Ciao...Aurivoir...Tschus....HELLO?

As I'm typing this Sunday evening, March 13, I'm wondering...Did I make the finalist cut again?  Will I be on the newest Heartfelt Creations Design Team?  Or will I have to say goodbye as a Heartfelt Creations Design Team member for good?  Hmmm...I don't know what news the 15th will bring but whatever it will be, will be.  I'm happy to have had such a wonderful six month term with Heartfelt Creations and it has been a truly amazing spiritual and artistic journey.  I can say that this design term has brought out some Godly spirit sheltered within my soul...And I'm so very grateful.  I'm so honoured to have had the opportunity to work with such a fabulous team of designers and look forward to seeing everyone around in blogland...

I'm sharing a few projects I created this weekend especially for Heartfelt Creations, and maybe I can stop by another show sometime and see them hanging/sitting/resting alongside many other designer pieces I've admired before.  I hope you have the opportunity to see work in real life as a photograph does not do justice!   

My first project for this week was an altered project.  You see, I love to peruse any dollar spot and around Valentine's Day, I happened upon a box of three wonderful little porcelain vases.  I thought that maybe I could attach a piece of patterned paper, some ribbon and some bling and I would have an amazing set of vases. One month later, the box still sat...Until this weekend.  I pulled it out and grabbed some really pretty notepaper (found in Michael's Dollar Spot).  I decided to use that thin, thin paper and decoupage the whole vase...No, all three of them! 

I started out with stamping the little posies HCPC 3305 Posy Patch Clusters Precut Set.  The design reminded me of a necklace charm so I went with that!  After coloring and cutting out the image, I strung black seed beads on fine fishing line and attached them like a "necklace".  I then went on to tear the paper in a variety of sizes and used glue to apply the pieces all over the vase.  I used distress ink to make it a bit more vintage.  When it was all covered, I brushed some Liquid Puzzle Saver by Milton Bradley all over it.  It's awesome stuff that dries in about an hour...and I'm not that patient!

You probably notice that I added a little sparkle too...I can't seem to stay away from my STICKLES!!!

For my second piece, I stepped outside...Literally...I noticed that my daffodils are sprouting!  I love my daffodils!  They make me so happy, have a particular sentiment to me and are always a springtime treasure.  My favorite daffodils are the ones with the apricot centers...So, So pretty!!! 

I created the following card that was inspired by them...and the WORKS that HE DOES...He is truly an AWESOME GOD!  I used HCPC 3359 Daffy Daffodils Precut Set and the coordinating die HCD 709 Springtime Medley for this card.  The sentiment is from HCPC 3321 Believe Precut Set I also used Spellbinders Labels 4 to create a template for my stitching pattern. 

Now if you look, you can see that I stitched...Yes, hours of stitching and blurring vision (I think I'm getting old!) as I painstakingly handstitched both Labels 4 outlines AND did some candlewicking that my grandma taught me how to do many, many years ago. 

Take a closer look and you'll see I also lightly stamped the background edge and distressed it up to soften the card. 

Looking closely at the Daffodil itself, you mgiht notice that it appears "wrinkly".  This lifelike effect was created using my embossing stylus and the rubber plate for my cuttlebug.  I stamped three flower heads and assembled them in layers after I rubbed the embossing stylus over the edges, "drew" circles on the petals and it created this lovely effect.  The tops of the stamens were highlighted with my White Copic Opaque ink/paint. 

God's peace and blessings...

Ker