Life Has Been RUFF

Hi there! 

I am a dog lover and I know many of you are as well. I had a great escape this week to my nearby crafts box store. What I liked best about the excursion was getting to meet, Bonnie, a delightful therapy dog. Her owner said their outing to the store was the first time out in months for the pretty canine who really needed to socialize. How well I could relate to that statement and my new furry friend. 

You can only imagine how much I enjoyed coloring this doggy lineup and setting them into a simple scene. I did some masking with the stamped images to rearrange the pack, fussy cut then colored using Copics. The sky and grass were ink blended with Distress Oxide inks. ( Tumbled Glass, Cracked Pistachio and Lucky Clover.) 

It felt good to make this card for a friend that has been going through the mill with health issues. The dog images are from Puppy Power (Waffle Flower Crafts) and the sentiments from Friends FURever (Honeybee Stamps.) I know I will get lots of use from these sets. The sentiment continues inside with "No bones about it... You are PAWsome!"

I am playing with Freshly Made Challenges who inspired me with this sketch this week.

I thought the differing heights of the pooches mimicked the vertical lines. A little bit.

That's all for me today! Hope to see you soon! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Soft Pastels

Hello, I'm back again with another take on the monoprint technique that I shared on an earlier post. Without sharing details of this fabulous class from Spring Card Camp, I wanted you to be able to see both parts of the process on today's card. 

I used soft pastel shades of ink for the pretty leafy background. The small panel is a piece of the monoprint that I removed the inking from to reveal the whitened spaces. I love the depth and color variations that this gives. 

I just love playing with inks! I still have several samples of this all over my messy desk. I am keeping this post short in hopes of getting it all cleaned up. I feel a need to jump in to a card challenge or two before the week is out!

Thanks for sticking with me. Hugs.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Clearly Besotted - LeafyAccents; WPlus9 - Welcome

Paper: Neenah Solar White

INK: Distress Oxides

Best Wishes

Hello crafty friends! 
If you think I've not been stamping much this past week, you may be right! Every once in awhile a break seems a good idea. Hopefully I come back to my blog with renewed freshness. Honestly, it's been rainy here for a L-O-N-G couple of weeks and I've been curling up with a good book or two. 

Although Spring Card Camp 2 is officially over, I got totally into the lesson by Dawn on mono-printing. It's addicting, as she said, and I've completed quite a few takes on the technique, just haven't made them into cards yet. Here's my first.

 It involves laying out multiple colors on the plate and picking them up with a clean stamp. When you stamp these images they take on a dreamy watercolor look. I love techniques like this because you're never quite sure what look your inking and color choices will give. It's a pleasant surprise! 

Keeping my focal point small so I didn't cover up the background, I added a delicate flower with sparkling embossing and a few pearls. 

Thanks so much for your visit. I hope you and your loved ones are keeping well and encouraged. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: PTI - Meadow Greens; Clearly Besotted - Leafy Accents; WPlus9 - Basic Banners

Paper: Neenah Solar White

INK: Distress Oxide Inks - Faded Jeans, Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio; WPlus9 - Old Gold; Versamark

Accessories: WPlus9 - hexagon die from Welcome, WOW Embossing Powder Spring Rain

Love You More

I am popping in quickly to share a birthday card made for our sweet G's birthday! I have been watching for THE unicorn stamp that I liked and this is it! Nothing better than a unicorn and rainbows theme, especially when they're this cute! 

Couldn't have been easier to make and color. I layered the striped paper over the white panel and die cut them together. The die cut circle was used for the inside. 

Now, as easy as this was to make I must add that I didn't make it until 2 hours before it was time to leave. Am I the only one who waits til the last minute to make a card that is hand-delivered? I chuckled, thinking that if I'd made it two weeks ago, it would already be "old" and I'd want to make a fresh one. 

Comment if you are also crazy enough to do this! And have a fabulous weekend my friends. Remembering some of the  hugs I received from the family has me feeling quite happy! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Waffle Flower - Be Her with matching dies; sentiment is SSS - Love You More

The DSP and inside sentiment are also from Waffle Flower. 

Fiesta!

Hello, how are things for you today? 
I expect it will be a fabulous day as I will be going to a very special birthday celebration for Sweet G who's turning 5! Seeing dear ones will be a delight after such a long time and I can't wait! 

My purpose today is to share a birthday card made with the Let's Fiesta stamp set from PTI. I am still working on pulling out stamps and papers that have been neglected in my stash although I do have a box of new things on my desk too. 

The images on this set were perfect for bright colors and assembled die cuts for a focal point. I love filling the basket with flowers!

I used one of my favorite techniques of using vellum in order to tone down bright colors or busy patterns on paper.  Inspired by day 7 of Spring Card Camp 2, "Vellum Overlays." I wasn't quite sure of mixing pinks with red, but I think with the addition of vellum - it works. What do you think?

I popped one yellow enamel dot on the center of the pink flower.

That's all for now, hope to see you back soon! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Plant Love

Hello friends, welcome to a new week! 
I didn't get much stamping in last week, it seems my energy and motivation disappeared. Don't we all just need a little extra kindness right now?  I spent some time coloring this sweet bear for today's card. 

I bought a few sets recently for simple coloring and card making including the Plant Sunshine set from Penny Black.  I love the sentiments that come with this set! 

For day 10 at Spring Card Camp 2 we were encouraged to use an image to substitute for a letter in a word.  I chose the small flower bouquet and added a tiny heart underneath instead of the O. Adding details with black Nuvo drops, a white gel pen and shimmer completed the card.

Thanks so much for your visit today! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Penny Black - Plant Sunshine, WPlus9 - Whimsy Alpha and dies

INK: WPlus9 - Beanstalk, Gala Red, Wild Mango

Accessories: The Greetery - Nordic Die

Happy Thoughts

Hi, glad to find you here! 
I am thanking God for some good times out in the sunshine thinking happy thoughts and some great art therapy time to continue the springtime theme. 

Today's card was made with products from The Greetery and inspired by Lydia's wonderful day 5 lesson (#OCCSCC2) on stencil shading. 

I used sponge daubers to add colors to the lavender blossoms and stems with Distress Oxide inks, keeping the darkest colors at the base of each bloom for an ombre effect. The stencil was placed over the die cut mason jar so that the stems appear to be inside!

There are two stencils to make the layering easy, and all stamped images were layered. This adds such depth of color and wonderful dimension. 

I am hoping this bouquet, fresh picked for you, brightens your day! I added a few gems for sparkle.  Hang in there friends! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: The Greetery - Just Mason Around, Fleur Impressions, and coordination dies.

Paper: Neenah Solar White

INK: Distress Oxides 

Accessories: Stencil - Mason Jar Fillers Stencil, Sentiment Suites Basic Die; Nuvo Crystal Gems Pure Sheen Gemstones

It's time for a TWOFER!

It's time for a new challenge at Twofer! I am thrilled to be the guest designer for this month at this fun and intriguing card challenge hosted by Darnelle. 
We are asked to create two different cards for two different occasions using the same stamps, stencils or dies. 

Our theme for this month's challenge is flowers! I chose to use the Bouquet Builder 6 stamps from Waffle Flower for my cards. 

Using flower images for two different occasions came easily. I chose a birthday and an encouragement greeting. A different way to use the images? I began with stamping on designer series paper. 

For the card above I stamped the floral spray directly onto the brick patterned paper and heat embossed in white. I added color with markers on the leaves. I wanted a bolder look for the flowers so they were embossed on colored card stock, cut out and adhered over the first stamping.

For the second card, I used patterned paper with a subtle design, and stamped the floral spray multiple times to create a background. I also added some distressing to the panel with a faint stripe.

The gold accent strip and trim on the die cut plus a few white gel pen highlights were the only embellishment needed. 

I sure hope that you will check out the Twofer Card Challenge and play along with us! It's really fun thinking of new ways to use your stamps, and inspiring to see what others create! 

 I am glad that you came by today. Happy Mother's Day greetings! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Plant Sunshine

Hello, how are you today?
For as slow as the days are going at my house, I sure have a hard time believing that this week is nearing the end so fast! My days and sense of time are all muddled. Anyone else in their right mind having this trouble?

It is always a good time to plant sunshine! 

Our challenge at Online Card Classes Spring Card Camp 2 was to use masking. I took a twist with my design and decided to use small images inside a die cut shape and pulled out the Plant Sunshine stamp from Penny Black.  Sponging DOX inks in Tea Dye, Squeezed Lemonade and Worn Lipstick inside the shape, I then inked the images with Warm Wool (WPlus9). This ink color is a favorite of mine for softer looking images and sentiments. It's a neutral between brown and gray.  I added coloring details with Polychromos pencils. Drawing the white line with a gel pen was easy using the next smaller die in the set as a guide. 

I decided a flat layer card with no embellishments was really OK. That's my was of letting you know how hard it was to resist not adding another thing!

Thank you so much for spending time to see what I've been making! I appreciate you and wish you well today. I'm adding this to the challenge at Inspired By. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

I'm adding this to the challenges at Inspired By called Flower me with Color and Use Your Stuff - Flowers or Butterflies. 

Sweet Sentiments

Hello there friends! Being outside has been so therapeutic as the weather has turned warm here.  My husband and I have been gardening - the veggies are planted and flowers are on the list to plant today. 
I just hope it stays only warm for a while longer before HOT summer hits! 

I can never get enough flowers, can you?  Coloring them on cards is fun too! For day 20 of Spring Card Camp the lesson involved creating and coloring a display of flowers. 

The Bouquet Builders 6  and Sweet Sentiments from Waffle Flower were just waiting to be inked! I used Zigs Real Color Brush markers to add bright hues. 

I'm adding this to the challenge at The Paper Players too! 

Guess what happens tomorrow?  Spring Card Camp 2 begins. Yep, I'm signed up all ready for crafty play time to begin! The thought sure makes me smile.
Thanks so much for your kind visit today. 

 Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Get more out of your inks!

It's Friday and it's a new month!  I'm continuing with a project from day 19 of Spring Card Camp's lesson on second generation stamping. 

It was fun to re-visit this technique using the fully inked image for one card and the stamped off version for the second card. It's interesting to see the difference in the shades of color you get, and a helpful way to get more out of your inks. Thinking of using this technique when making multiples of cards makes great sense. Thank you, Jennifer McGuire! 

I think the paler flowers looked a bit washed out but adding a pop of gold foil and sequins makes it better! What do you think? 

Thanks to you for your visit! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Stamps: WPlus9 Southern Florals, Waffle Flower Sweet Sentiments, SU - Aida Cloth Background