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Happy Tuesday! It has been a rather chilly few days, and while I won't be enjoying the freeze outside, I certainly intend to do so inside. And what better way than by being surrounded by my favorite stamps, papers and inks?  Today I'm super excited to share this paper pieced card! Paper piecing is one of my absolutely favorite techniques, but I seldom do it. True - it's a bit tedious, but the result is so, SO fun! And it has the ability to completely transforms the look of stamps you already have. Which is the reason it's a feature in today's Stretch Your Stamps series! To start this card, I used various snowflake stamps to create a colorful background. I used colors of Scarlet Jewel, Smokey Shadow, Classic Kraft, Saffron Spice, Pale Peony, Terracotta Tile and Ocean Tides .  For all the winter attire, I used a TCM stamp that is no longer available, but I loooove this one !! In order to add all the little parts in various colors and patterns, I stamped and heat embo...

Hi Friends and happy Monday!  It's the start of the week, and I'm super excited to share with you the start of my new series: CAS (Clean and Simple) Challenge! Anyone who's followed this blog for some time, knows just how truly challenging this is for me, and that I've been trying to pare back for some time - mostly because it's fun to try something new, but also because layered cards take  forever ! Not that I mind, but sometimes it's really nice to be able to walk away with a finished card in 15 mins :) So this monthly challenge is devoted to just that. And there is no better way to usher in a speedy finish, than with today's feature: a single layer stenciled card.  This little number was very easy to pull together. The biggest challenge was deciding which stencil to use, picking my color combo, and finding just the right accents. Not too shabby, right? To start this card, I cut a square base out of some cardstock and covered it with one of my favorite ste...

Helloooo Friends! I've got a  winter-wonderland-of-a-card to share with you all! I was inspired by the beautiful flakes outside and wanted to create something just as soft and delicate. I've also been itching to use this little deer cutie and I'm so happy to finally share him with you :) To start this card, I adhered some aqua and white polka dot paper onto a card base.  I then used various snowflake stamps to stamp my background with Versamark ink , and white embossing powder to emboss all the flakes. A background stamp like this one would work wonders here! After embossing, I added iridescent rhinestones and Nuvo drops to create a twinkling effect. I used white cardstock to back the vellum. I found that the snowflakes were competing with the aqua background a little too much for my liking. I then added a frame of greenery and adhered these layers onto my card base. Lastly, I stamped and die cut this sweet little deer, using Altenew's Modern Deer stamp and die set.  *...

Hi Friends! Today I'm sharing a Holiday card I created with some non-holiday stamps. I wanted to make a snowflake card but I was missing a large, beautiful flake in my stamp collection.  So, I decided to make my own! Using some simple pencil sketch guides, and the handy  Misti stamp tool , it was pretty quick and easy to pull this together! I used the beautiful Pinkfresh Studio Pretty Paisley stamp set. I loved the insert paisley motif, and thought it would work perfectly for building my snowflake. If you have any stamp designs on hand that are linear in nature, they would work perfectly for this! Intricate borders, dotted borders, fancy motifs...The possibilities are endless! STEP 1 - TEMPLATE I first decided to cut a square piece of cardstock, measuring across two paisley motifs back-to-back to determine the length and width of the square. I then used a light pencil line to draw two lines, creating quadrants on my square, to act as a guide. STEP 2 - STAMP + EMBOSS I stamped...

Hello everyone! I hope your weekend has been delightful. I promised I would share a little bit about my upcoming plans for this blog, so let's get to that first. So much change is in store, but I'm going to try and break it down a little :) INSTAGRAM Guys, the day is finally here...I'm sooo excited to announce that I have finally joined Instagram! I plan to share all the latest updates from this blog, crafty/life moments, and whatever other random whims come along. I am probably the least social media savvy person you will meet, so it might be a rough ride to start, but I hope you'll join me anyway!  You can find me at @ivana.creates Also, huge spoiler alert in regards to my upcoming name change -  I'm launching #letsmakesomethinglovely  and hope you'll join in! It's where you'll be able to find all of my posts, but I hope you'll join me there too! I'm super excited to see you all in insta-land! Let's be friends, okay? NEW BLOG DESIGN A brand...

Hi Friends! I wanted to pop in really quickly to share a bit of an unorthodox post. No project (I'll be sharing one later today) but something equally as fun (I hope)!  I've been wanting to introduce a new feature to this blog for some time, and I think this just might be a perfect day for that. It's a space that I'm really, really hoping you'll come visit and join!! It's the name of my new tagline (coming soon) but it's also so much more than that! A little backstory first... I love sharing here with you, and it makes my heart so happy! But, I have to admit, from time to time, I get curious about YOUR art! Aside from my friends who leave a note + also have blogs (which I cherish and loooove to visit), I really get to thinking about how the rest of you like to get creative! And if you're ever inspired by the posts here :) Because, I'll be honest, at times it can feel like we are all just writing into space! I know I'm often inspired by ideas afte...

Happy Saturday! It's looking a whole lot like winter here, and snow is all around us! Naturally, cozy cards are on my mind, so today I'm sharing a quick little number that  just might warm even the coldest of days :) I started this card with a patterned paper journal card, complete with polka dots, and a striped heart. I love pulling colors from paper patterns, and I thought the combination of burnt orange and red was perfect for a comforting vibe. I added some mustard to the mix and a wee bit of yellow as well. I framed my sweet cup with these beautiful stamped branches using Altenew's Floral Frame stamp set.  I colored some leaves selectively, and also added a few berries using PTI's Holiday Hugs stamp and die set. I used colors of Smokey Shadow, Pure Poppy, Terracotta Tile, and Saffron Spice  to match the cozy hues.  For the striped mug, I used an older stamp set from The Craft's Meow (no longer available), but I did find this sweet stamp that would work perfec...