TAWS post #99 - Happy Birthday

Hi Friends!  Meredith here for my final Alley Way post.  It's been an amazing year with this wonderful crafty team.  Thank you Alison and Chrissie so much for this fantastic opportunity.  I will miss being a part of such a phenomenal group.  For my last creation I used Happy Everything in combination with Branching Out to make this fun birthday card for my darling husband.

Thanks so much for following along with my Alley Way crafty adventures.  I will likely be taking a bit of a crafty break for a while but will be back!

Happy Christmas and wishing you a wonderful New Year!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

With love...

Wishing you a beautiful and magical holiday - from our family to yours!!  See you in 2016!!

TAWS post #98 - Merry Christmas Tag!

Hi Friends!  Meredith here with a super simple tag using Point of View, Cake Day and Happy Everything.  I have very little time right now so I'm putting together tags that are easy to mass produce so that I can adorn my gifts!  

I used a few different Hero Arts ink for both the background and the present images.  I used my Hero Arts black dye ink for my sentiment. 

I punched two holes at the top and used some heavy gold cording.

I hope your holiday planning is fun and productive!

Crafty Hugs!

Meredith

TAWS post #96 - Holiday Tags

Happy Monday Y'all!  I'm here today with a fun tag to add to some of my holiday gifts!  I made a bunch of these using the awesome Alley Way set called True Colors.  I used a pre-cut manila tag, the kind you buy at your local office supply store.  Using these saves me time when I need to make many of them.  I like the vanilla color that the manila tags lend.

I used my Hero Arts ink in Pale Tomato, Wet Cement and Tide Pool to stamp the large hearts.  I then added the gold hearts with my Delicata gold pigment ink.  I added some red/white bakers twine  as a finishing touch.  I will be writing my To: and From: by hand which is why there is no other sentiment.

I love the hearts in this set so much!  I'd absolutely use this exact tag as wallpaper in my house!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #95 - Joy

Hi Friends!  Meredith here with a super fun project to share!  First off, I will tell you that I was inspired by the amazing Jennifer McGuire who did this on her blog a few weeks ago (genius!).  I used the adorable Moosing You set and my colored pencils (Prismacolor) to create this ornament.

I first stamped my image using Hero Arts black dye ink. I colored it in with my Prismacolor pencils and then added some Flowersoft to ground the image and to add texture.

I made a ton of these using different stamps to hang on our tree and to add as gift tags to wrapped gifts!

Thanks so much for joining me today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #94

Hello!!  Meredith here with some easy and super fun holiday gift tags using the newly released set Swee-Tea.  I white heat embossed the beautiful flower onto good quality watercolor paper.  I then used my Distress Markers to simply scribble in a bit around the flowers - no technique at all - just quick scribbling.

 I then used my water brush and a few sprays of my pearlized water (water mixed with white Perfect Pearls pigment powder in a fine mist bottle) to create the watercolor effect you see in the background.

  The deer silhouette is a die from Maggie Holmes and is attached with a bronze craft staple.  I used the sentiment 'with love' from the same stamp set and added some May Arts jute twine as a way to attach it.

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Happy Monday!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #93 - Tags!

Hi Friends!!  I'm here today with a fun holiday tag using the new set called Melt Your Heart Out and it's free right now with the purchase of $85 or more! (before tax and shipping).  I used this set to make a few tags to add to some delicious jars of peppermint rock candy that I made with my children. I also used the new set Happy Everything for the sentiment.

I, once again, took inspiration from Jennifer McGuire in a video she did recently showing the "halo" technique that I did above.  I stamped my image and colored it with my Copic markers.  I then created a mask for my image and sponged over the top with Hero Arts ink in Butter Bar.  I used the Fishtail Banner Stax Die-namics from MFT to cut my tag.  The beautiful twine is from May Arts and I purchased it at Simon Says Stamp.

I'm using these tags to decorate some of our handmade items for the holidays!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #92 New Release Blog Hop - Happy Everything

Hi Friends!  Thanks SO much for joining me today on the Alley Way's final blog hop!  I've put together my project today using a fantastic multi-sentiment set using the set called Happy Everything.

I also used another new set called Point of View.  Totally adorable!  I added some gold heat embosseed hearts for a bit of shine and texture.  I used Delicata gold pigment ink and gold heat embossing powder from Recollections (Michael's house brand).

I combined both sets to make many different holiday cards to send to friends and family.  These sets are fantastic together!  

Thanks so much for coming by today!  You will find the entire hop list below so that you can follow along!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Chrissie 

Angel

Archana

Dana

Emily

Heather

Holly

Jeni

Lexa

Lisa

Marina

Meredith

N@ Ali

Yuki

TAWS post #91 Peek Day 1 - Point Of View

Hi Friends!  I'm here today with my last sneak peek for The Alley Way Stamps!  This set is ADORABLE!  It's called Point of View and it has so many cute mini borders.  Here I've used the adorable polka dot border combined with another new set called Happy Everything which includes the sentiment and tiny stars.

I've used some Hero Arts ink and my Delicata gold ink combined with gold embossing powder to give this simple design a bit of texture.

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #90 - You Color Our World

Hello!  I'm here today with a simple and fun creation that I made using the newly released sets called From Us and Rain or Shine.

I used my Cracked Pistachio and Wild Honey Distress Inks along with my Kurtake watercolor pan to create the bright background that coordinated with the paper airplane images.  I stamped them onto paper from an older Studio Calico kit and hand trimmed them out.  I used 3D foam adhesive to put them on the card.

I stitched around the edges with black thread to make the panel pop!

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #89 - Love You Birthday!

Hi Everyone!  Today I've got another watercolor card using Alley Way's Line Upon Line background and the newly released set called From Us.  I started by inking my background using Versamark Ink and white embossing powder.  I then used my Distress Inks to sponge over the white heat embossed background.

I added my white heat embossed sentiments onto black cardstock and cut them into alternating strips.  I added some puffy heart stickers to tie it all together.

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #88 - Wish

Hi Friends!  Yep, I've put together another creation using The Alley Way's Pillow Talk and Sweet Thingsets.  I initially started by white heat embossing the pattern onto the background of good quality water color paper.  I then put a few washes of my Kurtake Watercolor over top.  Once that was dry (or if you're impatient like me - use your heat tool) I used my Heidi Swapp color shine paint and splattered it all over the front.

Being a homeschool Mom of 3, I truly don't have a minute to myself so when I can steel one second worth of time to create I tend to make multiple cards in a similar style while I have my crafting supplies out.

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #87 Hello!

Hi!  Thanks for being here with me today!  Happy Friday!  I've put together a creation using The Alley Way's Pillow Talk and Sweet Thing sets.  I initially started by white heat embossing the circle images in the background.  I then put a few washes of my Kurtake Watercolor over top.  Once that was dry (or if you're impatient like me - use your heat tool) I used my Heidi Swapp color shine paint and splattered it all over the front.

I added my sentiment over all of it and added a tiny and sweet bow with this delicious gold jute twine from May Arts.

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #86 - For You!

Good morning and welcome!  Today I have a creation featuring one of the Alley Way's newest released sets called Wispy Wishes combined with a recently released set called Sweet Thing.  I layered the flowers on the left side of my panel doing some second generation stamping trailing off to the right side as if they were flying off of the paper.

I stamped the leaves and added some flower soft to add some texture to the leaves.

I added my sentiment using black hero arts dye ink and matted it onto black cardstock onto a white notecard.

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #85 - Thankful For You!

Hi!  I'm here with a Distress inked card (Cracked Pistachio and Wilted Violet) using the new sets Wispy Wishes and From Us newly released from The Alley Way Stamps.

I black heat embossed the images using Memento Luxe craft ink and black embossing powder.  Despite how many times I used my powder tool the black embossing powder tends to be unruly and gets everywhere.  It's not a huge deal as it blends into the background but just fyi if you try this technique!  I wanted the black images to be really rich which is why I used the black embossing powder but I'm thinking that if I do this again I might try the black pigment ink and clear embossing powder to see if the results are the same.

I sponged my Distress Ink onto my cardstock and then cut the star using Lawn Fawn's Puffy Stars dies.  I added my sentiment and some self adhesive cork circles that I picked up at Michael's for some funky texture.  

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

So Very Blessed - Share Handmade Kindness

Hello!

Today I've got something totally different than usual as I'm participating in Jennifer McGuire's 'Share Handmade Kindness' challenge.  It's a simple idea and one that is greatly needed in today's busy and hectic world.  Just taking a few minutes to create something for someone else.  This card featuring one of my very favorite stamps from Neat & Tangled - So Very Blessed.  I stamped it in Versamark ink onto Strathmore Cold Press Watercolor Artist Tiles which measure 4"x 4".  I then used white embossing powder to heat set my image.

I used my Kurtake Gansai Tambi watercolors (swoon) to do a quick wash over the entire sentiment.  I then used my Prismacolors pencil pulling out Scarlet Lake to color the little hearts (or what look like hearts to me) on the outer edges of the card.  I added a few enamel dots for a bit of dimension and then matted it on black cardstock and added it to the front of my notecard which is made out of Neenah Solar White cardstock 110lb.

This little bit of happiness went off with my daughter tonight to give to her sewing teacher.

Thanks so much for coming by and I want to thank Jennifer McGuire for the inspiration!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #84 - Call Anytime!

Hello!  I'm here today with a creation using a new Alley Way set called Rain or Shine.  I've done a resist technique to create the background that used glossy paper (or photo paper), wax paper and spray misters.  You crumple the wax paper up then sandwich in between two pieces of glossy paper with the glossy sides facing in.  You then use a warm iron on dry setting and iron the paper.  The heat from the iron will transfer the crinkly pattern from the wax paper onto the glossy paper.  When you spray your mister (or liquid watercolor - whatever you have on hand) the area where the wax is will resist the color.  Here I used my Heidi Swapp spray misters but I found better results with my kids liquid watercolors from Coloration as they gave brighter colors.  But this works well for the "storm cloud" theme.

I inked the cute clouds from the set onto Crate Paper's Journey collection and hand trimmed them out.  I added them with foam adhesive.  I then white heat embossed my sentiment onto a hand cut banner and stitched around the edge to bring it all together.

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #83 New Release Blog Hop - Rain or Shine

Hello Alley Way friends!  So glad you're hopping with us today for our latest new release! You should have arrived here via my fellow TAW teammate Marina's blog!

Today I'm featuring a set called Rain or Shine.  It's an adorable set filled with lots of images and sentiments.  Today I started by creating a background with my Kurtake Gansai Tambi watercolors.  The background is painted in the most beautiful silver paint.  It's near impossible to catch in photos but the entire background is intensely shimmery.  It's beautiful IRL.

I then stamped the background clouds with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink and added the frontmost clouds popped up on foam dots.  I stamped them onto basic white cardstock and hand trimmed them out.  I also added the little birdies scattered around the card through the grey sky.

I added some beautiful sequins that were in an older Studio Calico kit scattered around and tucked my sentiment on the left hand side.  I took a waterproof black pen and added the ... and the . after my sentiment to ground it a little bit and not make it look as though it were dangling in the middle of space.

I matted it with black cardstock to make it pop and added it to the front of a white notecard.

Thanks so much for coming by today!  Off you go to N@Ali's blog!!

TAWS post #82 Peek Day 3 - Wispy Wishes

Hi Friends!  Meredith here bringing you my sneak peek of a gorgeous set called Wispy Wishes.  This set has beautiful flower and leaf sets that would be perfect for backgrounds or focal points depending on the colors and techniques that you would use.  Today I've been super inspired by the amazing Jennifer McGuire to create a card using seed beads.  I used a variety of Hero Arts dye inks and masked the flowers over each other.  You'll notice that I messed up on the center one but I liked how it looked so I left it.

I then took my Claudine Hellmuth Studio Matte Multi-Medium and put little dots of the glue all over my project.  I then poured some beautiful seed beads that I've had for ages all of the front of the card and let it dry overnight.  The effect is quite beautiful in real life.  I added my sentiment and a strip of glitter cardstock to ground the entire piece.  I matted it on black cardstock to make everything pop and attached the panel to a white note card.

Thanks so much for coming by today!!  I'll see you tomorrow for the new release blog hop!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #81 - For You

Hi Friends!  Popping in today using the newly released set Sweet Thing, I tried my hand at the "ink smooshing" technique once again.

I'm finding that it's definitely something that takes a little practice but it's fun each and every time.  The results are ever shifting so I struggle a bit with that.  I like to perfect a technique and know I can do it will.

This is a bit tricky but I had some new Distress Inks to play with (Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon and Abandoned Coral (swoon!)  ) so I tried again and again until I got a pattern that I liked.

I love how quick and easy a card like this can come together!

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #80 - Thinking of You

Hi Friends!  Meredith here with a VERY simple card inspired by the wonderful Jennifer McGuire.  I coated my Neenah cardstock with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.  I then took one of the awesome images from the Flower Doodles set and spritzed it a few times with my mini mister bottle which has Perfect Pearls mixed with water.  It creates a shimmery water.

I then stamped direct onto the paper with nothing but the water.  Because the Distress Inks react with water the image that's left is shimmery and subtle.  It's truly beautiful in real life as it's hard to see the shimmer in the photos.

 I then stamped my sentiment front and center from the Jibber Jabber set and added the pop of color with the heart bubble from the Spellcheck set.

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith