More desert inspiration — Cool Coaster

Last week I showed you a card I made using a scrap paper found at our hotel. Remember the green coaster that was also in this photo? Here’s how I used the coaster:

The coaster had the hotel name in the center, but that wasn’t a problem with this image from Stampers Anonymous.  I’ve had this stamp for years and hardly ever use it. When I saw this flowering tree in the desert I knew what image to use:

(The day was SO bright that in order to focus on the flower, the sky got completely over-exposed. I love the effect.) 

The card is textured using Tim Holtz’s collage  Texture Fades embossing plate (Sizzix). The sentiment is by Hero Arts, the ribbon from Making Memories.

Thanks for indulging my desert inspirations obsession!

Friday Inspiration, Coasters and Scraps

I am getting a lot of mileage out of this whole desert thing! Not only did the flowers, colors and textures of the desert inspire me, but I also found some very cool paper at the hotel where we stayed.

Check out the colors and patterns:

The striped paper is from the little packet that held our room keys. (Notice the white part on the lower right — that’s where I tore it open. I almost cut it off, but just in the nick of time I realized I could hide it!) The coasters were such a delicious weight and color. They had the hotel name stamped across the center, but that didn’t stop me. Here is a card I made using the striped paper:

See how I hid the white scrappy part? To make this card I first ran my cardstock through my new Tim Holtz Texture Fades embossing folder (Sizzix.) I edged the striped paper with a black marker, then glued it to the card front, off-setting it to the left. I white embossed the Michael Strong pot on rust-colored paper (to match the rust-colored stripe) then cut the top part of the pot to make the little one. (I love the versatility of this pot, which I also used here)

The pot screamed for greenery, so I stamped the pod-looking flowers (Hero Arts CL338) on scrap paper in Old Olive (Stampin’ Up), then cut them out and cut them apart. I stuck them to the back of the pot, then glued the whole shebang to the bottom right of the card. I attached the smaller pot using foam dimensional tape. All that was left was to add the sentiment (Hero Arts) and three gemstones.

Next week I’ll show you what I did with that coaster!

Thanks for coming by.

Friday Floral

Still more desert inspiration….

While putting away some of the material I took with me to the desert, I came across some random bits of scrapbook paper. This big blossom reminded me of some of the desert flowers — I’m not sure why… I certainly didn’t SEE anything like this! Maybe it was the muted colors…

At any rate, it was a quick card to make! I trimmed the paper down a bit (sorry, I don’t remember the source. Ugh, I hate when that happens because I love the colors.) Edged it with a gold pen, layered it on black and added it to a cream colored card. The saying is by Hero Arts (from Archivers). I slapped on two flowers (Prima) and some rhinestones, but looking at it now, I don’t like the blue flowers at all. Ah, well.

Thanks for stopping by.

Desert Inspirations

A week or so ago I talked about my visit to the desert and how I was looking for inspiration.

As soon as I snapped the photo of the wall panel at the hotel, I knew exactly what I wanted to make.

Here, again, is the photo that inspired me:

And here is the card I made: (The photo is a little wonky, but you get the idea.)

I used my Cuttlebug embossing folder (branches) to dry emboss just the top half of the cream colored card stock. I then white embossed this Michael Strong stamp (cloissone pot) on tan card stock. (I love this stamp — you can cut it apart and use the pieces in various ways. So clever!)

I cut some strips of green scrap paper into slivers that I hope look like long leaves, glued them to the back of the pot and added the image to the card bottom. So simple!

Inspirations

It’s Friday and I am in the desert. I was never a great desert lover — I much prefer the cool breezes and the blues and greens of the ocean — but since I have started stamping and creating, I have learned to appreciate the warm earth tones and the light and shadows found in the desert.

This morning I went for a walk, looking for inspiration. Here are some photos I took:

It seems that the more you look for inspiration, the more you find it! When I returned to my hotel room, I noticed the beautiful decorations in the hallways. Check out the soft, wavy lines of the wall decor and the beautiful colors and lines of the ceiling lights!

 

Tonight I will try to create something that was inspired by these sights. What inspires you?

Congrats to….

Congratulations to RRartz for winning the Bazzill Basics iPhone app! Let me know how you use the application — and what wonders you find!

Thanks to everyone who commented.