Lavery Grey Creations

Hey everyone.  Well, I am very lucky as my October Monthly Hero Arts kit came just in time!  I wanted to use the dies on a tag I was making for the Lawn Fawnatics Challenge.  I kept it un-assembled until I received my package yesterday.   This tag is being entered into the  Lawnfawnatics Challenge 14 : Happy Critters  and the  A Blog Named Hero - Calling all Critters .  The Blog Named Hero Challenge is using both Hero Arts and Lawn Fawn products.  I expect to enter more as the October kit and Lawn Fawn play very nicely together! I used Toboggan together set and colored it with Spectrum Noir pens.  I made the background out of the mountain range die from the October HA kit.  I used Bristol Smooth paper and first inked it with DO Iced Spruce and Salty Ocean.  I cut it then used the mountain range stamp with white pigment HA ink to stamp some detail.  I also inked the edges of the range with the ink.  I...

Hey everyone! I was minding my own business, busy making Christmas tags for an upcoming Craft Fair, and I ran across the  current Lawn Fawnatics Challenge 14: Happy Critters. I am literally using Lawn Fawn Critters for 2 tags I am making right now!  So I hurried up and finished them and will enter them both into the Challenge.  Here is my first one: This tag is like my favorite ever!  I used the Christmas Dreams set, which is so versatile!  This is my puppy Sawyer, by the way.  I have 3, so I will be making this tag for all of them. Don't want to play favorites, right? I cut the mitten using Winter tags out of Lawn Fawn paper and stamped with Tiny Tag Sayings.  Let me tell you, this set is always sold out!  Because its awesome, of curse.   I colored everything in with Spectrum Noir markers and added sparkle, which never photographs, but it looks great in person! Thanks for listening, I'll be back with another tag...

Happy Sunday Y'all!  Oh, I am having a blast crafting today.  Here is a cute little tag I made: So cute, right?  So, I used MFT Magical Unicorn set for this one.  I started by stamping the unicorn and castle in Simon Says Stamp black ink.  I used Spectrum Noir markers to color.  I used some white gel pen for highlights. The sentiment was stamped in Versamark then embossed in clear embossing powder.  This has become my favorite way to stamp sentiments - so crisp and bold! I took the blue paper and embossed with a cloud embossing folder - its a bit hard to see, but adds texture and dimension.  I tucked the castle behind the clouds and to make it seem as if it is in the distance. I finished by adding sparkle with my Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle pen.  And added some pink dots for a finishing touch. This card is for the following: MFT Sketch Challenge 351 MFT Color Challenge 77 Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge : Shimm...

Just a quick post today.  I have my entry into the  MFT Sketch Challenge #350  and  the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Clean and Simple I stamped one of the  MFT Fancy Flowers with MFT Grout Grey ink so that the lines are not visible.  I colored them in with colored pencils - pink and peach mostly.  The stems are drawn by hand and use 3 shades of green.  The sentiment is from MFT Birthday Sentiments.  I stamped it in Versamark and heat embossed white.  I tore a piece of vellum for the sentiment and stapled it to the card for a rustic look.   When done, I splattered with some Distress Ink in Twisted Citron and Picked Raspberry.  I used some water droplets from Studio Katia for embellishment.  That's all tonight, a nice quick card!

So, my blog is a bit messed up.  I am sure there are some of you who have had this happen - but I changed the font on the title  page of my blog (well, the size of the font) and the result is that things just don't work the way they are supposed to.  So....if you cannot see a Comment Button, its there - invisible - in the lower right portion of the end of my post.  I am getting help, but in the meantime I need to post my entry for the  MFT Superstar Card Challenge 2017 - CAS style .  For this card, I stamped the MFT Dew Drops stamps in various sizes in Distress Oxide Twisted Citron ink.  After I stamped the shapes, I embossed with clear embossing powder while the ink was still wet.  For the "star" I stamped the smallest dew drop in Versamark and used Silver Tinsel WOW embossing powder. Then I cut the Peaceful Greetings Die-namics out 3 times and glued using Glossy accents.  I am a horrible gluer and Glossy Accents is the most f...

Yawn, I am getting a bit sleepy.  But I want to post these awesome tags I made with the Concord & 9th set Orange You Sweet.   I am entering these as one entry into the  Where Creativity meets c9 Challenge 12: Anything Goes . Honestly, I don't know if I can do this,but it is not fair to use up 4 entries.  They are too similar.  But I like a non-traditional entry here and there :) So, I need to tell you that these "hello" tags are just about my favorite thing I have ever made.  Here is a closeup: First I used a stitched rectangle die to cut out a circle that was slightly smaller than my scalloped tag.  I cut out the hello from this die set from both the watermelon pink paper and the sparkly green paper and then glued the die cut into the opposite color.  Add some cute green twine and I have one fun tag!  I am going to make a bunch in different colors! The next two tags were so much fun too!  I j...

This is the 2nd post I have tonight - I have been playing with the Concord & 9th stamp and die set:  Orange You Sweet.  I challenged myself to use this only this set today.  Here is my second set of cards.  The first will be entered into the  Where Creativity meets c9 Challenge 12 : Anything goes . The fruit stamps on this set are a constant source of fun for me! I stamped the watermelon on CS with pink pigment ink.  I used 2 shades of green for the rind, Twisted Citron and a pine-ish green from HA Monthly kit.  I then stamped with Versamark and clear embossed for the shine.  I used some green glitter paper to cut out the sweet from the die set and glued on top of 2 more I had cut from green paper.  I put on a die cut postage stamp panel and stamped the "You're So" directly on the background.  This card is 3.5 x 2.5 as I have been experimenting with different sizes than the traditional A2. I made a second card that is...

So, I have a major addiction to Concord & 9th. I suspect you may too. Today, I decided to spend my day just playing with one set of theirs - Orange You Sweet.  This one set of stamps and dies is so versatile!   Here is my first card, this one will be entered into the  Where Creativity Meets c9 Challenge 12 - Anything Goes .  I just love this stamp set!  I stamped the Hello 4 times down the side, using Memento Nautical Blue, 2 Hero Arts inks from my Monthly June Kit (I don't know what the colors are called!), and Lagoon by Prima.  Once the ink was dry, I overstamped with Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder.  The sentiment was stamped on a circle cut out with black SSS ink and Versamarked as well then clear embossed.  I just like the pop of the clear embossing. Here's another card, its a variation on this so I won't enter it into the challenge. But I just love it!! I did almost the same colors, but added...

Hi there, it Stefanie back again for more blogging.  Ahh, I made it through Monday! I am back with 2 more cards for the  A Blog Named Hero Challenge .  And its a good one. This month its all about WOW products.  I have two cards using my WOW embossing powders in different ways.  So versatile! My first card uses the newest Monthly Hero Arts kit.  Well, actually both do.  Disclaimer: I opened it up and cannot stop using it.   First, I watercolored my galaxy on Thursday night and let it dry for a day.  Then I used the 2 cute sprays that came with the kit and totally overdid my background. Yup.  I am an over-doer with galaxies.  I know this now, but was unaware at the time.  One of my favorite cardmakers Justin Krieger (@jrk912) made the most fantastic SIMPLE galaxy today.  Sigh.  I'm not there yet.  But I hope to be. I used the awesome center die cut from the kit and cut a hole in my galaxy and actu...

Oh, I have been waiting to use my new Monthly Hero Arts kit.  I finally, finally had time to play this weekend.  Hero Arts + Embossing = so much fun for me!  I made 3 cards, all of which I am entering into the Hero Arts Embossing with Wow Challenge.   This month, Hero Arts is teaming up with Wow Embossing products for the A Blog Named Hero Challenge.  I am also entering this into the  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Add a Sentiment My first card is for my sister, my sissy, who is having a crap week.  I want her to know I love her more than anything and I am here for her.  I started with a 5 1/2 by 4 1/4 base of Bristol Smooth  CS and I blended Distress Oxide ink in Abandoned Coral all over.  My original intent was to do the ombre look, but I just love this color and had a heavy hand.  I spritzed with water to make some magic.  While the background dried, I set off to emboss me some stars. ...

I should have called this post:  One more and I can go to bed.  Haha!  Here's the lowdown on that:  I, like many of you, work full time.  I am in IT, so my full time work week is more than 40 hours.  I also have 3 children at home right now, 3 dogs (1 of which is a 3 month old puppy), a husband and unfortunately an uncurable auto-immune disease.  The only reason I bring that up is that my schedule is PACKED with doctor appointments.  Crafting is my soul relaxing.  It is very important that I take out time for that, for me.  So, the only way I can craft is to bust ass all week doing for my family, doing for my job, doing for my health and on the weekends - I craft like my life depends on it.  And, I think it does to be honest.  Like I said, crafting is my soul relaxing.  Its the way I see myself, how I figure it all out.  Not to get too deep, but I know you know what I mean! So, anyhoo, Sunday nights are spent mad...

Oh man, I have fallen for tags - big time.  Let me tell you how this happened.  I have been wanting to try my hand at making tags for awhile, but I lack the tools to do so.  So I pushed the idea to the back of my mind.  Until I was browsing at my local craft store last week and noticed a bag of tags (yes, I repeated that a few times too).  On clearance.  For $1.50.  So, it begins. This first batch of tags was made after I experimented with my MFT The Whole Herd stamp and die set.   I mean, seriously??  These are adorable!  I can totally see tying these onto a gift bag or a present. My inspiration was the  MFT Sketch Challenge # 346 , turned sidewards.  (Or is it sideways?  I never know).  I digress.  Here they are closer up: I cut my haystack out of 110 lb CS and colored with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers.  I propped it up on foam tape and stamped the sentiment directly onto the b...

So I wake up this morning, fully intending to craft all day as I had yesterday.  I opened up Instagram and, even though I had passed by this many times, I finally saw  The Heart Desires Challenge 15.    What I mean is, I saw the photo and was instantly inspired.  This happens alot on Sundays when I devote the whole day on Saturday to creating.  I made a ton of things that I will be sharing in different posts today and tomorrow, but here is my entry into the HDC #15: I am also entering this into the  Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge 12: Anything Goes  and the  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Add a Sentiment .  Whew, that was a mouthful.   So, I had a blast making this card, it was actually my final project of the weekend.  I do not know if this will make any sense, but sometimes when I am afforded the luxury of crafting for 2 days (the husband babysits the puppy, the kids help cook dinner, etc), I ge...

I just love this card.  I have grown quite attached to it in the several days it has taken to make this card.   I am entering this card into 3 challenges: MFT Color Challenge #75 Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Birthday Cards Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - For a Child So, I started by blending Distress Oxide inks in Cracked Pistachio, Lucky Clover, and Twisted Citron.  I wanted to emulate the 2 greens in the MFT color Challenge and I did not have the exact colors. This does a pretty good job I think.  I then cut out the sentiment with the MFT Happy Birthday to You die.  I also cut a piece of green fun foam to 5 1/4 by 4 inches and then ran through my cuttlebug with this die. While the letters were still stuck in the foam, I glued the cutout letters from this card on top. After it dried and I pressed it with my 5 pound plate from my husbands gym (works like a charm), I punched out the letters and put them aside for a later project. ...

Sigh, It has been a super long time since I have been participating in craft therapy.  Its been a rough month.  My brother passed away at what we thought was a healthy 48.  I had all 4 kids home for summer break and we got a adorable puppy.  Recipe for there being absolutely no time or no motivation to create. But, my craft mojo is coming back.  And I am spoiling myself but putting me first.  (And the kids are back in school - finally!!). My first card is for 3 challenges: MFT Sketch Challenge #345 Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Birthday Cards Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - For a Child I love this card!  I took some pastel rainbow shades and cut the circles with my circle stack dies.  Before I attached them to my A2 panel, I stamped the left edge with the clouds from MFT Magical Unicords in Prima Island Lagoon Ink. I stamped the Unicorn from MFT Magical Unicorn stamp set with my favorite ink -Simon Says Stamp ...

Hey everyone, I have been very busy making a card series that I hope to be able to blog about very soon.  However in the meanwhile, I wanted to post my card for the  CAS Fridays Calling All Sistahs CAS02 Challenge .  This is a color challenge, which I really struggle with to be honest.  But I love this challenge and wanted to use this stamp set as it is one of my favorites!  The challenge is all about inspiration, this card is for my a friend of mine who is really struggling.  Sometimes people need to hear how awesome they are.   I started with a piece of 140 lb watercolor paper and stamped this sentiment from CAS Friday Stamps in Versamark then embossed with black sparkly embossing powder.  I then used watercolors and did a wet on wet technique on the background with the aqua and purple for the challenge. I let it dry and pressed it straight as I used insane amounts of water so it buckled a bit.  Then I used my spectrum noir...

Holy Cow!  This challenge was just that - a challenge.  I have my card for the  MFT Color Challenge 72  and it was super difficult for me this time.  But I like that - easy is not always good, ya know?  I am also entering this card in the  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes . I had a really hard time capturing the vellum so believe it or not, this is the best I can get.  I am in the process of making a light box as this was very frustrating taking this picture! For this card, I used a piece of 140 lb water color paper and stamped MFT Fancy Flowers in SSS intense black ink.  Then I fussy cut the top of the card off so the flowers could pop against a background.  I used watercolors to match the colors in the challenge.  Honestly, the blue was so dark that it did not look good at all.  So, I used a white gel pen and started outlining the stamp with little dots.  I really liked the look so I di...

Hi everybody! I'm so happy to be back.  I had thought my computer was going to head on over to computer heaven, so I had my 16 year old wipe it clean and reinstall Windows.  Its working much better now but I was seriously afraid that I would not be able to blog and miss deadlines.  Super, super happy I can blog some cards. My first card is for the  MFT Sketch Challenge 339  and the  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge . This card is actually part off a duo I made by doing second generation stamping.  Here is a pic of both cards together: So, I started with the smaller circles from the Concord & 9th Orange You Sweet stamp set.  I put both card bases (cut to 3.5 x 3.5 ") down on my work surface and using Pigment ink I stamped the left card first then the right without re-inking.  It produces a softer look for the second card and ends up looking super cool. I used my heat gun to dry the cards as I knew I was going...

Hi Again!  Here is the story behind this card.  I started to make this card for the  Winnie & Walter June Color Combo Challenge with Heather.   As I was putting this card together, as I was making the card and conceiving where I would put everything I noticed I was 100% using the card from Shay on the  Winnie & Walter Rerun # 20 Challenge.  So, I am going to enter the card into both as the card from Shay has been on my mind ever since I started to make this card. So, I took my Mini Scenery:  Bed of Roses stamp and stamped it in Versamark and embossed in Hero Arts White embossing powder.  I took the 4 Distress inks from the Color Challenge:  Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean and Worn Lipstick and layed them out on an acrylic block and spritzed them with water.  I painted the roses with the pink, yellow, and green.  I took a paintbrush and painted the lines with the salty ocean.  I finished with a sentiment fr...

So, I'm clicking around IG and I see that Winnie & Walter has a new release coming this week.  I go to their blog to see what is coming up, and for the first time I see.....They have a challenge Blog!  With Multiple Challenges.  So exciting for me.  I happen to LOVE W &W, but I have a slight problem.  My wishlist includes almost everything they make. Definately EVERY cutaway.  I love their BIG words.  So, I need to have some $$ help with my Winnie & Walter craft addiction.  What better way than to join a challenge...Do my best and hope for the best. My first card is for the  June Color Combo Challenge.   This card is for my son Aidan who LOVES this stamp. Its the "Do You See What I See" Mini Scenery stamp.  Loves it.  Every time I use it he tells me how I can use it better.  So cute. And frustrating.  In order to follow the rules, I got out the same 4 Distress Inks that Heather used: ...

Hi there!  I am back with my final card for the  Where Creativity meeets C9 Challenge #10.   The theme for this  Concord & 9th challenge is "Layered".  My first card layered stamps.  This second card layers ink and stamps as well, but uses the Many Mandalas Stamp Set by Concord & 9th. This stamp set is my absolute favorite.  I have made Thank You cards, but honestly this is my first Birthday card.  This is for a male co-worker. First I stamped the images with Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.   Then, I blended my Distress Oxide inks:  Worn Lipstick, Fossilized Amber (no orange needed with these creamy inks!), Peeled Paint, Broken China, and Wilted Violet.  I sprayed with water and let dry. Finally, I used my MISTI to stamp the sentiment with Simon Says Stamp black ink.  I had to stamp it multiple times as the ink below was pretty thick. I cut out my panel with my Tonic Scallope...

Hey there!   2 quick blog posts tonight for the  Concord & 9th: Where Creativity meets C9 Challenge # 10.   The theme for the challenge this month is "Layered".   My first card: What fun I had making this card.  I used the new flower turnabout stamp from Concord & 9th.  After marking up the stamp as I saw in the video, I stamped the first layer with Versamark and embossed with gold embossing powder.    The picture below makes it easier to see the gold shine. The second layer I stamped with Distress Oxide Ink in Worn Lipstick, the 3rd with Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade, and the last layer in Distress Ink in Abandoned Coral. I stamped the sentiment from the same set in Versamark and embossed in gold to pick up the gold flower layer.  I finished off the card with some Stdio Katia clear droplets. Thanks for hanging out!  

Hey everybody! How awesome to finally be back blogging with you.  I had a tragic happening a few weeks ago.  My big brother died at the age of 48.  It is shocking.  He was only a few years older than me and it completely has rocked my world.  I have not had any time to blog and that's too bad - I know it will make me feel better.  That's all I can say for now. But another thing that makes me feel wonderful is crafting.  I finally got some card mojo back and had the opportunity to make a card for the  MFT Sketch Challenge # 338. Love how this turned out.  Here is is from a sky view... The heart is made from the Krumspring Awesome Triangle Wizard. I stamped with Versamark and embossed with white Hero Arts embossing powder. Then painted with watercolors and cut into a heart.  I edged the heart with a blue Spectrum Noir pen to make it pop. I stamped the sentiment from MFT Polynesian Paradise in versamark and emboss...

Back, very short and sweet today.  I have surgery tomorrow and wanted to post today as tomorrow I will be loopy all day! Here is my 2nd card for the  MFT Sketch Challenge # 336 .  Or as my kids call it, the Heart Card challenge.    Guess I don't make too many cards with hearts as these stood out to them. LOL! I just had so much fun making this card.  For the background I used Distress Oxide Inks (they stamp really well!) and inked up the Altenew Pattern Play - Diamond Stamp Set.  I wanted the weathered look for the argyle diamonds.  While that dried, I stamped the giraffes and sentiment from MFT  Giraffing Me Crazy set with Simon Says Stamp ink then colored with Spectrum Noir markers.  I had to fussy cut them (man do I want these dies - reminder to myself next time I shop...) and prop them up with foam to pop. I cut the heart out of watercolor paper as my original intent was a marvelous swirl of watercolors in a marble-...

Hello there! Just a quick pop in to enter a couple of cards into the  MFT Sketch Challenge 336 . I will do a post for each card.  My first card... I stamped and heat embossed the flowers and leaves from the MFT Fancy Flowers set.  I used pinks, oranges and purples for the flowers. Blue and green for the leaves. I attached to a patterned paper, I just love the pink stripes on this.  For the heart, I die cut a heart from vellum and heat embossed the Thank You sentiment from Studio Katia. Quick and so cute!