Pop Art for Freshly Made Sketches

 Just when I think I'm finished for the week with card-making and posting, another challenge kicks me into gear and I make just one more! 

I've been waiting patiently for the chance to use my geometric shapes and supplies and today I was inspired to pull them out.

From the SSS April card kit, I used the Pop Art stamps and dies. The printed sentiments and a batch of colorful textured card stock squares were  included. These items made creating with Kim's sketch at Freshly Made so easy. 

When I saw this kit, I thought it would make great cards for our grandson. Nice to have this ready to go. 

Speaking of ready to go - we are heading out to the pool for a little exercise this evening. The weather here was finally a bit cooler today. 

Hope you have a great weekend! It was so good of you to visit.

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

I'm adding this to
 Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Supplies: 
The small script sentiment is from Waffle Flower - Oversized Hello

Better at the Beach

 Waving hello friends! I wish I was packing my bag for a day at the beach, don't you? 

Here's my card to help us dream a little of the beach life. 

I created my beach tote using cut strips of card stock to make stripes, then added the sentiment, sunglasses, a shell and a towel to complete the focal point. Using Crystal effects makes the glass frames shiny IRL and there's a shimmer on the pink hearts. 

It's a center fold pop up card. For the pale blue base, I used an EF for a texture resembling water drops, smooshing a light layer of white ink over it. The scene is complete with patterned paper curving along the bottom, and a few clear gems. 

It's a new challenge for Team X at Tic Tac Toe. Here's our board of options for these next two weeks. 

I used the middle row across - Beach, Free and Fun Fold. My last name is Beach, of course I couldn't resist! 
We hope you will join us!

 Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: 

Stamps: Waffle Flower Beach Tote Stamps and Dies
Spellbinders Splatter EF 

Bold Bouquet

 Well here I am again! 

Just had to pop in and give a quick share of the card I made today. I was inspired by the great cards over at Just Us Girls, where they have a stencil week - anything goes! And so many great cards that I wanted to play along. In looking for a stencil, I ended up with a bundle! 

The Bold Bouquet stamp and die bundle (Altenew) includes stencils and an embossing folder. This has been in my stash for years and barely used. That's sad but we got re-acquainted. 

I embossed the bouquet, stenciled it, then die cut it. Now totally in stencil mode I added more color with the SSS stencil Petal Lattice in the bottom right corner. A few tiny dots with pens gave detail to the flower centers in black and gold, and a few sequins in pink made me happy. 

Off to post this now, as the challenge closes soon. I will see you tomorrow! Thanks so much for your visit. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Love Blooms

Hello, hi, and welcome! Just when I tell myself I have enough  stamps   (never enough of those!) paper or ink I find this fabulous paper pack that is so different and I LOVE it! It's the main feature on today's card. 

I started by filing through the La La Land Crafts 6x6 pack called Washi, looking for the one that would be easy to design with. These two sided papers are amazing, with bold patterns and striking designs. Swoon worthy!

Also on my desk were the leftover die cuts from another day. I thought two of these would work well to house my focal point and still allow the pretty papers to be visible. I didn't want to cover it up! I stamped and watercolored the rose using distress inks for the bloom and metallic gold for the leaves, and placed them over a strip of gold mirror card stock. 

A bow of gold thread and a simple sentiment and it's done! For dimension, the die cuts are two or three layers stacked together. You will be seeing this paper again as I really enjoyed the challenge of playing with it. 

Wishing you a great day, and happy crafting! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Challenges: 

Color Hues - Black and Red 
Love those Pretty Papers 

Supplies:
Penny Black  - Curvature Die, Love Blooms stamps and dies
Sentiment is from Altenew from this pretty set they sent me for free personalized with my name!  Charming Bouquet stamps. Boy, was I surprised!!

Let's Make Two

Gratefully, we had some much needed rain yesterday and I had time to finish two cards that have been worked on bit by bit this week. No online challenges this time. Just my own goal of using a new to me die. I unwrapped that package and gave it a whirl! 

I began by combining the Curvature Die from Penny Black, and the Garden Party dies from Pinkfresh Studio. When I had a moment, I  randomly cut a bunch of these, a few in color, but mostly from white card stock. 

 Adding Altenew inks to color, I sponged with aqua, teal, pink and green, including the teal in the corner of the card front. These dies are fun to layer, the possibilities are endless! The Curvature die in white makes a soft home base for my focal point. The sentiment from SSS Happy Day is stamped and die cut. 

The fun part came with the leftover bits of flowers on my desk. Here's take 2! 

Even the Blush pink panel was already cut to size sitting there on my desk. Better to use it up! With the very simple layout, I jazzed it up a bit with  a small dot EF and a few clear crystal sequins. The sentiment is from Penny Black called Special Thoughts. My completed cards are overflowing their space, so I'm using generic sentiments in hopes of donating them. 

Thanks for visiting me today! 

I guess I do want to add this to Darnell's NBUS Challenge, the Curvatures Die is my new schtuff. That item is still on my desk, so there is more to come!

For my Dear Friend

 Hi there, hope you are doing well! Are you enjoying happy summer days, even with the heat dome? 

We are having the kind of sunny day that makes you wish you were at the beach. A perfect afternoon to make a  beach-y kind of card.  

I love collecting shells at the beach. Almost as much as I love collecting new stamps! When I saw that the Anchor of Hope stamps from Honeybee were retiring, I placed an order. It's a set filled with beautiful images and sentiments that are different from what I already have in my nautical stash. 

I began with a pale blush card stock for the card front. I swiped a squiggly line of blue Lunar Paste (Clear Skies) and next to it I added Stickles, suggesting a wave on a shore. 

The image was stamped on watercolor card stock, and colored with Distress Ink re-inkers, and metallic watercolors. Sorry, the photo just does not captures the shimmer and shine!  I fussy cut the image, and kept it simple with a sentiment. 

I was truly inspired to make this a clean and simple card for the Paper Players. Other challenges include Just Us Girls, and NBUS because the stamp is brand new to me. SSS Wednesday Challenge calls for Fabulous Florals. 

I appreciate you spending time with me today! Hope it's been an encouragement to you. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Is it really simple?

 Hello and happy day to you! I began with a question - Is is really simple?

That's my reflection after making a simple clean card with a sketch for the Freshly Made Challenge. Love the sketch! Yes, filling that  small inner square with a focal point should have been simple. Not so for me as I tried many options and configurations. Too many! 

The Delicate Magnolia and Itty Bitty Branches dies from Altenew were featured as I brought this creative session to a close. I added stitched embossing to the base layer with the Allover Stitches folder from Penny Black. 

It's not my favorite card - but hey! It's just paper! There is certainly more for another day! See you soon. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Peonies for the Paper Players

 Hello and happy day to you! A beautiful new set of stamps designed by Dawn Woleslagle just had to join my collection of floral images recently. The Perfect Peonies stamps are from Honeybee Stamps. I love the timeless beauty of Dawn's illustrations, I am a huge fan. With some uncertainty about being able to do them justice, I began coloring with Copic markers. 

Most often I prefer using a damp brush and re-inkers, but I really enjoyed using the markers this time. I added a sentiment from Altenew, white gel pen accents and mini sequins. The image was on white card stock sponged with light pink ink.

I like the simplicity of this card - just stamps, paper, and ink!

I was happy to see that this fits the color challenge at The Paper Players, and I will also add it to the NBUS Challenge, and SSS Wednesday Challenge, Fabulous Florals. 

I know I'll enjoy using this set again. Keeping this short, hope you don't mind!

I hope you enjoyed your visit, thanks for coming by! See you soon. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Let's Play

 Hi there, hope you're doing well! Welcome back again to my blog. 

Playing is my theme for today. A few challenges inspired me to pull out some stamps to create just for the fun of it, breaking out the not-yet-used "Let's Play" stamps from Penny Black for today's card. 

This cutie and her pup were colored using Copic markers and combined with the sentiment from Altenew and the sketch from Freshly Made .

I'm also adding this to: 
NBUS Never Been Used Schtuff
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Four-legged Friends
Penny Black Saturday Challenge   On the Go
Just Us Girls  Word Week - PLAY

Thanks so much for spending time here today. I appreciate you! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Other supplies:
Penny Black - Let's Play Transparent stamps, Rounded EF
Altenew - Cascading Flowers stamps
Spellbinders Blush Card Stock

Christmas in July

 Hi, hope you're doing well. Today I have a card to share with you that is one we made at a paper crafters class that I taught for 20 ladies today. I really enjoyed being with some wonderful card makers!

I thought this card was perfect to share for the Just Us Girls Challenge. It's their Die Week and they suggest that we use a die that is Old and Forgotten. 

I chose this elegant bow die a few years ago from The Greetery. It's fragile loops had just the flourished look I wanted for the focal point. The card is a simple fold design, with a pop up gift card holder inside. The DSP is from a box store, I wish the photo enabled you to better see the foiled gold and red berries that are part of the design. 

We're almost ready for the big holiday weekend here. Just popping in for a quick post this time! Now that preparing for the class is finished, next week I will beat the heat and play/create with some new goodies. See you soon! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Enjoy SUMMER

Are you having warm summer days this July? I hope you're enjoying them! Do you have a favorite summer fruit? I love a really good, locally grown peach. We have the best peach orchards nearby! 

This card is all about delicious fruits. Have a look! 

Our new challenge at Tic Tac Toe goes live today, and I couldn't wait to go with the Fruit option. I had in mind the Fruit and Summer Colors from top row across, but as I got caught up in making the card, I lost forgot about the patterned paper! Glad there are 9 options per board, as I then went with the diagonal: Layers, Die Cut, and Summer Colors.  

I used a medium green card front, with a diagonally striped embossed white panel layered on top. The fruit stamps are from Pinkfresh Studio Fruitalicious. I wanted bright shades so used my Zig markers to color them, and then fussy cut them. 

The sentiment is stamped and die cut from Simon Says Stamp Happy Days set. Keeping embellishments simple, I chose a few clear sequins, and used a coat of Glossy Accents on the cherries. Cherries are another of my fruity favorites!

Please enjoy pleasant days, wherever you are, and be sure to play along with the challenge! We love seeing your creations. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Adding this to the challenge:

Double D Potpourri

NBUS - I'm using this Fruitalicious stamp for the first time. Be sure to check out this month's special challenge with prizes!

Kindness in Bloom Birthday

 Hello, friends! I'm back with my last card for this week. Our weather has been super hot and in my craft room I'm keeping cool, busy, and contented. 

I decided to play along with Freshly Made Sketches, and pulled out the new-to-me Kindness in Bloom stamps and dies from Pinkfresh Studio. I love the wonky look of these flowers and appreciate the stripes on the leaves. Coloring with Zig markers, I followed the example on the stamps packaging and used bold strokes with white spaces on the flowers. 

I loved discovering (or being reminded?) that PFS dies cut out all the images at once, making this so easy! I used a border die to cut the accents for the line across the sketch. 

I appreciate you taking the time to come and visit with me. Hope you have a great weekend. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

I'm entering this to these challenges: 
NBUS - new stamps and dies
Freshly Made Sketches 
A Cut Above 

Other Supplies: Hexagon Die is from WPlus9; Border Dies are from Penny Black; The Happy Birthday stamp and die are from Simon Says Stamp.

A Little Artsy Birthday

 Happy to greet you on a new day, with a new card. 

Playing with only two colors, especially when one is a neutral is hard for me, but I took the challenge and created today's card with yellow and black. It's a little artsy.

Yes, that is the name of the stamp set from SSS. I chose the bold daisy and created a bright yellow background. I added stamped images in yellow for tone on tone distressing and a few images in black to the panel. I stamped and cut out the daisy and the sentiment, and decided to add sparkle embossing paste on the flower for shine. I'm delighted to enter this at the Color Hues Challenge. 

Hope you don't mind a shorter post, time to get moving! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Stencils, Clouds, and Sunshine!

 It always takes me some trial and error and rummaging through my stash to come up with an idea to make new supplies my own. That's what happened today when I went to try out the stencils included in Kristina Werner's Weather Together Bundle. It has been on my desk for a couple of weeks now. 

Wanting a card for general encouragement, I searched for the sentiment first. Among my Penny Black stamps, I came upon just what I wanted in the Love Big stamps. I wanted my sky to suggest a sunrise. 

I used Distress Oxide inks to color the scene, using only 2 of the cloud stencils, and inking lightly. Another sentiment carries the sunshine theme to the card inside. 

I have to be honest and say that I had doubts about the usefulness of the Weathered Together stamp set at first. I'm happy that I now have a few ideas and a few more sentiments lined up to be able to create with it. I got help also from The Paper Players Challenge this week! 

I may have to get going on anther entry! Also entering the Stencil Fun Challenge.  and the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by to visit. FInishing this card and getting it posted has given me a nice sense of being productive this morning. Have a great day! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Other challenges include:
Word Art Wednesday
Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog 
Shopping Our Stash Weekly Challenge Blog - Summer
The Four Seasons - Summer 
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes (Penny Black stamps)

 

Rain and Sunshine... I've got you covered

 Hello friends! June is always a busy month for us, and this year it's been crazy! Stamping sat on the back burner, and that's OK. Honestly, I didn't miss it! 

But I needed to clear off my desk, so I've got a simple card to share today. I made it using more supplies from the recent OCC card class. The gray panel with foiled-in-blue raindrops has been waiting to come out to play! 

I made it using the stencil and Deco paste. I gave away my foil machine supplies, but the paste is easy to store if I just want to foil once in a while. Using a stencil to foil was a fun idea, especially for raindrops. 

The dies were easy to use. Hope you like my clean and simple card today. Inside it says, "Sending Sunshine" and has a sun and clouds die cuts. I can't include a photo of the inside because I've already written the long note to the recipient. I'm happy that it's ready to mail. 

Hope that you're having a great day! Glad you could visit, I won't take so long next time to post. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: Weather Together Bundle 
Playing at:
Time Out Challenges - water and sun 

What I love....

 It's Monday, time for a quick post. Hello friends!

I used to regularly post a series called "What I love..." on my blog. It's still a category listed in the sidebar if you want to see some oldie versions. But today 's post is all about currently what I love and here's the card! 

Below I've listed "What I love..." from yesterday's crafty time:

• PLAYING!  Just playing around. Specifically playing with new stamping goodies. I didn't begin with the intention of completing a card. 
• Bright colors, pink! 
• Sunshine
• New techniques 
• polka dots and stripes.
• a bit of sparkle

My playing involved stenciling the rainbow with Altenew inks in light and bright pink, yellow and orange. I learned the technique of stamping over stencils from the latest Online Card Class called Brighter Days. I love these classes too! I've you've never taken one, or it's been awhile, I highly recommend them for the value and inspiration.

Entering this to **NBUS #87** Never Been Used Stuff and
Stencil Fun Challenge ATG
Supplies are listed below. 

Thanks so much for coming by!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: 

Hammermill white card stock

Altenew inks: Blush Rose, Pinkalicious, Fresh Lemon, Orange Cream

**Kristina Werner for Concord & 9th: Rainbow Rays Stencil Pack, Weather Together Stamps and Dies**

Hello, my friend

 Hi everyone! I'm in a mixed media mood and sharing another card with the Artsy Butterfly stamps, stencils and papers I got recently. It seems once I have supplies of a kit type out on my desk I'm really enjoying using them to make several cards at once. So, brace yourself! More butterflies and distressing to come. 

I got a bit carried away with this one! 

Beginning with white card stock, I inked over the stencil with pale aqua and yellow inks. Further distressed elements were added to this panel: torn paper in two corners, and some elements stamped in black. I die cut two tags, one from white, and the other from one of the papers; I added some small floral vines and a bit of yellow spongeing. 

The butterfly was also stamped on white card stock, then was colored with inks and the coordinating stencil. I added white splatters. White Splatter Medium is becoming my fav new product because it's easy to use and gives very good coverage. 

Oh, and did I mention the sequins? 

This is so NOT my normal card but I sure had fun making it! Thanks so much for coming by. 

I'm sharing this with Just Us Girls Die Week - Butterflies.  They have a beautiful line up of butterfly cards over there!