Crayon Resist

 This is a technique I learned when I was very new to stamping. You stamp with Staz On ink on glossy paper. Stampin' Up! used to sell glossy white cardstock. While I still have a little of that in my stash I wanted to see if photo paper would work as I have lots of that.
You stamp your images with the black Staz On ink. After they have dried take a white crayon and roughly follow the stamped outline. You don't want to be exact and you don't want to color on the black lines.  I've included some close up photos so you can get a better look.
After using the white crayon, grab some ink pads and daubers and rub on color. After you have the color rubbed and have given it a little time to set grab a paper towel and wipe off excess. You will have white lines.  In the top card I used the crayon to outline all the lines on the flowers, leaves and butterflies.  In the lower sample I just outlined the flower petals and the butterflies.
The other difference between the two cards is the background. In the top one I daubed the green on the leaves and then used the residual ink on that same dauber to fill in the rest of the background. In the lower card I didn't sponge the entire background. There is a mixed reaction in my house about which looks best. What do you think?

Here you can see the white outline pretty well. I used the point of the crayon on the top card and the flat bottom of the crayon on this card. I also found it best to use brighter colors of ink. These cards were made using Melon Mambo, Garden Green and Tangerine Tango and Daffodil Delight (flower centers).
I decided to do 1/8" border of black and white card base to more closely resemble the sketched lines on the card. The black rhinestones are from a Holiday catalog purchase many years ago. It's fun to look through my inventory and see what I have and then to actually use it! LOL!!!

 I decided to pull out my Holiday Home stamp set to make this Valentine. I CASED a card made by my niece. Then I freehand drew the wisps of smoke. The inside of the card was made with the new Welcome Words and retired Good Greetings stamp sets.

And here's a tip I learned from Mary Fish's blog. Snip a slit in the top middle of the cardboard holder to tuck the tail of the thread to keep it from unwinding.

Linen Thread Bird Nest

This is a CASE from Stamping School. I had to change the direction of my layout a bit as I was using a retired bird image from the Nature Walk stamp set. And I used some retired Dusty Durango Designer Series Paper. You know when that color came out I didn't care for it; now I wish it was still available. Oh well! I've combined it with Pool Party and Crumb Cake. That color trio just made me think of robin's and spring time. We've had a bit of cold weather again. Blah!
The bird's nest is essentially made by wrapping linen thread around two fingers several times and then adhering to the card. Then after you've fussy cut the bird adhere it on top with a dimensional. I used the discontinued Blendabilites to color my bird but think if I did it again I'd get better robin look by using markers. Live and learn!

Banner Cut Out

I saw a card where the banner was cut out along the edge and expression was stamped above that cut out. I changed it up a bit. This was a quick and easy card using my Big Shot, Banner Framelits and Birthday Bash Designer Series Paper.

Here's another card using one of the foil sheets from the Birthday Bash DSP. I used the Small Oval punch and the feet from the Owl Builder Punch to make the balloons.

Tee-Hee-Hee

I don't often buy sets that are specific to just one holiday. But the Tee-Hee-Hee set (photopolymner 135125) in the Holiday catalog had too many fun expressions in it for me to pass up. For this card I stamped the "laundry" on the Whisper White card stock and drew the clothes line free hand using my Smoky Slate marker.
I cut a strip of Mossy Meadow card stock and then used the Fringe Scissors (133325) to make the grass. There is a little trick to share when using the Fringe Scissors:  score a line on your card stock where you want the fringe to end and use the middle of the scissor blades instead of the point to cut to the score line. After I was done using the fringe scissors I cut the fringed edge to give it an uneven look. (Wish I had thought to make that cut over the trash can as I had lots of little Mossy Meadow pieces all over my desk top.)
The pot was stamped and fussy cut and adhered with dimensionals (104430). In fact, I use dimensionals on just about every card I make; the dimension you get takes your card to the next level.
The ribbon is Tangelo Twist 3/8" Stitched Ribbon (133669) and tied off with a little bow of Linen Thread (104199).
The inside of the card is just Momento black ink on Whisper White card stock, but don't you love the expression. Tee-Hee-Hee!