Hugs for Summer

 I just felt like stamping today as it is hot and humid and my craft room is an oasis! Brought my iced tea and put on some bouncy music. Here we go! 

After a few days last week of creating involved vintage cards, doing some good ole' stamping, fussy cutting for a clean simple design is my plan. 

Also in my plan is playing in a new-to-me challenge at Sunday Stamps where they have a sketch this week. 

I assembled my focal point using Press 'n Seal and glued it down all at once. Realized too late that it should have been placed lower but I'm going with it. After all, it was good 'n stuck! 

Hope you're staying cool! So glad you came by for a visit.

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

             Make something beautiful! 

Supplies used: 

Stamps: WPlus9 - Thinking of You

Inks: WPlus9 - Flamingo, Queen Bee, Limelight, Lake House
Sentiment: Hello Bluebird - Bitty Buzzwords stamps and dies

Accessories -Dots stencil from PTI for dry embossing

Inspired By...Slip Into Something Comfy!

  Here's a new challenge for you at Inspired by!  Called Slip Into Something Comfy, it shows darling pastel colored polka dot flip flops! Perfect for a summer theme. I love my flip flops and slipping into my pj's early on a wintry night. And I love polka dots! 

Here's where I went with it. 

How about slipping something into a cute polka-dotted envelope? I did! Remembering these sweet papers, I die cut envelopes, inserts and tucked a few stamped and fussy cut florals inside. I assembled then onto a white panel, and added it to a pink polka dotted paper for the card base. 

I love the happy mail theme and know I will use the small envelope die often. This card makes me happy! See you in the gallery!

Vintage Birthday

 Hello, welcome back! Here is the second card made with the new release at WPLus9 that I posted in detail about yesterday. 

For this card, I featured the Vintage Ephemera Bundle and a smooshed background using Salvaged Patina and Twisted Citron Distress Oxide Inks. 

Adding a new to me product, Tim Holtz transparent embossing powder, gave the butterflies a bit of special pizazz! I die cut extra flower layers to pop up and add dimension, plus some silver thread and sequins. This is a slimline card measuring 3.5 x 6.5" 

Layering, smooshing, spattering and stamping. I loved every part of this process! 

Adding this to NBUS! 

Hope you have a great day!

     Be yourself
          Have delight in your craft 
               Make something beautiful!  

A New Release! Flora and Fauna

 Hello crafty friends, I hope you're doing great today!

Every once in awhile an entire set of products works so well together that I buy the whole bundle. That has only happened twice for me. The summer release at Wplus9 revived my love of vintage and mixed media styles with gorgeous images of text, ephemera, birds, florals and butterflies.  I've been coloring the images and finally put together a card or two. Everything here was inspired by the gorgeous work of Dawn Woleslagle who created the beautiful images from her own paintings.

The large floral bouquet image from Flora & Fauna 3 was stamped with Warm Wool ink on mixed media paper and watercolored using Mungyo paints. 

I die cut the floral spray and then cut it to assemble on two corners of  the panel. Creating the background involved ink smooshing with Distress Oxide inks and stamping images from the Script Background stamps. For the sentiment, the words from Flora & Fauna 4 were heat embossed in gold and die cut.  See what I mean about how fabulously these products work together? Lastly, I used the Postage Layers Dies for the large panel and postage stamp image. 

Do you ever cut up your images after taking time to color them with detail?  I had the hardest time cutting the butterfly in half, lol! 

I will be posting at least two more cards from this bundle this week. Why buy the whole bundle? For me it came down to an amazing discount, and the feeling that I could create in many styles with these items forever. 

It felt so good making this card. Although I love my challenges, this one was just for the fun of creating. It took a long time but was so satisfying! I am happy with the result. 

Thanks for following through this long post. I am so glad you came by! See you soon. 

Since all these supplies are new to me, entering this in the fun NBUS challenge. 

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

             Make something beautiful! 

Inspired By...One in a Melon

 Hello friends, it's Thursday and I'm glad you've stopped by for another theme for our challenge at Inspired By this week! Before I show you my card, can I take a moment to say how wonderful this team of designers is? I am so honored to be part of this group and grateful.

 Every week I can't wait to see what they have created and I am always inspired. Know what else? They are fun and easygoing gals, just the kind I like to play with. No competition. No stress. Just encouraging creativity! 

That is what makes us happy, and even more so when you play along! I hope you will! Our theme is You're One in a Melon. 

This cute cat came out to show me her juicy snack. Definitely NOT seedless melon,  lol! All those seeds were punched from black card stock and covered with glossy accents for shine.

I die cut luscious looking stripes and assembled them into a mini slim card measuring 3.5" x 6".  I love this size!

Now for the inspiration photo. 

Can't wait to see what you will make!

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

             Make something beautiful! 

Supplies used: 

Stamps: Newton's Nook - Newton's Melon

Accessories - Taylored Expressions - Mini Slim Diagonal Stripes Cutting Plate

Color Hues - Aqua and Black

 June is my favorite month! Can you believe we are ready for our 20th challenge at Color Hues?  Aqua and black, what a lovely duo! My favorite SU color has always been Cool Caribbean and I have hoarded that card stock for too long! Pulled it out for today's card. 

The  Stitched Diamond and Triple Lined Diamond Dies from Waffle Flower are terrific paired for a classic textured look. I added florals from the Bouquet Builders 6 stamp set that I colored with Copic markers and die cut. I kept the coloring light on the flowers but the leaves are leaning more towards teal to add dimension. 

I kept the card simple for a graphic look. Honey Bee stamps and dies called Bitty Buzzwords supplied the sentiment.

Thanks to you for your visit today. Hope you will be playing along!

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

             Make something beautiful! 

Inspired By...Dad's Meal!

 A happy Thursday Hello and welcome to a fun new challenge at Inspired By! I loved this one and you will too. Check out Dad's Meal! 

This leaves lots of possibilities, doesn't it? I don't have any food stamps except cupcakes and cookies kind of images. But I did have stamps in my NBUS pile that were perfect for this challenge! Several of the guys in my life love bacon, but one special son likes to advertise his favorite food on his T-shirts with a punny quote. This card is for him! 

An apron die cut. Piggy, a hot dog. and a very cute saying = one super fun card. I love that oven mitt. Here's the inside. 

I am happy to be adding this to the challenge at NBUS - never-before-used-schtuff! I am slowly going through the stash and trying to curb the urge for new acquisitions, lol! 

Now it's your turn! Can't wait to see what you will make! Please play along and I will see you in the gallery. 

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

             Make something beautiful! 

Supplies used: 

Stamps: Sugar Pea Designs - This Little Piggy
COPIC markers

Accessories - Silver foil card stock, Apron A2 Honey Cuts and Apron Barbecue Add-On Honey Cuts Accessories from Honey Bee Stamps. These sold out quickly but I found them still available at Ellen Hutson.

Playing with Friends!

 Hi there! 

It's a special kind of sharing on my blog today! You know we stampers love to play in challenges and sometimes in person. One of my favorite blog friends is Michele at I Card Everyone. I so admire her ability to design fabulous cards and then present them with her bit of wit and good humor! 

Today I'm part of her series called Playing with Friends.  She is such a fun friend to have, and gives much sweetness with her blog and many comments of encouragement to others.

We each create using the same supplies or, in this case a theme. BEACH!  It is National World Oceans Day, so we are creating projects around oceans or things to do at the beach. Of course I went with the beach theme, since that is my last name! That certainly makes me qualified, you think?

I have loved the Hello Bluebird stamps Seaside Girls set and I decided this was a good occasion to (order) and use it.  I colored these friends with Copics and used the Ocean Scene die to create a beach scene. Brand new supplies to me.  Inking each panel, I added dots and splatters as needed and assembled them on the card. The middle layer of the ocean is popped up for dimension. 

The sky was lightly inked and stamped with my message for Michele: I'm so lucky to have a friend like you! That message is for you too, dear readers.

I love collecting shells at the beach. It's my favorite thing to do! I can't wait to see which way the waves took Michele for her project, please join me in checking it out HERE.  

I will be linking at NBUS and at The Paper Players Summer Theme Challenge. 

Wishing you a day filled with sunshine and smiles. 

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft           
          Make something beautiful! 

Yo, dude!

 A happy shout out to you today from my craft room! Hope you are doing well. 

This week's challenge at Inspired By is called Shred the Cake and the photo is so inspiring! Even if like me, you have to look up the terminology! Suffice it to say that if you can shred you have great skate or snowboarding skills. 

 

This one had me stumped at first until I got very literal with my interpretation. And remembered that I had this very cool Tiger and Lily set from Waffle Flower waiting to be used in my stash. What fun I had with this card for a young teen!

Coloring was done with Copic markers and I fussy cut the images. I found this DP in my scrap box. What stood out to me the most in our photo was the stripes, so I had to use it, echoing the photo colors as well.  The card measures 4.25 x 6.26 " so there is some extra room inside. 

It's my first time using this set, so I will be entering this at NBUS! Darnell is the best and I love to play there. 

How does the photo or theme prompt you? I can't wait to see how you have fun with it! 
Thanks for coming by my blog, it always amazes me that you keep coming. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Color Hues #19 Blue and Brown

Hi friends! I'm happy to turn the page on the calendar. Welcome to a new month, a new color challenge and my blog! I hope things are going well with you. 

Can I tell you that using only two colors is always a challenge for me? I want to pull out ALL the colors. I find that being challenged makes me think outside the box and create cards in different styes, which I think is tons of fun! I learn a lot this way. 

For instance, I've learned that the capybara, which lives predominantly in South America is the largest living rodent in the world, weighing in at 77 - 150 pounds?  I've traveled to South America but never ran into one of these guys! I've also learned that they can look CUTE - on cards! 

Here's my take on blue and brown for a simple gender neutral birthday card. I did some masking, coloring with Copics and fussy cutting this critter for the tag. For the card base,  I used a stencil to add a few polka dots with Distress Oxide Inks.

Blue and brown work well together, and I'm sure the rest of the team will amaze you with their creative samples. Check them out and join us at Color Hues!

I appreciate your visit today, thanks!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Waffle Flower - Summer Time; The Greetery - Cake Pop Sentiments and dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, SU - Marina Mist

INK: Gina K - Amalgam; DOX - Tea Dye, Walnut Stain

Accessories: stencil - PTI