Laura Griffin Designs

Fun with swirly backgrounds…

Pulled out some old Adirondack multi-colored inkpads and had some fun with this Misty Swirl Pattern background stamp from Hero Arts.

After stamping the background image (with a spritz of water), I added a few small strategically-placed fuschia gemstones and did some extra coloring with my Prismacolors around the edges and white spots of the image. The thanks sentiment is from Stampabilities.

Thank you chipboard flower card

Pulled out a Sizzix die from my stash that had never been used before. Have any supplies like that?!?!

I first cut out the floral image from chipboard for dimension, and then added a layer of Lasting Impressions papers. I added texture to the stem with my Swiss Dot embossing folder and added a dry-embossed border to the side of the card. Rub-on is Stampin’ Up! and I added white gel pen accents to finish.

(Supplies: Flower & Vines w/ Stem 655821, white cardstock, Lasting Impressions papers, Stampin’ Up! Rub-On, Chipboard coasters, White Gel Pen, Swiss Dot embossing folder, dotted border Cuttlebug embossing folder, brown ink for edging, green cardstock, dimensional foam dots for layering ground)

Happy Anniversary Card

Today’s card was made for my parents’ anniversary (41 years this year – impressive, eh?!)

The damask background (Stampabilities) was stamped in red brick Tim Holtz distress ink. The sentiment (Hero Arts) was stamped onto vellum. Ribbon is from my stash.

Here’s an alternate version that I made for a co-worker’s wedding…

Greeting card designs for men…

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes struggle with creating card designs for the men in my life. I have a tendency to want to attach a bow, flower, or bling to each one. *lol*

When I find myself reaching for the glitter, I stop and think about how I could customize the card without all the extra shimmer. For my brother’s birthday this year, I incorporated a stamped image of an oil rig (he’s in that biz). Since it happened to be the shape of an “A” – it made for easy customization with his name. I used neutral cardstock and added a dashed border with black trim. I figure that’s as close to masculine as I’ll get.

I have to admit, though… the Spica glitter marker made an appearance on the oil drops coming out of the rig…couldn’t help myself.

You’re too kind…

Here’s another quick & simple card to share. The patterned paper and flower embellie are by Marcella (picked up on clearance at my local Target a while back). Sentiment stamp is Papertrey Ink (from Mixed Messages set).

Simple Wedding Card

I picked up a cute embellie at a local scrapbook store last year and re-discovered it in my stash last month. Thought I’d use it to make a quick wedding card. (It’s always good to have extras on hand). It came in an unmarked package…so not sure who made it. Love how the handmade paper looks like icing!

It’s difficult to see in the pics, but I used an irridescent cardstock to give it a formal feel.

The inside of the card is simply stamped with a sentiment by Anna Griffin.

Amy Butler – more than just fabric…

As I mentioned recently, I’m a huge fan of Amy Butler‘s fabric designs. So needless to say, I’m thrilled that she’s teamed up over the years with K&Co to release several patterned paper packs. I love the Sola 12×12 designs. Thought I’d share a quick card today that uses a scrap from one of the Sola patterns. Letters are Thickers by American Crafts and the scalloped border is by doodlebug designs.

Cardmaking with scraps

I pulled out some scraps from my stash the other day and decided to make a quick card with them. I have the tendency to pull out a lot of fresh cardstock, paper, ribbon, etc. when I make cards and then I end up with heaping bags full of scraps. Sometimes it’s fun to see what you can create if you limit yourself to using the “leftovers”.

Supplies: definition rub-on from Hobby Lobby, brown ribbon scrap, red polka dot scrap (Making Memories), K&Company pattern paper, Hero Arts notecard, Martha Stewart classic butterfly punch, Scenic route chipboard letters, black pen (to color butterfly body).

I treasure your friendship…

After making my friend’s hot water bottle cover, I thought it would be fun to design a card to match. I pulled out my trusty Silhouette SDand cut out a flower shape similar to the linen poppies on the hot water bottle cover.

I used the same color palette as the water bottle cover and pulled out a couple of trusty stamps: my Woodgrain Background stamp by Hero Arts and my I Treasure your Friendship sentiment stamp by Stampabilities. I embossed the sentiment with silver embossing powder and added faux stitching with a brown fine-point marker. The flowers were adhered to the card front with spray adhesive. Am loving the freedom to create with a digital die-cut machine. The possibilities are really endless! Will be back to share more soon.

Back in the USA!

Hi all – I’ve arrived home and am very slowly acclimating to life back in the States. So strange not to hear shouts of “Mzungu!” in the streets or hear the sounds of bush babies, howling dogs, and roosters at night. So much to share from the trip. I’ll get started on day-by-day entries this week (similar to my journal from my trip to China). It’s hard to really put the experience in words… but I can say that it really gave me an appreciation for what we take for granted each day, as well as an appreciation for the spirit and joy of the African people.

In the meantime, I thought I’d share a card I made before my departure that uses new Hero Arts stamp sets for 2010. For those that have requested a video tutorial of my HA blog hop cards – I’ll be putting something together for you soon!

Big hugs,