Merry Christmas

Hello! Here is a card I made with a specific, fellow yellow loving friend in mind. I used the Stitched Rectangular Frames And More Dies from MyCreativeTime. I used distress ink and water to make my bokeh backgrounds. I silver heat embossed the tree from the Family And Friends set by Hero Arts. The Merry Christmas die cuts are from the Holiday Tags set by MyCreativeTime. I should say that I used the round ink blenders and water to remove color to make the light spots. Easy peasy. 

Happy Christmas Eve, Eve!

♥ Nikki ♥

Merry Christmas

Hello! I was SUPER INSPIRED by the fantabulous Kelly Latevola's card in the Holiday Style class at OnlineCardClasses yesterday. She used greens for her card, but I decided to rainbowify it! Yay, RAINBOW! :) I used the Family And Friends set by Hero Arts for my trees. I used a rainbow of distress inks as well. I used the Stitched Rectangular Frames And More Dies by MyCreativeTime for middle layer...and the greeting is from the Holiday Tags Stamp And Die set by MyCreativeTime. 

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend! 

♥ Nikki ♥

I'm dreaming of a bright Christmas

Hello! I was inspired by May's card in today's Holiday Style class at OnlineCardClasses...but she made her shape by stamping lots of little stamps...I masked to create a neon plaid. :) I ♥ neon! :)

I hope you're having a bright and happy week! 

♥ Nikki ♥ 

Jesus Is The Reason...

Hello! Yesterday the class at Online Card Classes was all about watercolor. For my card I heat embossed the nativity scene from the Greatest Gift set by Hero Arts. I used Ranger Super Fine Detail Gold embossing powder. Then the fun part, watercoloring! :) I used shabby shutters and peeled paint distress inks and water for the grass. I used tumbled glass, broken china, salty ocean, chipped sapphire, and seedless preserves distress inks on the sky. I wanted it to look like it was glowing close to the scene, and then get darker. 

The greeting is also from the Greatest Gift set by Hero Arts. 

I hope you're having a great day! I'm off to work on my homework from today's class. :)

♥ Nikki ♥

p.s. I'm also entering this in the current Hero Arts Challenge in the Mad About Metallics category. 

Thinking of you

Hi! My card today is inspired by one in the Stretch Your Stamps 2 class. On that card, the artist used water to remove some color from a distress ink colored image. I liked that idea, but changed it a bit and used a mixture of perfect pearls and water. I started this card by white heat embossing the Large Flower Background from Hero Arts. Then I sponged on Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick, and Dried Marigold Distress Inks. 

I used a paint brush to add the perfect pearls and water mixture to the flowers. I used a mix with less perfect pearls to do the stems and leaves. I stamped the greeting from the Vintage Sentiments by MyCreativeTime with picked raspberry ink. I wish I could have gotten a better picture of the sparkle of the perfect pearls. :)

I hope you're having a great weekend. 

♥ Nikki ♥

Every little thing is gonna be alright

Hello! I am playing along again in the current Hero Arts challenge. You can see the other card I entered HERE. I had lots of fun making this one layer card. Here it is...

I started by masking off the edges with 1/2inch strips of post-it paper. Then I stamped the butterflies using the Heart Winged Butterfly stamp from Hero Arts. I stamped them with Soft Cantaloupe and Bubble Gum Hero Arts shadow inks. I then stamped the butterfly a few times on post-it paper and cut them out to create masks...

After I masked off the butterflies, I sponged on Soft Pool and Mint Julep Hero Arts shadow inks with sponge daubers to make the background. The greeting is from an older set called Hooray by Hero Arts which doesn't seem to be available anywhere. For a finishing touch I added clear wink of stella glitter pen to the white parts of the butterflies. 

I hope you're having a great weekend! It's raining here in SoCal which is pretty exciting!

♥ Nikki ♥

p.s. I bought that set just for the greeting...it's from one of my favorite Bob Marley songs! Enjoy. 

With Sympathy

Hello! I hope you're having a nice Sunday. For my card today I kept the current Hero Arts challenge in mind which is to make a one layer card. I used a circle die to create a mask for my stamping. I inked up the Hero Arts Three Ferns stamp with Crushed Olive, Faded Jeans, and Chipped Sapphire Distress Markers. I then misted the stamp with water in a mini mister. I love how all the inks blend.

While I still had the mask on, I inked around the circle with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. To finish, I stamped the greeting from the Everyday Sayings set with Navy Hero Arts Shadow Ink.

♥ Nikki ♥

Happy Birthday Flowers

Hiya! I made another card today for the Hero Arts Birthday Challenge. This time I went with the flowers category. I stamped and white heat embossed the Everything Flower background stamp from Hero Arts. Then I colored it with Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, and Spun Sugar distress markers. After I was done I spritzed it with perfect pearls and water. 

I stamped the greeting from the Year Round Sentiments set by Hero Arts and white heat embossed it on vellum...and then I filled my little shaker with sequins. :) I finished it off with some glitter pen and added glossy accents here and there. 

♥ Nikki ♥

Birthday Stars

Hello! I made another card today for the Hero Arts Birthday Challenge. Today I decided to enter under the metallic category. I used the 3 Stitched Star Dies from MyCreativeTime to make the openings for my sequins. I wanted to keep it really simple, so I just stamped the Happy Definition Background by Hero Arts.  

I kept this super simple so it could work for a guy birthday card as well....well, a guy who digs sequins. ;)

♥ Nikki ♥

Happy Birthday Rainbow Funness ;)

Hello! I'm playing along in the Hero Arts Blog Birthday Card Challenge. One of the categories is to make a birthday card with rainbow colors...so I of course picked that one. :) I white heat embossed the Hexagon Background by Hero Arts. Then I used the new seasonal Distress Markers to color it in. When I was finished coloring I spritzed it with a mixture of perfect pearls and water in a mini mister. Then I used an exacto knife to cut out some hexagons to turn into shaker windows. :) Then I filled the shakers with a rainbow of sequins. 

For the greeting strip I used the same colors and brushed over it with the perfect pearls mixture. I made sure it was super dry and white heat embossed the greeting from the Year Round Sentiments by Hero Arts. That's it...I hope your eyes are ok. ;)

♥ Nikki ♥

p.s. The new seasonal distress inks are on sale for just 26 bucks at Blitsy right now! If you sign up and order through my link you'll help me earn money for a future purchase...and they you can do the same! 

Sympathy cards for a Shipmate

Hello. Unfortunately,

 a shipmate of my husband's passed away in a motorcycle wreck. I made 2 cards tonight for him to take to work tomorrow. Sorry for the horrible pictures, I usually take my pictures in daylight. Anyhoo, I used the My Little Firecracker set from MyCreativeTime to make the background on this card. I stamped it with navy Hero Arts Shadow Ink. 

I white heat embossed the greeting from the Everyday Sayings from Hero Arts. Finished it off with a punched Martha Stewart anchor. And here's the other card I made...a little more elaborate.  Again, sorry the pictures are horrible...

The colors on this card are white, navy, and aqua...totally awful pictures!

I cut a circle out for my window and embossed the panel with the Stars Cuttlebug folder. I stamped the waves and anchor inside from a Market Street Stamps set that is no longer available, sorry. I filled the window with sequins from Neat And Tangled. 

The greeting is from the Happy Homecoming set by MyCreativeTime. By the way, "fair winds and following seas" is a Navy term and is suitable for a sympathy card...in case you were wondering. 

Remember to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. Life really is short. 

♥ Nikki ♥

I thank my lucky stars for you!

Hello! Here is my homework for Summer Card Camp 2 today. I finally got to make a card tonight after 8 hours of a horrible migraine...boo! Anyhoo...I followed a color scheme and sketch from today, but flipped the sketch on its side. I used the Cricut Craft Room and my Baby Steps cartridge to cut out the star on the card front. Before making the shaker I stamped the stripes from the On The Strip 2 set from Neat And Tangled. I used soft pool and soft purple shadow inks and wisteria colorbox fluid chalk ink {darker purple}. 

 I made my shaker and stamped the acetate with that sweet face from the new July 2013 set from PeachyKeenStamps. The cool thing about stamping on acetate is that if you mess up you can just use stazon cleaner and try again. :) I filled the window with Crystal Clear, Perfectly Purple, Lovely Lilac, and Ocean Breeze sequins from Neat And Tangled.  The greeting is from the Year Round Sentiments set by Hero Arts. 

I also put some beads in the shaker window with the sequins.

If being addicted to sequins is wrong, I don't wanna be right. ;)

♥ Nikki ♥

You're so special to me "Circle Shaker"

Hello! Here is my homework for Summer Card Camp 2 today. :) I wish I could have gotten better photo's. The glare on the window makes it tough. Anyhoo, I made my circle card with spellbinders dies. I cut a circle out of the card base and out of the card front so I could make a window all the way through. I stamped the card front with the Wood Background from Hero Arts. {it's supposed to look a little shabby} I stamped the greeting from Year Round Sentiments by Hero Arts on the inside of the card. Here's how I put it together...

I filled my window with sequins from Neat And Tangled. I LOVE having the window show all the way through. Super cool! :) TIP- I use the Scotch foam tape on the roll. This would take forever if you used foam squares! LOL

It's cool to see the sequins fall down from the inside when you open it...And the person who gets it will no doubt be wowed! ;) Hallmark doesn't do that! ;)

I ♥ shaker cards. :)

I hope you're have a splendid day!  

♥ Nikki ♥

Neon Sunshine Shaker Card

Hello! My card today was made for a sweet girl named Maddy. I saw her story HERE, and definitely wanted to send her a card...you can too! Details HERE. My goal was to make her a card that would make her smile, if even for just a moment. Here it is...

Bright enough?? :) I started by stamping the Here Comes The Sun background by MarketStreetStamps with Neon Pink Hero Arts Shadow Ink. I LOVE this background soooo much! It is still available HERE, but that's it! The yellow on this card??? I used a highlighter from the dollar store. YAY! :) The sweet face on the sun window is from the Sweet And Silly Face Assortment by PeachyKeenStamps. 

I filled the window with Neon and Crystal Clear sequins from Neat And Tangled. The greeting is from the Everyday Sayings set by Hero Arts. To make the greeting strip pop, I mounted it on some silver paper I made with Brushed Pewter distress stain.

I hope this makes Maddy smile, and I hope YOU have a great weekend!

♥ Nikki ♥

P.S. I added a new "button" to the top right of my blog. Click it to keep following my blog...Google Reader is going away on July 1st. By clicking to follow, you won't miss any of my posts. :) 

P.P.S. If you want to add that to your blog, go HERE to do so. :)

P.P.P.S. You can import your current Reader list {the blogs you follow} once you sign up for Bloglovin. It's free and only takes a minute. :) 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Thinking of You

Hiya! Happy Friday bloggy friends! I made this card today for another pre-class challenge for the upcoming Summer Card Camp 2 class at OnlineCardClasses. There is a sketch, and this is my take on it. I cut out the circles with dies, and then traced them so I could glue down my sequins {with glossy accents}. I used Pretty Pretty Pink, Summer Sun, and Lovely Lilac sequins from Neat And Tangled. 

I added butterflies, gems, and the greeting from the Year Round Sentiments set from Hero Arts. My sweet love affair with sequins continues to blossom... 

♥ Nikki ♥

Thank You

Hello! I have signed up to take the next class over at OnlineCardClasses. Class doesn't start until July 8th, but they have a pre-class color challenge using the above palette. I used all of the colors, and used the circles as a jumping off point. Here's my card...

I did some circle masking like I did on THIS card used the Build a Banner set from MyCreativeTime. I stamped the houndstooth with Pale Tomato, Charcoal, and Tide Pool Hero Arts shadow inks. I stamped the Hero Arts Wood Background stamp with Soft Granite shadow ink. I ♥ this background! 

The greeting is from the Year Round Sentiments set from Hero Arts. To finish, I added some punched butterflies and some gems.  I really like how this one turned out. :) I can't wait for class to start! :)

I hope you're having a FABULOUS day! 

♥ Nikki ♥

Hello Handsome

Hiya! Happy Saturday peeps. :) I decided to make a masculine version of the card I made yesterday. Wait, what? A masculine card with sequins on it??? Well, the sequins are in masculine colors, so it counts. Right? HA! I stamped the talk bubble from the set called A Lot To Say from Neat And Tangled. I made double rows with Shamrock and Royally Blue sequins. 

The greeting is from Year Round Sentiments by Hero Arts. I'm also entering this in the Little Tangles challenge. :)

♥ Nikki ♥

A Cupcake made of...SEQUINS! :)

Well, it's official, I'm addicted to sequins. There, I've said it! I wish these little suckers didn't freak my camera out, this looks WAY cooler in real life! I used my Silhouette to cut out the cupcake shape. Then I lightly traced around it to make and outline for where I needed to make my sequin patterns. And then it was just a matter of mindless gluing for a few hours. :) I ♥ that part! Just turn on some tunes and glue. BUT here is a cautionary tale for you. If you have piles of sequins in front of you, and "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" comes on, hit mute. Do NOT whistle along with it. Ask me how I know. WHOOPS! But, I digress... I stamped the first layer with the Happy Definition background by Hero Arts. If you look closely, right above the cupcake it says "super yummy". I think this turned out super yummy! :)

I popped up the top layer to give the sequins room and create a "shadow". Finished by adding some pink sequins with bling centers. Hey, did I mention I ♥ sequins? HA ;)

Seriously, I wish the pictures would show how cool this looks in real life. Le sigh. 

Have a shiny day!

♥ Nikki ♥

Oh and check THIS out!!! :) Gotta love PeachyKeenStamps.com 

GIVING BACK TOGETHER We are so excited to bring you our annual Memorial Day Weekend Sale, but even more pleased to announce that in addition an amazing FREE STAMP (two stamps are included on one sheet, both are over 2.5" wide - that's the largest FREE stamp we've EVER offered), we are also giving 10% of all net proceeds to the American Red Cross in honor of the Oklahoma tornado victims and recovery efforts. Can you help us make this donation a HUGE success? Our sale this weekend begins bright & early tomorrow, May 24th at 8 am CDT and runs through Monday, May 27th and ends at 11:59 pm CDT. The more you spend, the more you save! UP to $24.99.......10% OFF your entire order! $25.00 - $49.99....15% OFF your entire order! $50.00 - $99.99....20% OFF your entire order! $100 or more.......25% OFF your entire order! all discounts are calculated pre-shipping. As always, shipping on orders over $75.00 (after discounts) is FREE! Please note, our offices will be closed Saturday, May 25 through Monday, May 27 in observance of the holiday. We will offer limited email support during this time. We apologize, but sale prices can only be given during the sale times listed above. We are unable to adjust past or future orders. Please be sure your order is placed during this time frame to ensure sale prices are received.Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Thank you for helping us honor a special weekend remembering those who have given their lives for freedom of country. Sincerely, The Peachy Keen Crew

His and Hers

Hello! Today was day one of the new "His and Hers" class at OnlineCardClasses.com. The class is all about adapting cards for "him" or "her". I made two cards and switched up the colors to make a "his" and "her" version. I masked off a strip for the sentiment and then I stamped stars from the Year Round Sentiments set by Hero Arts. I also stamped the "nautical" stars from the Dreaming Of The Sea set from MarketStreetStamps. And the tiny black stars are from the It's A Magical Season set by MyCreativeTime.

I stamped the greeting after I peeled up the mask. The greeting is from the Everyday Sayings set by Hero Arts. And here is my "his" version of this card...

I switched to more boyish ink colors on this one. For both cards I used all Hero Arts Shadow Inks. And Ranger Archival Black ink for this greeting from that Everyday Sayings set again. 

There you have it, my take on "his" and "hers" for today. :)

♥ Nikki ♥

You're so special to me

Hello! I have been taking the Pattern Play class this week over at OnlineCardClasses. It has totally reminded me how much I adore patterned paper! I've even used paper that I've just been hoarding because I like it so much. For this card I used papers from the Splash collection by Echo Park. I paper pieced the cutest ducky ever from the Duck Dolls set from PeachyKeenStamps. I used the scraps to make that patterned paper strip on the side of the card. Too cute not to use every little piece! :)

The greeting is from the Year Round Sentiments set by Hero Arts. 

I have 2 others cards in progress right now...SO INSPIRED! Yay for classes! 

♥ Nikki ♥

p.s. Happy GLEE night! :)