Trek Inspired Bordering Blooms

June 18, 2015June 18, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

Trek Inspired? Well, of course! Coming up next week around two hundred youth and adult leaders will be heading out for a three day handcart pioneer trek covering about 15 miles. My husband and I get to participate as “Ma and Pa” for a group of eight youth who will be our “children” during the trek. I don’t know if I am more excited or scared. Good to be both though.

I have been sewing my pioneer outfit and have it ready to go. I am actually typing while wearing it. What a great pioneer thing to do, right? I even have my hair in french braids and my straw hat on. I thought it might be a good idea to try and walk around in these skirts a bit. My lace will be getting dirty I think.

While I saw sewing I saw a card coming together. Mix my two favorites, right? I stamped with one of the border stamps in old olive on very vanilla. I used my aqua painter and the other ink colors to color in the flower and leaf patterns. Yet another background creation. And now I have two all occasion cards ready to go.

Here is a sneak peek at part of my apron. Can you see the colors coordinating? I know the marina mist is a bit brighter, but it was close enough to get my brain creating. Ruffles and lace and ruffles and lace. My mother will be so proud.

I think I will do some more trek inspired projects to share while I am gone. Yee-Haw!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Thank You for Mint Macaron

May 30, 2015May 30, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Isn’t this lovely minty color so pretty? This is the third of the five new In-Colors for Stampin’Up! and I am already having so much fun with them. I wasn’t quite ready to let go of coastal cabana or some of the others, but this helps me feel better.

I hadn’t made a bag or box for a bit, so I thought I would do both. I am still using the same stamp set, A Whole Lot of Lovely, three days in a row. That just goes to show how versatile this set is.

Of course I got the new colors, but I also had to get all of the new lace trims as well. I am quickly getting attached to them. They are a little more subtle and opaque on my projects. More of an accent than a focus.

I left this bag rather simple. I wanted to just see the stamped image and focus on that. It really is pretty. I know I will be using this one like crazy. Speaking of crazy, that is what is in store for my day, so I had better get on it!

Have a creative day!

Moana

A Whole Lot of Lovely

May 28, 2015May 28, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

How about a sneak peek at some new product coming out next week! I have been waiting to play with some of the new products, but have made myself wait until it was closer to being released. The background stamp is a returning favorite, but the rest is all new!

Let’s start with the color. It is called Tip Top Taupe and I love it! It is darker than Sahara Sand and lighter than Crumb Cake. I think it is so pretty. Wait until you see the other four new In Colors. I will do one a day to show all five. How fun!

The stamps shown are two of the four in one of the new host sets coming out. I love it when they make a stamp that fits a punch just right. How perfectly does this pretty sentiment fit inside the 2″ circle punch, right? Just the perfect nudge of white boarder around the image, yummy. And then of course just a little inside stamping to coordinate. I really went at the sponging today and gave it an almost vintage look. I wanted to put this new color to the test. It has passed with flying colors.

Take a look at the new ribbon though. It is called Dotted Lace Trim and it comes in the new five colors. It is actually quite soft and just a bit stretchy. I can see myself using this often, good thing I get a discount.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Love is Kindness with Newsprint DSP

April 15, 2015April 15, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

I wasn’t sure what I would come up with last night. I had pulled some product to work with, but when I sat down to do it, I wasn’t feeling it. Total do over. How about this awesome stamp instead? Absolutely!

I had been waiting until closer to Mother’s Day to use this beauty, because it so reminded me of my mom. She always makes flowers look beautiful, no matter how they show up. Even in rumpled newspaper.

I had to do echo stamping inside, but wanted my gift bag to mirror the stamp as well. I think it worked out pretty good, don’t you? Both the card and bag were made from one sheet of card stock, plus a little scrap to frame my stamped image.

I really couldn’t wait to make the little pretend newspaper on this image, like so many other stampers have done. It was so fun, even if it was a bit tricky. You should totally give it a try.

Just looking at this set under my spotlights makes me smile. I absolutely love them. With workshop coming this weekend, I might have to change a project? No, I will stay firm, but I don’t want to.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Kinda Eclectic Ray of Sunshine

March 21, 2015March 21, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Eclectic is the true nature of this card. A little bit of everything coming together to create something beautiful. With these colors, stamped images, punches, and a perfect Walt Whitman quote, how could you go wrong?

Of course I had to layer in the 1/8th” fashion as is my thing these days. But it makes me happy, even if it seems a bit wasteful. I often punch or cut out underneath anyway, so it isn’t too bad. I didn’t think I would notice if I inked the edges or not in such a narrow border, but you totally do. It looked almost plain otherwise with this combo. Interesting.

When I stamped inside I used just the corner of the sunburst, it was just right. It made me think of a quilt block I have never been brave enough to try. I think I have seen it called New York beauty and it involves paper piecing to keep those points just so. Beautiful, but daunting. Maybe someday.

Well, today is workshop day, so I had to keep it brief. No time for a second variation of the card and a matching bag. I still have to get to the store before I go!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Wildflower Meadow Watercolor

March 19, 2015March 19, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

How about waking up to a ray of sunshine? This feels like a spring sunrise. The kind you wish you could get lost in, or just put on pause so you can stay there.

I was sulking over my blendabilities tragedy and wanted to play with color. So I pulled out some watercolor paper and decided to make a mess. I picked my colors, mushed some ink from my pads onto wax paper, sprayed them with water and started putting my paper on it to make patterns. Those colors were too dark, so I switched to the ones you see. Soft sky, daffodil delight and blushing bride. I repeated the process and the colors were just right. I dried it with my heat gun because I have no patience, sheesh…

I then stamped the wildflower meadow stamp in black stazon and went for it. I love the texture that shows through the ink. I finished it off with a tiny stamp from the Tap Tap Tap set to just say “hi”. I used the tiny oval to punch it out, inked it and backed it with another oval punched in daffodil delight.

A healthy smattering of basic pearls and a big hug in seam binding ribbon and this guy was ready. I raised it up on dimensionals and called it done. Kind of simple, but has lots of interest at the same time. Give it a try!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Big Day for Park Lane DSP!

January 28, 2015January 28, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

Happy Birthday to Who? The lucky folks who are getting these lovely cards. I hadn’t had the park lane designer series paper out for some time, but I sure do love it!

I like how the different patterns lend themselves to a masculine for feminine look, but not entirely. It makes it really versatile.

The Sale-a-bration free stamp set Big Day is one you will want for sure. This cute little cake on a stand is just one of the stamps. The candle is separate, so you can put on however many you want, or can squeeze in.

Then, bring on the blendabilities for the perfect coordinating look. Both cards are accented with linen thread and crumb cake paper. The card base is naturals white. That stuff is so beautiful, and a great deal too.

I used the bitty accents punch pack to make those cute flowers out of more crumb cake and put a basic pearl inside each one. Even the one inside. I punched the stamp with the 2″ circle punch and bordered it with crumb cake using the 2 3/8″ scallop punch. It went together really quick.

Drum roll please, I didn’t sponge anything! If you know me you know that is so out there. But I really liked it this way. Try something new yourself now!

Have a creative day!

Moana

studio824

Creativity for all seasons and reasons.

country

Trek Inspired Bordering Blooms

Thank You for Mint Macaron

A Whole Lot of Lovely

Love is Kindness with Newsprint DSP

Kinda Eclectic Ray of Sunshine

Wildflower Meadow Watercolor

Big Day for Park Lane DSP!