already know how much I LOVE this glue!!!

Did you get a good peek at the garden scene at the top of this post?  I LOVE using all the gorgeous colors of Luminarte' micas.  Today I've used:  Pink Azalea, Snap Dragon and Fern.

Here's how I got this look:  I used removable tape to keep the Mini Butterfly Meadow stencil in place on my blue cardstock.  I placed Black Embossing Paste over the open areas (using a small spatula, like icing a cake). Susana carries a Squeegee which would work great too.

Make sure to wash off the embossing paste right away or it will be more difficult to remove.  The photo below shows what it will look like after carefully lifting up the stencil (note:  I decided to use blue cardstock after I took this photo... back to the drawing board!)

At this point, it needs to dry for about an hour.  When completely dry, put the stencil back over the design.  The easiest way to add the micas (for me) is to use an embossing ink pad (I used VersaMark Dazzle), so I tapped the pad over the exposed design.  You can then 'paint' the micas over your design!

Here's my mess before I brushed the excess mica away...

For today's card, I cut and paste various objects of the stencil to fit the space I needed.  As you can see in photo above this one, the whole stencil is a beautiful scene!

I love to add Ice Silks on top of the micas.  It gives it a protective coat and even MORE shimmer!  However... it will make the micas into 'paint' - as in the full grass behind the peeker...  I still LOVE adding the Silks : D.  You can see a close up of this result at the top of this post.  The whole background was painted with Ice Silks!

Time for a Re-Release!!!

Kind of...

Susana is re-releasing the beautiful angels that Elisabeth Bell designed a while back.  They've always been favorites of hers (and yours too???) so here we go (again) lol!

However, I have a special image that is Brand New and exclusive to SCACD.  This is Earth Angel by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD from the Guardian  Angel Collection.

Oh... isn't she a beauty?  I think she's so much fun!!!  I began by stamping the image with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and colored her with copics:  Hair - E59 E37 E35 E34 YR21 E50; Skin - E11 E00 E000; Pants - B97 B95 B93 B91 B000 C3; Red hearts/patches - R29 R27 R24 R22 R20; Earth - BG05 BG02 BG01 BG000 C3/G20 G21.

Here I want to show you two things... The first is the incredible shimmer and shine from the Solar Gold Silks Acrylic Glaze/Solar Gold Mica Powder combination.  Separately, they are nice... but together, they POP!!!  Actually, the Solar Gold Mica on it's own doesn't have color, but will compliment another color.  So if you want the gold color to come through, you'll need to use the Silks first.  LOVE LOVE LOVE this technique!  I want more Silks lol!

Oh, the second thing I wanted to show you is her wing and the shimmery red cardstock.  I simply painted on a coat of Ice Silks.  On the white, it takes on an elegant look.  On the red, it gives a richness that I haven't been able to reproduce any other way!

The entire card (layers and embellishments) were adhered using my FAVE ScraPerfect BEST GLUE EVER!  Here are the layers:  1. Solar Gold Silks/Mica combo. on all edges of a piece of white cardstock; 2. Red cardstock embossed with Pinstripe embossing folder by Couture Creations, 'stained' with Picket Fence Distressed Stain  and covered with Ice Silks;  3. The decorative circle was cut out with my Cricut and painted with the Silks/Mica combo.; 4. A red circle die cut from largest Classic Large Circle and painted with Ice Silks;  5. Image die cut from largest Classic Small Circle using 'out of the box' technique.   Oooooweeeeeee... get out your sunglasses!!!

My craftroom has been rather warm lately, and I can tell by the way the Opal Paper Pen pearls turned into brads : (   I usually don't have a problem with that!  To finish off the card, I cut a strip of gold tulle which I found on sale at Hobby Lobby - yay!!!  A red heart button from my stash I thought was the perfect touch!

**Our International friends can get these stamps at Quixotic Paperie**

Oops, almost forgot... Here's the link to my Celebrating 5 Years of Healing Candy:  JESUS Heals.

Your next stop is Alex!

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope to see you soon!

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul~

Butterflies Sweet Butterflies!!!

Mixed Media Butterfly ♥

Hey there!  It's a very happy Friday around my house... finally : D  We've been having many trials lately, but I know that God has plans for each and every one!  Thank goodness, because I certainly would have given up a long time ago!!! lol

With today's post, you may be wondering if you've already 'been here.'  I assure you, this is not the Twilight Zone!  In fact, we are doing a 'Re-Hop' on these fabulous Eyes of Beauty and Dreams Collection for Susana Loves Stamps!!!  We just LOVE them so much, we wanted to share them again : D

If you've come from Elaine, you are definitely on the right track - yay!!!  If you'd like to start at the beginning, hop on over to see Danni.

Here's my card to share with ya:  Mariposa Eyes from the Eyes of Dreams Collection.

Although this is not the official 'Where's Waldo' page... I'm wondering if you have seen this image before - what is different about her?  *music playing in the background* ........ da da da dum.... da da da....

If you haven't guessed yet, I'll give away the secret soon : D  First, I want to give you the copic colors I've used to color in this beauty!  Hair - E59 E37 E35 E34 YR21 YR20; Skin - E11 E00 E000; Eyes - B24 B23 B21; Lips - V01 V000; Clothing - E57 E55 E53 E51 E50/B28 B24 B23 B21.  Her eyes have a 'dollop' of Gloss Gel as well as her lips for shine!

I LOVE all the papers in this gorgeous glitter paper pad called A Walk in the Garden.   For this card, the scene was set, so all I had to do was pop in the image and the butterflies!  Not every paper has a scene, but there are several and the coordinating papers are so pretty!!!

Don't you just love the butterflies?  As the base, I've used a Maya Road chipboard butterfly.  Then I gave it a coat of gesso.  After that was dry, I mixed together LuminArte' Stargazer (mica) with multi-medium to make paint.  I did the same with Snap Dragon (mica) and made more paint : )  To give it even more shimmer, I added a bit more dry mica on top of each color.  The multi-medium can be used as a glue, so the mica is stuck on there good and tight!  I've tried to rub it off, but it doesn't : )  AND... it's not sticky.  This is cool stuff!!!

Although I could have used the multi-medium to glue the butterflies down, I had already adhered the paper layers to the card base with my FAVORITE ScraPerfect Best Glue Ever, so of course I used a drop of that - really, you only need a little.  This glue really sticks!!!

Are you ready for the answer to the Secret Question?  Did I make your brain hurt with all the thinking thinking thinking???  Here ya go...

Answer to Secret Question:  I cut off her wings.

 

Do you love the wings?  Keep 'em on... Do you want the option to have her without the wings?  Cut 'em off! lol...  How's that for options?

Oh... one more thing before you go!

New SCACD Product Alert

• New Paper Pads - Basic Grey, Melissa Frances, Heidi Swap and MORE!!!
• New Mixed Media goodies

Now on SALE!

 

NEW 2012 Spellbinders and Embossibilities on sale thru Sunday - 15% OFF retail.  Please note that ONLY the NEW is on sale!  Grab 'em while you can!

Your next stop is Crystal.

Thanks for playing with me today!

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul~

Susana Loves Stamps New Release!

Welcome to My Comfort Cottage :D  I'm glad you stopped by!  I hope that you enjoy your stay here and come back often to sit and chat awhile!

If you are following the SCACD Blog Hop today, you should have come from Mary's Blog.  If you'd like to start at the beginning, hop on over to see Danni!  You can find the entire HOP list at the Store Blog.

FYI:  Susana is launching some new branding for SCACD Exclusive Stamps in general, and will now be calling ANY of them Susana Loves Stamps.  To be clear, it does not mean she personally designed what you are seeing, but she did have a part in bringing it forward.  Look out for more Susana Loves projects in the works.

TA DAAAAA... Drum Roll Please!!!

Susana Loves Stamps 

presents

Eyes of Beauty Collection 

&

Eyes of Dreams Collection

I'd like to introduce you to Come Hither Eyes from the Eyes of Beauty Collection.  Aren't her eyes amazing???  I LOVE them!

You know how much I love my copics... lol - of course she's colored with them.  Hair - E49 E59 E25 E53; Skin - E11 E00 E000; Eyes- BG15 BG13 BG11 BG10; Wings and clothing - YR09 YR12 YR02 YR01 YR00 BG15 BG13 BG11 BG10.  Her eyes were given some shine using Transparent Gloss Gel and just the tiniest bit of stickles in her barrette.

I've used a number of the dies in the Shapeabilities Sewing Elements set on this card to cut out the pincushion, scissors and buttons.  So that the needles would be silver instead of the color of the pincushion, I first die cut the pincushion with a piece of  Metal Foil Tape Sheet, then I die cut again with the dp which is My Mind's Eye Howdy Doody, and cut off the needles before adhering it to the foil layer.  *All die cuts created using Howdy Doody which is a double sided 6x6 paper pad.

In this photo you can see the SHIMMER and SHINE the Silks Acrylic Glazes create.  Here I've used Nutmeg for both spools.  The small spool has a lighter coat than does the card layers.  I love the richness of this color!  The background paper has a thin coat of Solar Gold Silks brushed across, which you can really see in this view.

The button card is a freebie from the Graphics Fairy and I added the graphic at the top.  Believe it or not, I actually tied on each button to the card before adhering it with glue... what kind of glue you ask? lol

ScraPerfect Best Glue Ever!!!  Seriously.  No joke.  I used it to adhere EVERYTHING on this card.  I absolutely love love love it!!!

Since this is a sewing themed project, I used a spool SVG which I created to cut out the card base.  In a previous post, I offered the smaller spool (which I have baker's twine wrapped around here) but now I am offering a FREE Spool Card which comes in the following formats:  SVG, PNG and PDF.  It includes the card base, the card front and layers.  Download will be at the bottom of this post.  Enjoy!

Card base is Kraft, layers are beige cardstock - first layer edged with Black Soot Distress Ink; top layer painted with Nutmeg Silk Acrylic Glaze and distressed with Black Soot.  My intention for this card was to create the look of wide ribbon on a spool and then build on top of that.  Well... like I said, that was my intention lol!

*International orders may be placed with Elaine at Quixotic Paperie!!!

Your next stop is

Lou Mac

*Candy Ends tomorrow... Baby Steps Cartridge Giveaway *Here*

I've entered the following challenges:
Simon Says - Anything Goes
Lollipop Crafts - Anything Goes
Outlaws Copic Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul~

*** Download Spool Card:  SVG *Here*   PNG *Here*   PDF *Here*

Come Play with Me at SCACD!!!

Welcome to a new week!  Did you have a good weekend?  I spent all day Saturday in my jammies :)  It felt so good to kick back and play a little in my craft room.  I also made some yummy bread in my bread machine.  I love fresh baked bread... just smell that delicious aroma - ummmmm...

Did you miss Susana last week?  I sure did!  But TODAY the store is open-open- open... *nose pressed against the glass window* :)  Yay!  Susana has geared up and is ready for business with a ton of FUN!!!

Feast your eyes on these new goodies:

• New 6x6 paper pads- Jillibean, Memory Box, Pink Paislee and many more- 
• New Dylusions Products
• New Memory Box dies
• Cool new Couture Creations embossing folders

I also have a cute li'l card for ya - imagine that!  This sweetie was made for a precious soon-to-be 7 year-old.  For her birthday party, she is going to dress up as The Little Mermaid!  Isn't that cute?

It's hard to see, but I've used a photo of her quilt to piece a quilt background using Square Swatches Nesties... I wanted this card to be personal and extra special :)  I do hope that she likes it!

This is Elania by Sylvia Zet for SCACD.

She's colored with copics:  Hair - E35 E33 E31 E50 YR21 YR20; Skin E11 E00 E000; Greens - G85 G82 G40 C4; Pinks - RV34 RV32 RV10 RV00 RV000; Purples - BV04 BV02 BV01 BV00 C4; Rock - E55 E53 E51 E50 C4.  Susana now has Shinhan Markers Here.  I've embellished the bubbles and parts of Elania's body with Stardust Stickles.

After coloring and die cutting using Rectangle Nesties I covered the whole piece with Ice Silks Acrylic Glaze.  I'll have a photo below so you can hopefully see the shimmer this NEW glaze has.  As you can see, it's transparent, so your beautiful work will shine through :)

I made extra bubbles using Transparent Gloss Gel (also for her eyes).  I love this gel!  It holds it's shape and in the right light, you can see the sparkle through it!  Awesome product!

I know you can't see it here, but I also gave the swirl a couple of coats of Ice Silks.  It's not overpowering, but gives quite a nice shimmer.  To that, I added more 'bubbles' with the Gloss Gel.

She's popped up with dimensionals, but everything else is put together with ScraPerfect Best Glue Ever.  Yes, I will say it again, this really IS the BEST GLUE EVER!  I've never used glue to put a card together... until recently when Susana brought in Best Glue Ever.  Here's why I love it:

• You only need a small amount to hold your layers together - a little goes a long way.
• It does NOT wrinkle the paper... at all!
• It dries clear and is flexible. I've used glues in the past that crack and crumble :(
• Depending on the card, I have used approximately 5 feet of adhesive - for 1 card!  That adds up to a lot of adhesive and a lot of money.  When I try to skimp, I find things don't hold as well...
• I can position my paper and adjust it as necessary.  Can't do that with adhesive without ripping your paper!
• I don't have to reload a difficult 'gun' - believe me, that saves me a TON of time lol!
• It's just plain convenient!  I'm gonna buy stock in this stuff :)

Best Glue Ever

Here's the photo that shows the shimmer on everything.  I hope you can see it on the white.  The Ice Silks gives it an elegant look!

See?  Everything is good and stuck on the card base!  Even the heavier ribbon topped charm and pin are not going anywhere lol!

I hope you've enjoyed a peek at what I've been creating lately.  I will soon have some links for ya so you can see more NEW coming up for SCACD!!!  Tell Susana that I sent ya :)

I love you, my sweet friends ♥

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul~

A Cutie for CLP Sketch Challenge!

I've finally got a card to share... woot woot!  I know, I've been slacking on that lately cuz I've been in 'school' learning about Photoshop Elements.  I love the idea of mixed media and have posted a few projects here and there in which I've dabbled in hybrid projects.  I've even used clay (I'm dying to use more!).  In the next few weeks though, I'll be showing new products and techniques - yay for new techniques!

But for today, I have a tried and true card to show you which I created for CLP Sketch Challenge #45.  Here's another one of Chelsea's amazing sketches (thank you, Sweetie!!!)

This is Give Peace a Chance by Sylvia Zet for SCACD.

Can you hear her saying, 'He loves me - He loves me not - He loves me....'?  I love her beautiful flowing hair!

I've entered her into the following Challenges:  Joanna Sheen - Spring is in the Air; Sir Stampalot - Take Inspiration (From Ruth's DT card using blue/green and flower!); The Crafter's Cafe - Ribbon and/or Lace; Creative Card Crew - Vintage; Simon Says - A bit 'o Green; Stampavie and More - Spring/Easter

Paper is from the Kaisercraft Sweet Nothings 6x6 paper pad.  I thought the 'tye-dye' look was appropriate for this image lol!  She's colored with copics:  Pants - B97 B95 B93 B91 B37 C7 C5; Top - G28 G24 G21 G20; Flower - YR24 YR21 YR20 YR14 R14; Hair - E35 E34 YR21 YR20; Skin - E11 E00 E000; Flower Centers - E18 E17 E13 E11 E02; Flower Stem - YG67 YG63 YG61 YG11; Shoes - E47 E44 E43 E42 E41 E40 C9.

Products and supplies used:  Give Peace a Chance stamp; Sentiment is from the Ticketed stamp set by Stampology; Kaisercraft Paper Pad (out of stock on Sweet Nothings, but check out the fabulous selection Here); Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad; Sepia VersaFine Ink Pad; Faded Jeans Distress Ink; Copics (check out Susana Loves Markers Here); Stardust Stickles; Transparent Gloss Gel; Glamour Dust; MS border punches; paper doily; tulle; flat back pearls; button; Tim Holtz scissors (used to cut the shank from button); dimensional foam and BEST GLUE EVER*

I discovered a tutorial on Pinterest that gave directions on how to use punches in various ways.  The 'lace' border at the top with the pearls in the center was made according to those directions *Here*  Why not get the most use from the tools we have?

*BEST GLUE EVER

OK... I am not an OMG girl, but My Goodness, this is the BEST (not kidding!) glue E V E R ! ! !  This is the first card I've created using ScraPerfect Best Glue Ever.  I must say that I was skeptical.  I mean really... isn't glue pretty much glue???  This glue totally blew me away!  From now on, I will use this for my adhesive instead of my ATG; Tombow or Glue Glider Pro.

The ONLY thing that I was not happy about was adhering the tulle which was knotted in the middle.  For that, as well as the button, I will continue to use Aleene's Super Thick Tacky Glue.

You only need a small amount of Best Glue Ever.  It does NOT wrinkle paper and holds extremely well.  A definite plus to using this glue over various tapes is that you can reposition your paper if you don't get it right the first time!  It dries permanent, but if you want repositional, you can apply to the surface and let dry before adhering to another surface.  I'm tellin' ya that they got the name right on this one!!!

You can find Best Glue Ever *Here*

Who would've thought I'd write a novel on glue???  Ah... the life of a crafter :)

I'm off to wash my hair and go to Bible Study...  I'll be back with the rest of my FREEBIES for ya.  Did ya miss the first FREEBIE?  You can find it Here!  Did you miss my Baby Steps Cartridge Giveaway?  You can find it Here!

Love you tons, my friends ♥

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul~