Fall Foliage Birthday

Hello everyone, how has your week been?

I've had lots of time to stamp. I finally gave up holding on to summer and made an autumn card. How could I resist the Fir & Foliage 1 stamps from The Greetery? 

Making this card was a delight with the easily layering tree images Betsy designed. Creating a masculine birthday card, I used Distress Oxide inks in fall colors. This tree can be created in many colors to reflect the seasons.

I'm squeaking this in to the challenge at The Paper Players on its last day, they had a great sketch. 

Thanks so much for taking your valuable time to visit my blog today!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Stamps: The Greetery - Fir & Foliage 1, Sentiments Suite: Birthday stamps and dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Kraft

INK: Distress Oxide 

Accessories: embellishment is from SU

Watercolored Thanks

I pulled out the Look for the Rainbows Stamp set from the September Card Kit again today. 

This time I wanted to watercolor those gorgeous flowers. One thing that attracted me to this set was the large flowers with petals big enough to color generously. And that is what I did! 

I love to watercolor but I'm still in the learning stages. I used my Peerless watercolors but the colors were a bit more intense than I wanted. Once I realized that I was stuck with that, I added details over the blossoms with Copics, and flicked on spatters in black and metallic gold. I added a pale yellow background and black card stock with the sentiment embossed with Liquid Platinum. And I liked the results!

 Using a black mat, I mounted the card front onto Very Vanilla card stock for the base and added a few jewels.

Thanks so much for coming by today! Thank you for your kind words and comments. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Retro Rubber Guest Designer

Hello, welcome to my blog! I'm excited to be the guest designer in the Retro Rubber Challenge today and I can't wait to be part of their talented and fun group. 

If this challenge is new to you, the most important thing to remember is to use stamps that are at least more than one year old. Thus, we spread the love around instead of always using our newer items only. 

My card features the lovely images from WPlus9 Designs' Tropic Fever Set (May 2018).

The hibiscus flowers and leaves were stamped onto Bristol Smooth card stock, embossed with white, and then colored with blended Distress Oxide inks. I used a small sponge dauber to add layers of color.

The set also includes this striking background which was stamped in black. The sketch provided served as a good jumping off point for this card. 

We hope that you will play along! Look HERE if you want to check out the challenge. 

I can't wait to see what you will make! Thanks for stopping by ~

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Look for the Rainbows

Hi! 
I made a card the other day - just because I wanted to. 
I bought a card kit this month - just because it had rainbows. Well, no, actually there were NO rainbow images. Just birds and flowers.

 That's even better! And wonderful rainbow sentiments. 

I made the rainbow with strips of paper. Because it was fun!
Colored the birds with Copics and Wink of Stella, and cut them out. Talking of shimmer, check out the Tonic Crystal gems. I wanted to sprinkle them everywhere. I fashioned a cloud with my scissors and tucked it in for the sentiment.

Hope you enjoy my card today using items from the fabulous September Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp. Since we've been having rain it's much brighter than in the photo. You will see me using these stamps again soon! 
Have a great day and a wonderful new week!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Beautiful Butterfly, Beautiful Day

Hello, stamping friends. 
I am hanging on to summer for as long as I can! Even though I'm wrapped up in a warm sweater today, I still look forward to the last few days of summer. You'll have to wait a bit longer to see me pull out the fall and (GASP!) Christmas stamps. Especially since I still needed to ink up this beautiful butterfly to play with today. 

I love the mosaic look of this beauty from the Beautiful Day stamp set. My fav Zig markers were used for coloring in the images. I added Nuvo drops to the butterfly, plus patterned paper and textured card stock to complete the design. Thanks for coming by today!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: (SSS) Beautiful Day, Sentiment from WPlus9 - Wishing You Sentiments

Paper: (SU) Daffodil Delight,  Basic Black, Bristol Smooth

INK:Simon Says Stamp - Intense Black

Accessories: Tim Holtz Kaleidoscope 3 D Embossing die, Beautiful Day Wafer Dies

 I'm playing along with: 
the special celebration at Freshly Made Sketches and 

Simon Says Stamp Weekly Challenge - Clean and Simple. 

TWOFER

TWOFER for this post refers to two cards and two challenges. 

I'm so excited to be able to get this under the line on the last day of the Twofer Challenge! In case it's new to you, we are to make two cards using the same stamps or images for two different occasions. This month was a nautical theme.

 It's a favorite of mine, so here are the two cards I came up with.

One card is a missing you occasion and the other is a birthday card. Both use the stamps and sentiments from the Sunny Studio Oceans of Joy set which has been in my prominent "to use" file all summer.  I think these little guys are adorable! 

Here's a closer look at my favorite of these cards. I created it for the Color Throwdown challenge. 

Thinking these shades were perfect for an ocean I ink blended a background using Distress Oxides in Tumbled Glass and Wilted Violet, adding spatters. I also stenciled the rays using Peacock Feathers. 
The images were colored onto Bristol Smooth Card Stock using Zig markers. The glittered enamel star and heart came in my newest card kit. I just had to add some sparkle and also some WOS was added to the whale, octopus, and the balloon. 

Phew! Guess this was a long post! Thanks for hanging with me. 

Supplies used:

Stamps: Oceans of Joy

Paper: DSP (ret.) from SU!

Hello for a Sweet Friend

Hello to you! 
I'm happy to be finding just a bit of time each day to craft. Today I tried something new, hope you like it! 
I began with the sketch in mind. I wanted to try a new technique of making a background with inks. Beginning with lemon images in mind, I chose the pale pastel colors but you know how things go. Had to change my plans in the middle! 

I used a paper towel saturated with Distress Oxide inks and spritzed with water for the background, created on white card stock. If you look closely you can glimpse the texture of the paper towel in places. This looks pretty neat IRL! 

I used the Hand -Lettered Hello stamps and dies, and the Tossed Florals Border Die from WPlus9. All card stock used is white, and was inked for color. I added a hint of yellow with pale sequins.

Entering today's card at 
CAS Mix Up Challenge 

CAS(E) This Sketch

Thanks so much for your visit! Have a wonderful day!

MFT: Wednesday Sketch Challenge

I pick you.
I love this simple sweet sentiment. Couldn't resist coloring up this pig-tailed cutie for the Wednesday Sketch Challenge at MFT. 

She's part of the Love You to the Core set from MFT and I used Copics to color her. 

For the pale blue background behind her I tried the inky paper towel technique shared HERE at the CAS Mix Up Challenge. Hope to try again with a very CAS card to enter the challenge next. 

Have a wonderful day!

For All You've Done

Just breezing by with another card to share! Card blog challenges have sure been boosting my creativity and I'm loving it. 

My Thank You card was made quickly and it will be easy to mail too. Not a sequin or jewel on it, HA! Just stamps paper and ink and a bit of twine. 

The die cut greenery (Gathered Garden stamps and dies from Papertrey Ink) form an elegant silhouette. 

I'm happy to be entering it in these challenges: 

Freshly Made Sketches

The Paper Players 

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Midsummer Blues 

Keeping this short sweet and simple today. Have a wonderful weekend! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Shimmering Butterfly Mandala

There is nothing I like better than trying out new products and new techniques. Always learning something new and having the ability to play are two of the factors that keep me in love with stamping! 
You can see the result in today's card.

I began by embossing the Butterfly Mandala stamp (WPlus9) in white onto Ranger Distress Watercolor Paper. This is a huge stamp that is intricate in detail and covers most of a card front with lacy leaves and butterflies in a circular shape. Isn't it gorgeous?

Then I added Nuvo Shimmer Powders in Atlantis Burst and Falling Leaves. When you sprinkle the tiniest bits of these powders and add water, they burst into many colors and flow together to blend beautifully. The result is AMAZING! Varying the placement of the powder and the amount of water enables you to watercolor a gorgeous background. I can't wait to do this again! 

This card was sent to a friend who is quite amazing herself. I die cut the sentiment, using three layers of the die to give dimensions. I doubt using the sequins was a good idea in the end for this card. But you know I just couldn't resist a bit more sparkle. 

Thanks so much for taking time to visit my blog. I hope you have a fabulous day!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Color Throwdown #556

Hey there! I'm super happy to be The Guest Star Stamper for the challenge at Color Throwdown today. The talented stampers in this group provide a new color combo and wonderful inspiration for using it each week. I love playing along! Here's this week's challenge.

I was completely taken with the soft nubby look of the fabric and embroidery on the pale green bag. I went looking for stamps to use and came up with an oldie but goodie set, Fresh Cut Florals and paired it up with the fresh new sentiments from Butterfly Mandala (both from WPlus9).

Adding a vertical strip of kraft paper adorned with gold stripes gave a hint of elegance. I carried this over by embossing the sentiment in gold and adding three dots with gold embossing at the bottom of the card. Just a bit of shimmer pen was added to the sentiment for sparkle.

I really enjoyed using an older set made fresh with newer elements. It feels good using what I have and giving the retro stamps some love. They will always be in style!

Thanks to the team at Color Throwdown for a great combo. Make sure to check their site to see the array of beautiful projects. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 
          Make something beautiful!

And lucky me, it's Anything Goes week so I can add this to the Retro Rubber Challenge. I got Fresh Cut Florals in 2013.

Sending Many Hugs

Hello, welcome to my blog and a brand new week! 
You know I'm not a huge fan of purple, right? But since I am loving challenges, I challenged myself to include purple in today's color combo. 

Turns out I'm loving it with the mix of hues that I saw on THIS gorgeous card by Dawn Woleslagle that inspired me. 

I used the My Whole Life stamps and dies, and inks from WPlus9 to create the florals. Keeping the colors the focus was my desire. Applying ink to the stamps and die cut sentiment with sponges helped to keep the colors softer. I also sponged ink using a stencil to create the striped background. 

I added a few pearls and a border die for bells and whistles. 
Thanks so much for joining me today! Wishing you a fabulous day, friends.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

I'm playing along at the Simon Says Challenge: Add a Die

A Woodland Scene

Hi there!
The other day I just wanted to do some inking for fun, trying out a new color combo. Of course I had to finish it into a card, so next I went looking for images that worked well with it.

Turns out I had Copic colored some critters for practice on our recent road trip so I mounted them up for this card. 

For the inside I will complete the sentiment with "Wishing you a fun-filled day!" 

That is also my wish for you friends, on this Wednesday. I appreciate your visit so very much. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps:  Pretty Pink Posh - Woodland Critters and dies (2017), Sentiments are from WPlus9

INK:Simon Says Stamp - Intense Black, DOX - Squeezed lemon, Worn Lipstick, Abandoned Coral

Accessories: Nuvo Enamel Drops, White Gouache, White Gel pen, white embossing powder

Playing along at: 
Retro Rubber Challenge 

I love Jan's tic tac toe choices! Completed the top row across, and the bottom row across with my stamps from Nov. 2017. 

C is for... CARDS!

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog and a new week. 

How would you complete this phrase? C is for.......
Cards. Color. Cool. Coastal. Chocolate (yes, please!). Cookies. Challenge.
Here's what came to my mind. Christmas. Christmas Carols!

Here's my first Christmas card of the year using the Sing a Song of Christmas stamp set.I love the musical instruments in this set and the text of a few of my favorite songs of the season.

I kept the design simple so the colors and elements could shine. I'm playing with these challenges~

Color Throwdown

and

Just Add Ink 

My last entry with the Just Add Ink challenge received an Honorable Mention. Thank you!

It sure feels good having one easy to mail Christmas card ready to go.

Thanks for stopping by - hope it's a great day for you. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: PTI - Sing A Song of Christmas; WPlus9 - Hellebore Builder stamps and dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Black 

INK: sentiment is Old Gold (WPlus9); inked background using Lucky Clover DOX