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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Hugs and Kisses

Happy Sunday, my crafty friends! :o)

I have a sweet and summery card to share today, which was such fun to make. It was inspired by summertime, sweet children, and nature's beauty. (And my sweetheart, because he's amazing.)

"Hugs and kisses"
There was so much joy in creating this. The papers are My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline Howdy Doody, which I adore and have been anxious to use. The precious little girl is Pati's Kisses, a digital stamp by the amazing Elisabeth Bell. I love her! I colored her with Copics and added Star Dust to her belt, the ruffled trims on her shirt, and the flowers on her headband. One especially fun aspect to this card is that I had my first attempt at making a landscape. I used Bev Rochester's cloud template and Tim Holtz Broken China Distress Ink to surround her with puffy clouds. When making this card I envisioned the heartwarming sight of little girls joyously playing outside with their stuffed animals. I made her a tiny hill with varying shades of green for dimension, ending with a few blades of grass tickling her feet. Child-like innocence and a pure love are two of the most beautiful things... both are represented in this. :o)

I used Spellbinders Labels Four for the image, making the mat a buttery yellow to symbolize the scene being enveloped in a warm, sunshiny hug. A divine hug, which entails the utmost warmth. Two itty bitty butterflies, dotted with a pearl, are being guided by love... to Spellbinders Fanciful Holiday filigree hearts. I cut out two of them in the same gingham as the middle layer and nestled them partially within the base... like little love notes that we tuck away in a drawer.

Unfortunately, the flower/pearl cluster is blurry, but is truly beautiful. Everything is from Wild Orchid Crafts. The pink and yellow two-tone flowers not only go well with the paper, but I love them for a summery-inspired card because they remind me of strawberry lemonade. :o) The petals are trimmed in Star Dust and I tucked in a few gorgeous pearl sprays.

Since flowers and lace always make a great combo, I used my Martha Stewart Doily Lace Edge Punch for the gingham layer. My favorite Wild Orchid Crafts Guipure lace is adhered to the bottom. The sweet sentiment is from the Whimsical Designs~ With Love stamp set, which I used atop an Art Philosophy tag. The larger butterfly is from the Martha Stewart Small Monarch punch, lined with pearls and given a tiny pearl trail. The papers throughout are inked with Tim Holtz Walnut Stain and I used my sewing machine to stitch around the top layer. I couldn't stop using pearls, so I added a tiny corner decoration of three sizes to complete my card. :o)

Challenges entered:
 * Belles and Whistles~ Use Butterflies
 * Digi Bells DT~ Flowers (March Digi Release Blog Hop)
 * Elphine House~ Pearls and Lace

Thank you for fluttering on by! I hope your day sparkles with love, hugs, and blessings. :o)

Key Recipe Components:
 * Cricut Cartridge: Art Philosophy
 * Spellbinders: Fanciful Holiday, Labels Four Nestabilities
 * Paper: Core'dinations, My Mind's Eye, Papertrey Ink
 * Sentiment stamp: Whimsical Designs~ With Love
 * Image stamp: Elisabeth Bell~ Pati's Kisses
 * Copics: E0000, E000, E00 (skin); E25, E29, E31, E50 (hair); R22, R24, R27, B91, B95, B97 (clothing); YR20, YR21, YR24 (teddy bear); YG17, YG23, G28 (grass)
 * Flowers, pearl sprays, Guipure Lace: Wild Orchid Crafts
 * Butterfly punches: Fiskars (small butterflies), Martha Stewart Small Monarch
 * Border Punch: Martha Stewart Doily Lace Edge Punch
 * Tim Holtz Inks: Broken China, Walnut Stain
 * Miscellaneous: Pearls (Recollections and Queen & Company); Stickles

Photobucket

20 comments:

  1. Cute image on a cute scenery... love the colours,papers and those pretty embellies too... Great job!

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  2. Hi Karen, I hope you have been well. Once again, you AMAZE me...Your card is beautiful, and yes I am thinking of summer when I look at this incredible card. WOW, you are remarkable with those copics...A+++. The image is adorable and you've paired everything so perfectly. This was a wonderful treat to see this morning:)
    Hope you have a SUPER day!
    Shelly

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  3. Holy COW Karen! This is amazing! I don't even know what to say - my jaw seriously DROPPED. Gosh, you are SO SUPER TALENTED!

    A landscape! You made a grassy hill and clouds...I still have trouble staying in the lines. :) I love the way the grass comes up over the little girl's bare feet - she reminds me of my Abigail (and me, I suppose, since I spend most of my summer shoe-less as well. hee hee!).

    Your paper is DEVINE and I love all the flowers and pearls - goodness Karen, I just love everything! It reminds me of summer, and I LOVE summer. Summer is my happy place. :)

    Hugs,

    Nita :)

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  4. Woah Karen, I LOVE this card!! It's so "Country" and love the colour scheme you've picked. Thanks for joining in the Digibells hop, good luck! x

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  5. Karen, it's beautiful. I love the background paper, simply beautiful. You have such a way of getting everything to fit so perfectly and so pleasing to the eye, i keep wishing i could have just a tad of your creativity. i am so blessed to have found your blog, i am always so in awe when i stop by. Thanks you for sharing your amazing talent. hugs from ukiah

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  6. Wow, Karen! Your coloring with the Copics is AMAZING! The lace trim and background paper is so pretty! And I love the stitching with your machine! :)

    Karen
    craftedwithlovebykaren.blogspot.com

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  7. You know what Sunshine? This card is exactly like the one giant smooshy super huggler! SQUEEE!!! It's true! It delivers the exact same sparkling dose of love straight to the soul the very second you first rest your eyes on it! I have never seen anything so bursting with joy, sis. There is literally a ray of sunshine popping out of every single corner of this card. My heart just wants to dance because it feels so very much like summertime and all the carefree, precious moments that God blesses us with in that most glorious season.

    I can't even begin to say how much I adore this sweet little one and her adorable little friend. *squishers them forever* I don't know how it is possible, but your colouring gets more and more stunning with every passing day. The papers on this card are to die for! OMJ! Soooooooooooooooo uplifting and bursting with happiness!!! I am in LOVE with this card, sis. I am so proud of you today it hurts.

    *stares at it all night long and hugglers all the pretty flutterbys forever because I love them more than I can ever express*

    *kicks off my shoes and dances with you through the grass* SQUEEE!!! That tickles!!! TEE HEE! Life doesn't get much better than that, does it sis?

    A super sunshiny card made with sparkling love by the universe's sweetest Sunshine (aka the sparkliest and most extra special blessing of all our lives)...Truly a match made in heaven!

    WE ALL LOVE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH SIS!!!!!!!!

    *sends you non-stop huggles and kisses to match your card today* SQUEEE!!!

    *forever best friend summertime squishies*
    ~~~Christina :)

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  8. Oh my gosh...this is just gorgeous!! The papers are just beautiful and the digi-total sweetness!! I love the gorgeous lace and the flowers just top this card off:) So beautiful Karen like always!!
    Now onto that yummy cake.......Oh, how I wish I could put my hand through the screen and like that plate...yummy!!! Too funny, but it look's SO good!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Another one for me to try:)

    Have a great evening!
    Sherrie K
    http://sherriescraps.blogspot.com

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  9. I know when I visit I am going to see a gorgeous card, but I am never quite prepared for what awaits!! This is stunning Karen!! With the beautiful clouds and grass, little Pati just jumps off the page!! Wow, I just love every single detail you put into this!! You need to teach me how to color with copics...I am whatever is a step below absolute beginner :P Amazing, gorgeous, fabulous card my sweet friend!!

    I hope you had a wonderful St. Patty's Day and weekend!! And I pray that everyone is well and doing great!!

    Hugs, Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  10. Beautiful card!!!!
    Your coloring is outstanding!

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  11. Wowee girl, you've done such a BEAUTIFUL job with this sweet little Digi. Patti's Kisses is one of my all time favorites. Thanks so much for playing along with the Digi Bells Blog hop challenge, AND entering this fab creation over at Elphine House Australia's Challenge... Guess what??? You could also enter this sweet card over at Belles 'n Whistles monthly challenge as well. the theme is Butterflies, and I DO SEE Butterflies here.
    Big Hugs,
    Lynda

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  12. Oh, I love that image!! She is so cute and love your coloring!! Love the clouds and the lace! Just gorgeous!!

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  13. This is so sweet and pretty Karen. Love how you did the clouds.
    Jayne x

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  14. Oh my this is really stunning my dear!! LOVE your coloring, the clouds and beautiful papers!! Thanks for playing along with us at the Elphine House Challenges! Hope that you will join us again in the next challenge and good luck! Smiles and Hugs - *Vicki* ~ DT member

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  15. Beautifully coloured, Delightful card. Thanks so much for joining us at EHA this time
    hugs Julie P

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  16. What a beautyful card ;o)
    Thank you for joining us at Elphine House Australia ..

    Janneke XO

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  17. Also, thanks for playing at Belles n' Whistles with us this month!! Gorgeous card! :)

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  18. Karen this is lovely. You are an artist with your copics. I am always amazed at how beautiful each card is more so than the one before it. As usual I adore reading what your creative and beautiful mind thinks of when creating your cards. Just lovely, and so sweet.

    Hugs, Pam
    http://craftycards4u2.blogspot.com/

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  19. This is such a beautiful card!!! I love your colouring and all the embellishmnets are just perfect!! Thanks for joining us for The Digi bell's Blog Hop!! HUgsxx

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  20. Beautiful card. Thank you for joining the BnW challenge this month.

    Hugs, Audhild

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Thank you for leaving some love! Have a beautifully blessed day. :o)

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