A Havenly Day ....

As many of you know, I call my crafting space "The Haven." Just in case you've wondered why ...

ha·ven/ˈhāvən/Noun

1. A place of safety or refuge.


I thoroughly enjoy my Haven. :) It's a place to go when I'm stressed, when I want to have fun, when I just need some time to myself ... yeah, just the place for me to go. :) Today, I spent quite a bit of time in there and managed to create 2 cards. I know, that's not a lot, but I enjoyed what I did! Does that count!? :)

I think this one might be my daughter's birthday card. Her birthday isn't until September, but I had her in mind the entire time I did the card. She's' changed so much in her 6 years of life ... like a caterpillar to a butterfly. I want to celebrate those changes. She's an amazing little girl.

This may be one of my most favorite cards ever. It was so much fun (and complicated) to create, but I love how it turned out.


The sketch from Create 4 Fun was so fun to play with, and it worked so well with the other challenges I found. I love, love, love to use stamps and lace ... the lace ribbon I used is a particular favorite.

I had a stash of hatpins, and I've never used them. I couldn't figure out a good use and I didn't want to use up the ones I have ... yeah, I'm a hoarder. The challenge on 365 Cards gave me a reason and an idea on how to use them. I used a little '6' to celebrate my daughter's 6th birthday.


This view shows the glitter (Sheer Shimmer) on the image layer and the fabulous heart buttons I found in my stash.

Card Recipe :
Stamps - Elegant Accents, A Time for Tags
Paper - Pretty Porcelain, brown, white, dp
Ink - white, blush, versamark
Copics - None
Accessories - Cuttlebug, Jim Holtz (burlap) folder, lace, lace circle, corner rounder, sewing machine, buttons, hat pin, pop dots, sheer shimmer



I'm submitting this one to the following challenges -

Stampin' Sisters In Christ - use what works for you (I used the lace ribbon, stamps, and a sketch)
Challenge 172 on Cute Card Thursday - Lace
365 Cards - Collage Card ... Lace, Pins, Glitter
Create 4 Fun - Sketch



This next challenge was was on SCS. Each Monday holds a new Technique Lovers' Challenge, and today was reverse masking (TLC333). For whatever reason, this card was quite a challenge for me. The technique isn't very difficult, but I just couldn't get it together.

Here's what I ended up with, though ....


I actually used masking AND reverse masking on this card. The inside part with the leaves is the reverse masking. I used Copics to color the leaves and a sponge with inks to do the color around the leaves.


This is a look at the dimension I added to make the image layer stand out. The extra dimension adds so much to cards. The Jim Holtz swirls folder was a great addition, too. It's not as even as the Cuttlebug folder that is similar.

This is an up-close picture of the masking and reverse masking. It also shows a bit of the glitter on the leaves.

Card Recipe:
Stamps - Leaf Hellos (released July 2011)
Paper - white, moss, saffron, dp
Ink - black, blue, yellow, rust, caramel
Copics - E31, E33, E37, E43, C3, Y26, Y28, G94, G99
Accessories - Scor Pal, Cuttlebug, Jim Holtz (swirls) folder, leaf brads, lace ribbon, pop dots, straight edge, glitter pen