Glorious, Wonderful, Amazing Fall!

Hi everyone!  Are you enjoying the hop so far?  Got any ideas for these stamps in your future?  I find them so easy to be creative with.  You can do so much with them....tags, scrapbooking, canvas, a mini book (REMEMBER: THE DOLLS DON'T HAVE TO BE FULL SIZE), shrinky dinks, bookmarks, etc.  The possibilities, as they say, are endless. Be sure to double click on the images to see them up close.

So this Tuesday finds us at fall, my favorite season of all.  So I went all out with tags for this seasons.  Let's start with back to school.  Lots of embellies on this one.  The tag and all elements are distressed with Vintage Photo applied with an applicator.  The school photo, the box of crayons, the flashcard and the ruler are Tim Holtz.  The schoolroom clock is Recollections.  The little books in the lower right hand corner are from a sheet of dollhouse books to cut out.  I even put print inside!  YOU COULD LOOK FOR PICTURES OF BOOKS IN MAGAZINES OR JUNKMAIL AND PRINT AND CUT THEM TO SIZE.  The back to school letters are faux Scrabble stickers.  I added a collar, cut freehand and the headband is the same paper as the dress.  A matching gingham bow tops it all off.

  

The next tag is sprayed with Dylusions Inks (LOVE those things), blotted off and dried.  Our doll has a dress detailed with Stickles.  All the little details were punches with the exception of the apple which is K&Co.  All the foliage is embossed and distressed.  And I detailed the leaves and pumpkins with a stylus.  She's ready for an autumn gathering.

The third tag jumps into the Halloween season.  A regular Prima tag is covered with a highly embossed scrap of paper (I'm not sure you can tell this from the picture). which I bought on a trip to Lancaster PA years ago.  I have no idea of the manufacturer.  I only bought one sheet (duh!) and wish I had twenty more.  It is just the neatest paper.  The doll is dressed in a small print paper and her shoes are colored with Copics.  The hat was stolen from a sheet of halloween stickers byf K&Co. The tags and Happy Haunting sentiment are Graphic 45.  The little clock (up on the tickets) is from My Minds Eye Lost and Found.  The tickets themselves are Crafty Secrets, which is all digital stamps now.  Boo Hoo!  I loved their rubber.  Everything was edged with Vintage Photo Ink.  TIP: WHILE WE ARE SPEAKING ABOUT EDGES, I WANT TO TELL YOU THAT MOST OF THE DOLL PARTS AND EMBELLISHMENTS I EDGE WITH A MARKER OR INK THAT MATCHES THAT PART.  IT'S ANOTHER TRICK TO DISGUISE THOSE WHITE EDGES WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE SHOW ON YOUR FINISHED TAG.  IT GIVES A NICE NEAT APPEARANCE.

My last fall tag is my favorite of all the tags I made for the hop.  Let's hear a big welcome for Bat Lady! Be sure to double click and see this one enlarged.  The Prima tag is covered in an old halloween script paper.  Her bodice and ruffle are a Martha Stewart glittered paper.  The skirt is an embossed black paper, black on black, which is stunning.  The flower is Prima.  The black beaded bling is Recollections.  The brad at the top where the ribbon is is Lost and Found from My Minds Eye.  The bat wings were embellishments from last year's Halloween collection from K&Co. The apothecary tag to the side is Crafty Secrets.  The edges are done is Black Soot ink.  TIP: THE USE OF LOTS OF DIMENSIONALS TO "POP UP' THESE DOLLS ON THE TAGS IS VERY IMPORTANT. THEY SEEM TO FLOAT OVER THE SURFACE.  I USED TWO SIZES AND THICKNESSES OF POP DOTS AND ONE VERY SMALL CIRCULAR ONE FOR AREAS THAT WERE THIN AND TINY AND A LARGER CIRCLE WHICH WAS THICKER THAN MOST FOR THE DOLL ITSELF AND LARGE EMBELLISHMENTS.  ALSO GET INTO THE HABIT OF ALLOWING YOUR LARGE EMBELLISHMENTS HANG OFF OF THE TAGS HERE AND THERE.  IT ADDS SOME WOW FACTOR!

Well that does it for me for fall.  Hop to Lisa's blog to see her offerings and don't forget to comment for a chance at my blog candy (see post below) to be awarded on August 27th.  Next Tuesday we will end our hop with Winter (and I might do something different than tags for a change (wink!).  See you then!

 Dar's Crafty Creations http://darscraftycreations.blogspot.com/

Primitive Seasons (Mary) http://primitiveseasons.blogspot.com/

A Mermaids Crafts (Lisa) http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/

Nellies Nest (Diane) http://www.nelliesnest.blogspot.com/

Mulberry Mindy (Mindy) http://www.mulberrymindy.blogspot.com/

Scrap For Joy (Joyce)    http://scrapforjoy.blogspot.com/

Summer is Here!

Summer time is in full swing and I have two Prima tags to celebrate!  The first shows one of our Prima dolls in her garden.  Her dress is an old SU paper and THE TRIM IS JUST DOTS OF WHITE PAINT TO MIMIC LACE. The large flower is Recollections in a pot from Papertrey Ink.  All the stentiments including the ones on the tags are PTI.  The seed packets are an old K&Co. line along with the bee in the upper right corner. I THINK THE BEST TIP I LEARNED DOING THESE DOLLS IS THIS.  I AM NOT GOOD WITH AN EXACTO KNIFE.  WHEN CUTTING OUT THE DOLLS I JUST CONTINUE TO CUT BETWEEN THE FEET, OR LEGS, OR BETWEEN THE ARMS AND BODY. THEN YOU CONTINUE TO CUT OUT THOSE LITTLE AREAS WHICH ARE HARD OTHERWISE.  WHEN YOU PLACE YOUR DOLL DOWN, JUST USE A LITTLE GLUE OR SMALL DIMENSIONAL ACROSS THE JOIN.  YOU'LL NEVER NOTICE IT ON THE FINISHED TAG.  NO MORE FUSSY CUTTING OF INSIDE PARTS.

My second tag has a picnic theme.  NOTE: THIS DOLL IS THE EASIEST OF ALL TO CUT OUT.  If you're just starting with these stamps, she'd be a good one to start with.  Her dress and background paper are from Alphabet Junction by Carta Bells, the 6 x 6 pad.  Cupcakes and sentiment were from a pack of stickers I picked up in Michaels dollar bin (now the $1.50 bin!) a long time ago.  The little lunch box is a Lockhart stamp.  Whenever you order from Ellen Hutson, she send a little colored stamp image as a thank you along with a yard of ribbon.  I save those images to use on other projects.  A little bling of a butterfly perches in the top left of the tag.

Jump on over to see Lisa to see more great projects with those wonderful stamps.  Don't forget to leave a comment, become a Follower, or comment about our hop on your blog.  Each of those will win you a chance at winning my blog candy (shown in the first post).  And be sure not to miss next Tuesday when we roll out all the stops for FALL!  Some great projects for my favorite season!
 Dar's Crafty Creations http://darscraftycreations.blogspot.com/

Primitive Seasons (Mary) http://primitiveseasons.blogspot.com/

A Mermaids Crafts (Lisa) http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/

Nellies Nest (Diane) http://www.nelliesnest.blogspot.com/

Mulberry Mindy (Mindy) http://www.mulberrymindy.blogspot.com/

Scrap For Joy (Joyce)    http://scrapforjoy.blogspot.com/

Rain or Shine--Version 2

This is a card I did below on July 28 and decided to do a second version of because the image is so much fun to color.  I used Copics again, Spellbinders dies, a Martha Stewart border punch and some flowers and ribbon.  Finished off the border with a few Perfect Pearls.  Enjoy!

Here Come the Prima Ladies!!!

It's finally here!  Welcome to the Prima Mixed Media Paper Doll blog hop.  We have all been so excited to get this started after two months of planning.  Let's get the rules out of the way first.  My blog candy is shown below and to win the prize you must visit my blog on each Tuesday in August and leave a comment.  If you post about the hop on your blog, you get a second chance and if you become a follower, a third chance.  Let me know in your comment if you have done either of those and make sure to leave an email so that I can contact you.  If I don't hear from the winner in 48 hours, another one will be drawn.  The blog candy for each of us is different and the winners will be drawn on August 27th, the last day of the hop.

My blog candy is shown below and includes two Prima Doll stamps, one Prima Doll pad of tags, one Prima Doll Stencil and three tags, handmade by me.  Included but not pictured is a 12 x 12 package of SU paper with small prints which is great for these dolls.

Links for all the participants in the blog will be listed below each week so you can find your way.  We ask if you post a project on your blog or on Pinterest that you give credit to the blog that created it. Also here on my blog, scattered throughout the posts, are tips for working with these stamps,  They will be printed in BOLD TYPE so that you can find them easily.  Let's go! First my candy:

Our theme is the Seasons.  We'll begin with Spring.  For my post, I have done two tags,  The first is an Easter themed tag, using a Prima Tag as the base.  I used paper from a 6 x 6 pad from Alphabet Junction by Carta Bella for her clothing.  Tip:  small prints are really great for these dolls to keep them in scale.  The 6 x 6 pads are great for this because you use so little and the prints are reduced in size.  You don't have to cut into a large 12 x 12 sheet. All my paper dolls are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on watercolor paper and colored with Copic Markers. You could also use Prismacolor pencils or your favorite brand of pencils, Distress Markers or whatever you are used to.

The Easter tag uses the following products:  Fruit Punch Stickles on the headband, a paper doily and flat backed pearls, clear Rock Candy Glitter by Ranger, K&Co. egg stickers, brads, a vintage image from the internet (basket), bling from Recollections, two images from G45 Once Upon A Springtime collection and Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Instead of bare legs, I colored this doll as though she had white tights on.  Don't all little girls wear white tights for Easter?  Tip:  Don't overlook substituting clothing on the bare body parts of the dolls.  You can change the look by making sleeves, pants, tights, collars, hats, etc where there are none.

My second tag for Spring commemorates Prom season.  Black formal wear is so hot with young people today and our doll is no exception.  She's wearing a short strapless dress with a silver ruffle.  The ruffle was from already glittered paper.  Headband, shoes and crown are Stickles.  She was again done on a Prima tag with Washi tape down one side and some preprinted words.  Recollections flower in three shades of grey/black cascade down the front.  The tag is finished with sparkly black ribbon tied in a double bow with the tails up, which is a detail I especially like on these tags.

Now hop on over to Mindy's blog to see what goodies she has ready for you.  Be sure to stop back next Tuesday for Summer themed dolls.  And thank you for taking the time to visit.  I hope you have a good time.

         

Dars Crafty Creations (Dar) http://darscraftycreations.blogspot.com/  

Primitive Seasons (Mary) http://primitiveseasons.blogspot.com/

A Mermaids Crafts (Lisa) http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/

Nellies Nest (Diane) http://www.nelliesnest.blogspot.com/

Mulberry Mindy (Mindy) http://www.mulberrymindy.blogspot.com/

Scrap For Joy (Joyce)    http://scrapforjoy.blogspot.com/

       
         

Friends

Aren't good friends just the best thing in the world! Some of us have a large circle of friends and some have only one or two.  It doesn't matter.  We have to nurture those relationships and treat them as golden.  My card today is about friendship.  Now I am not into the Tilda stamps or other child like characters in rubber.  But this stamp got my attention mostly because I knew it would be fun to color.  It's from Penny Black for Hero Arts and it was colored with Copics.  Lots of different dies were used, mostly Spellbinders and the butterfly is MS.  Don't forget to click on the picture to get a better view.

I've been so busy getting ready for the Prima Paper Doll Hop this week, I haven't had much time to post.  I also am having eye surgery on Thursday so I had to get all my pictures and posts ready to go.  I do hope you will join us.  There will be prizes and so much fun.  Be sure to check my Prima Paper Dolls board on Pinterest too.  You'll get a ton of ideas!

A Sneak Peak!

Just a little peek at what's coming with the Prima Paper Dolls blog hop.  Remember, the seasons is the theme and we are working like crazy to bring you lots of projects and tips on working with these stamps.  This is just a tease......

Peas, Please!

One of the pleasures of springtime are fresh peas.  I eat them right in the garden when picking.  Just steamed and a little butter with salt and pepper and you have a feast.  This is another set from PTI Garden Variety and Vegetable Garden.  I made this very simple with the seed pack and the popped up peas, a sentiment and a MS doily border punch.  Well back to the blog hop  preparations!  Please join us.

Veggies!

In between working on the blog hop today I had a couple cards in the works.  This one features the Papertry Ink stamps, Vegetable Garden and Garden Variety.  The lattice is a Spellbinders die.  The vegetable stamps are interchangeable with the flower stamps in Garden Variety and they also have some great sentiments.  I love gardening but it's starting to get hard to do with some physical limitations I have.  There's nothing like fresh veggies and beautiful flowers from your own garden!

Pop-Pop-Pop Up

Another pop up card to add to the current craze!  I haven't seen one using the bath tub from Sizzix which is a very old die.  I used an SU scalloped circle punch for the bubbles and the little girl is from a Graphic 45 collection.  All the other papers are from SU.  The rubber ducky was a stickler.  I had no stickers or images with that on it.  So I cut out my own and colored it with Distress Inks and Copics.  The little rug and the framed picture complete the bathroom image.

The front of the card uses Spellbinders Labels 21 edged with Vintage Photo ink.  The leaves are a Martha Stewart punch and the flower is Recollections.  These things are so much fun and very addictive.  Be sure to double click to see the images closer.

An Alert!!!

     Hoping everyone had a great fourth!  Our dog did NOT appreciate the fireworks!  I just wanted to tell you that coming up in August, I will be participating in a blog hop.  Something new for me.  All I can say at this point is that the subject of the blog hop will be the wonderful Prima Paper Dolls stamps and accessories.  It will be the whole month of August and we will have prizes and all that good stuff.  Be sure to check back in at that time to see what the fun is all about.

Happy Fourth!!!

I saw a card on Pinterest that blew me away.  It was by Dining Room Drawers and I went to her web site and was amazed at her lovely work.  She did a baby card using the Pop n Cuts system and I was inspired to do the same.  I used a patriotic color scheme.  The only thing was I didn't have the die for the colander that she used.  Off to ebay to see if I could find one and as luck would have it, I did.  So here is my version.  I didn't have any paper that resembled graniteware for the colander.  So I made my own.  The label on the front is Sizzix Label 25 I believe.  The sentiment is from PTI as is the parade of patriotic children.  I used an old Sizzix star die to cut the stars. The flowers inside are from Tim Holtz tattered strip die.  Fireworks are from PTI.  The red checked eyelet border is a Martha border die.  I used some gold Strickles for a little spark.  Hope you all have a great day on Thursday and remember what this country is all about.

Steampunk Accordian Album

Using the Sizzix Accordian Album and the Frame and Label Bracket dies I created a small Steampunk themed album.  There are so many details on this one I think I'll just give you the basic details and let you peruse the pictures.  If you have any questions, you can always email. 

I used the G45 Steampunk papers and, though I didn't show a pic of that, I finished the back with papers too.  Many of the embellishments are from that paper collection but a few are Recollections.  I used Recollections flowers.  The main image which is the corset (see post further down) is from Stampendous.  Some of the words are Tim Holtz and K&Co. 

These are so much fun to do and you can check Pinterest for much more inspiration using these dies by Karen Burniston for Sizzix.  Don't forget to double click to enlarge the photos.  Enjoy!

Prayers, please............

Just popping in here quickly to ask for prayers for the firefighters and community of Prescott, Arizona.  In fighting a lightening related wildfire,  19 people of an elite 20 person specialized firefighting unit lost their lives.  Please pray for their families, the local fire department and the community there that are reeling from this horrible disaster. 

Welcome to the family.....

Well I just had to brag!  Isn't she just darling!  On June 13th my oldest daughter had to put down her 15 year old pug, Maggie.  She was devastated and if you have ever put an animal down, you know how hard it is.  That dog was her whole life.  Quite unexpectedly on Tuesday, an opportunity presented itself to go and look at a litter of puppies and this little girl wormed her way right into our hearts.  Her name is Sophie and she loves her bed, her toys, her food but not the housebreaking.  She is training her to a pad and so far she doesn't get it.  But it's only been three days so we have to be patient.  Don't you just love that face!  Just had to share.....

Sweety Girls

Prima has done it again!  Julie Nutting designed more paper dolls for us to play with.  As if the first ones weren't fun, she has outdone herself again.  This time, they have a set of wings to use with any one of the dolls.  For this one, I took the Prima tags that are made just for the dolls and ran it through my machine with the TH Brick embossing folder.  I swiped my TH Shabby Shutters pad across it.  I added part of a small paper doily, then popped up the doll on top.  She was colored with Copic markers and I used paper piecing for her outfit.  Added some bling (I'll have you know I made the swirls!!!) and a little sentiment from Wendy Vecchi.  Oh and her wings were also run through with an embossing folder from SU and then swiped with a pad.  These take some time but are soooo much fun.  Right click for an up close and personal.  Enjoy!

Pop! Pop! Pop!

I just got the Zig Zag pop up for my basic Pop It Up cards.  I love this because it really displays pop up elements to a card and they MOVE!  This was old SU paper and I used stamps from Papertrey--Garden Variety and Year of Flowers Mini.  You can see the front of the card and then the inside.  This is a  5 x 7 card.  I stamped mostly in SU Soft Suede with Dried Marigold accents and Paprika Stickles.  Enjoy on this beautiful summer day!

A Perfect Fit

Awhile back, JoAnns had a 50% stamp sale on their website.  An enabling friend ( Diane at Nellie's Nest) put me on to it!  This corset stamp by Stampendous was one that I bought.  I just LOVE this image!  It was so much fun to color.  The sentiment was from Papertrey Ink.  I used a Sizzix die for the polka dotted background (Romantic Rectangles) and the sentiment is stamped on Fancy Tags.  The small flourish under the rose is a from Diane  and at the moment I can't remember the company.  I colored the image with Copics and used Viva Décor pens for the trim on the lace and the buttons the corset is laced with.  Paper is SU.  This was a fun card (5 x 7) and I hope you'll give this stamp a try.   Make sure to double click to see it up close and personal.   Have a good evening!

Susan's Peony Card

Here's a great friendship card I made with Susan Cockburn's peony die, seen in my last post. This is 5 x 7 which gives you more real estate to play with.  Now I'm off to make an envelope to match.

Beautiful Flowers

 

                                                        Susan Tierney Cockburn is a specialist at making paper flowers.  She has two books on the subject to her credit and now has teamed up with Sizzix to produce dies to maker her lovely flowers.  I have to say they are really life like. I purchased the peony die from Cut at Home using my monthly coupon there. I will tell you straight out, I probably picked the hardest one to try first.  They take time and patience.  I wouldn't even show you my first attempt.  Looked like a flower after a heavy rain!  Anyway, I was more successful with the second which is shown below. I added a few extra petals to make it more full and I spritzed the finished flower with Mister Huey's Color Mist-Shine.  It gives a really pearlized look.  All the parts needed including the leaves are included in the die.  You do need some basic tools and a rubber mat to shape the flowers on.  There are quite a few videos on You Tube of Susan making her different flowers.  Worth checking out if you're interested. 

Don

Pop n Cuts

I decided to give the relatively new Pop n Cuts system a try.  These are the brainchild of Karen Burniston who as a designer for Sizzix and a former engineer thought up these pop up cards that have a lot of possibilities.  I always like something better if I can get a lot of mileage out of it.  Helps to justify the expense!  I have showed you the two fronts of the cards (turned around that postage stamp on the one!) and then a view of the inside of each card.  They can be very simple or as elaborate as you like.  My good friend, Diane Hover, over at Nellie's Nest, suggested using the Cricut to make cut outs to use on the pop up portion.  I thought that was a great idea!  Well, have a great weekend and stay out of trouble.  We're waiting for Andrea to hit here on the east coast and our area is under a flood watch until 10 this evening.  Be safe!