Hey There Panda!

 Hello how are things going for you?

I had a lovely bit of craft time this morning. It felt so good to play around with older supplies as I was challenged to create using Ann's theme at the Paper Players of Nature's Landscape. Forest, mountains, lake, desert or sea?

How about a bamboo forest?

This cuddly panda is an oldie but goodie that seemed just right. One of my grands will probably enjoy this card sometime. I hope you enjoy it too!  

I appreciate your visit so much. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Yeah, I know it's only Thursday, but hey! I'm retired and tomorrow has some fun things planned so I have weekend mentality. Every day. Take care!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Joining  The Paper Players and Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Patterned Paper. 

Supplies: Altenew - Roaming Pandas stamps and dies, Bamboo Branches EF and stencils

Distress inks. 

Postal Dies are from The Greetery

 

Let's Connect for Freshly Made

 Hi everyone! There's nothing like a rainy day and a sketch to get me into the craft room to play. Add new stamps, and you know I'm set to go! Digging out the Copics for some coloring got me into a happy mood. These friends are in their happy place. 

Cute critters and LEGOS? What's not to love? The Let's Connect stamps and dies (SSS) feature both and some very punny sentiments. For my first card with these stamps, I found the great sketch at Freshly Made was a good fit. 

I liked the way the strip in the sketch was easy to use for the sentiment. I crossed out the "I" and used a pen to letter "Me"  on a heart as we are a Mimi and a Papa giving this card!. The only other embellishments are two die cut hearts with clear lacquer glaze added for shine. Papers are from Honeybee - Confetti Birthday.

Adding this to NBUS where Darnell has begun the new month with May's challenge Number 86!

There's been some sports playing (on TV) at our house today. The Kentucky Derby and now Hockey. Time for me to be a fan! Or a couch potato. 

Wishing you a great day. I look forward to another visit with you soon. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Butterflies in Blues

 Welcome to my blog today! I'm back with the second sympathy card that I've needed this month. I've used my latest favorite, the Butterfly Escapade Embossing Folder and Cutting Die. 

I've loved using this folder to provide beautiful texture and having the die is a great option for cutting one or two of the largest butterflies to use as a focal point. Using a pale blue card stock, I added the embossing and then used the coordinating stencil to add colors in blues and green. This is so easy!

I die cut the butterfly from this panel and then placed it over a white card base, curling the butterfly wings to let a bit of the white show through. Although there is a die to use for the butterfly's body, I accented it instead with pearls. 

The prayers is made up of three die cut layers, and the sentiment is stamped in blue. It's a rainy day and the photos don't begin to show how pretty the real life details are. I love this card so much and thoroughly enjoyed making it. This will be a go-to next time I need a sympathy card. I'm thinking of how to decorate the envelope and the inside; but wanted to get this posted today.  It's going out in the mail soon! 

Hope you have a wonderful day! Thanks so much for your visit, it always brings a smile and brightens my day! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Other supplies:

More with the Butterfly Escapade HERE
Altenew inks - Deep Blue Seas and Green Meadows
SSS and Hero Arts - Prayers Die and Clear Set . This is an oldie but a big favorite of mine.

Challenges:
SSS Wednesday Challenge  Make It Feminine
Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes
Triple B  Birds, Butterflies and Blooms
The Neglected Stuff Challenge 
Can You Handle the Pressure?

Big Hugs

 I had a happy bit of crafting time and was inspired by two challenges for today's card. 

I love it when a challenge sends me looking through my supplies to pull out something and use it/combine it in a way that's unique and refreshing!

The Paper Players challenge asks for the colors of the rainbow. I found rainbow striped paper for the border, and rainbow colored circles for a small frame. With masking, I created soft clouds. 
Simon Says Stamps - Make It Cute  (oops, missed this one!)

What's funny about me and rainbow cards? I don't usually make them. I do love the rainbow colors, and had to smile as I typed just now when I looked at the blog header I designed with a border of rainbow colors. 

I will list the supplies below, send you a big hug of thanks, and be on my way. Have a great day!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies:
DSP from Waffle Flower and Penny Black 

Stamps and Dies - SSS Tweet Friend 
Copic Markers, Scalloped Rectangle Frame dies 

A Bit of Fluff

 
A new stamp came out to play today and it's a cute bunny saying hello to spring! 

I made the background last month just playing around with a few stencils for a session. Using the Puffy Squares (Waffle Flower) I did two background panels in tone on tone colors of blue and yellow. Adding a dainty border and a tag today fits this right in with the challenge at Freshly Made. 

The new-to-me Spring Bunny Stamp Set (Concord & 9th) provided the focal point. I added a bit of bling for his bit of fluff tail. Sharing this also at the NBUS gallery. 

A clean and simple card. It's much brighter IRL. 

That's all for today! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

You Make Christmas Special

 Hi there blog friends! I was delighted to see the sketch from Linda at Freshly Made Sketches and I just had to play along with one of my favorite stamp sets from MFT. Sadly, they have closed their business but I have these lovely Christmas critters lined up to greet you today. 

My Copic skills are a bit rusty but I pulled them out to color. Discovering that the fox had been colored -quite a bit of time ago- made that task easier. 

The sketch focused on 3 shapes or items but I couldn't resist adding the cute bird into the picture. 

Thanks for visiting today, I really appreciate you spending time to do that with me. Hugs!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Another joined at:
Christmas Kickstart 

A Sketch for the Paper Players

Hello friends! I'm back with a quick post today. I wanted to watercolor so I pulled out the images from this older set called "Just Breathe" from WPlus9. I love the image of the bird perched on the pretty peony that you see as my focal point. For this card, I created a background panel by randomly stamping only the flowers and leaves onto watercolor paper.

I stamped with Memento Toffee Crunch ink, and used Distress ink re-inkers to watercolor. I left this as a work in progress for a day or two. Then, inspired to join The Paper Players Sketch Challenge, I cut my panel in half and layered the focal image on the All-in-One Hexagon Die (Penny Black.)   

 Here's the sketch I followed. I really like the way cutting the panel worked out.

That's it for me today! Hope your day is going well. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful! 

Simple Joy

Hello, happy National Dog Day!  I didn't have a clue about that when I made this card featuring a super cute canine and a sentiment that I really like! Over the weekend I brought out a mixed bag of supplies and just played for fun. 

Rummaging through my background stamps I found one from Tim Holtz that is all sentiments, many are out of the ordinary. It's called Tiny Texts and I thought this one was perfect for this image. Ignoring the cake or card that looks birthday-ish, I love that this pooch has prepared a perfect cup of tea and has flowers and fixings to enjoy his day. 

Sipping my cup of tea is an ordinary joy that I savor every morning with thanks for a new day. I love the smile on this little guy. Wish I was so cute! (early in the morning...) The pup image is fussy cut from the Good Times set (Penny Black).

Paper scraps, enamel drops, and simple coloring with Zig markers. 

Makes me happy today. What is your ordinary joy? Thank you for stopping by! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Challenges: 
Little Red Wagon - Circle of Life
Penny Black Saturday Challenge -  ATG, Embossing (the black circle is dry embossed but the photo doesn't show it. )
Neglected Stuff Challenge - I haven't used my ZIGs to color for a long time!
Krafty Chicks - Clean and Simple

Tweet-est Friend!

 A new day and a new month and I am GLAD! Hopefully our high heat and stormy afternoons will give way to more pleasant weather soon.  In the meantime, while I had all the Tweet Friend supplies out, I gave it another go. Hope you enjoy my shaker card. You know I love them! 

I love the versatility of the sentiments and being able to die cut them and mix the smaller phrases in is a plus. I think the mailbox will be what I grab for often, but the flowers are pretty in their own right and the bird bath is great for any season. 

Copics were used for coloring and the stencil (Gina K Cropped Circles) was sponged over with Ranger inks on two corners. I'm happy these two feathered friends are having a bit of fun in the sun! 

No challenges today, just a quick share! Thanks for coming by!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Bunny Birthday

I for one don't think bunnies just come out for Easter, so I hope you don't mind me popping in with a bright one for today's card.  It seems that I've had bunnies on my back porch along with the birds that are busy at the feeders. My talented blog friend Leslie has been inspiring with her bunny posts this month and I ordered a fun new die she used so that I could make my own. 

It has some fiddly pieces to get the folksy inlays, but I think it turned out cute! Someone special had a birthday wish for a bunny, so this card is for her! I think the real animal will arrive soon, I can't wait to see it! 

I hope that you've enjoyed this quick post. I've listed some supplies for you below, and entered the Wednesday Challenge Bright & Cheerful at Simon Says Stamp. Have a great day! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: 
Die:  Cottage Cutz - Folk Art Rabbit
Sentiment die: Whimsy Stamps
DSP - Stampin' Up!, Scrapbook.com - SHERBET smooth card stock
White Nuvo drops for the bunny tail 

Birthday Wishes

 Another card today ready for my birthday card stash.  I pulled out die sets for this bird and spring blooms from W+9 that I've had for over 2 years but had never used yet! 

I really like the details on the bird die. It will be fun to change the colors of the layers.

The scallops and stitching on the oval die (from Penny Black) and a few pearls are the only embellishments. 

Thanks so much for your visit today! 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

I'm adding this to the following: 

NBUS #72 never-been-used-schtuff is my frequent fav challenge!
Seize the Birthday - anything that flies

Addicted to Stamps & More - Birthday
Krafty Chicks Challenge - Clean and Simple

Have a Nice One!

I felt like making a simple card to add to my birthday stash, I'm happy to share it with you.

This happy guy hauling a load of presents is from Penny Black stamps, called Nice One! I was pleased to find this panel with the image stamped and colored just waiting to be made into a card. The challenge at The Paper Players asks for a clean and simple card using only ONE stamped image. This one fits the parameters and I'm glad to be motivated to addd a bit of DSP and a couple of sentiments to finish it. Sending the same greeting to you - hoping today is a nice one for you! Thanks for your visit. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

I'm entering this at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge also. 

I did a little bit of stamping.....

 Hi Friends! While waiting for the big game on Sunday and staying inside for a couple days of rain, I did a little bit of stamping. Nothing big to share, but here I am again. 

I made three cards that are a CASE of Jill's cards using Sketch #1 Just Frame It. I've been so loving her sketches, especially those shared in January and I wanted to try her system of doing three cards using her batch method. Die cut all three cards first, then stamp and color, lastly add sentiments then assemble. A few more Valentine's are on their way! 

Have a look. 

I learned something. 1. This sweet sketch involves an image in a frame. In this instance, using the frame I had on hand wasn't the best option as it covered up much of the embossed detail. 2. While making three cards at once worked well, I didn't love them  I think using the Penny Black frame (HERE) is much better proportioned and the best choice for this sketch.  3. Ordering is easy! New PB frame dies are on the way to me. I hope you won't mind seeing me use this sketch again, lol!

Thanks for stopping by today!

I'm adding this to A Cut Above (using dies),  Double D challenge, asking for hearts and Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

On Your Birthday for Color Hues #91

 It's time for new hues at The Color Hues #91 Challenge.  Our dear Stef has chosen Pink and Brown for this fortnight. Let us see what these colors inspire you to create! 

I'm using some never-been-used Penny Black products to create a birthday card in warm shades of pink and brown. 

Starting with the LOVE Immense Die, I cut two layers out of water color card stock and brushed color on the top layer with Distress ink re-inkers. I colored the bear the same way, the image and the sentiments are from PB Have A Nice One transparent stamp set. After dry embossing white card stock with the Dashed Design EF, I sponged Tea Dye and Vintage Photo DOX inks to add color. The flower is from the Petals metal dies. I felt it needed just a bit more, so I added shimmer to the flower with spray.

I enjoyed keeping the pieces of this card on my desk, and doing just a bit of work on it over several days. That's a fun way for me to play! 

I hope you enjoyed the post, please have a look at the fab samples from my team! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

I'm entering the NBUS Challenge today. 

Cuteness advisory! Penny Black

 Hello crafty friends, it's been a hot minute since I've posted. The busy-ness of June is now behind me, and it was a wonderful wonderful time! Now that we're back and settled into more of a routine we've been hit with the heat advisory. I'm really happy to have had ample  time while I stay cool inside to play at stamping. 

That has included watching these terrific videos from Jill Foster for her new card class series, Permission to Play. This time her videos suggest sketches to make simple cards and they are filled with ideas and the sweetest cards! I highly recommend checking them out!

I'm showing you three cards from the day one sketch. 

For each card, I stamped images on watercolor paper, and colored with Distress re-inkers. 

The next card is my favorite, I just love the Cuteness stamps! 

Lastly, these mice got a bit carried away....

Jill says so often not to compare your cards with others, and that's its OK to make simple cards, or to reuse your fav sketches. I need that reminder.  I've had so much fun doing just that. I hope you enjoyed seeing them! Thanks for taking the time to come by! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supply lists: 
Make a Wish - Time to Celebrate 30 - 414; Critter Party 30 - 013

Love and hugs- Cuteness; Delightful Day

Happy - Critter Party 30 - 013; Smiles and Sprinkles

Embossing Fun for a Sweet Birthday

 Hello every one! I hope that your long weekend was fabulous. We had lots of rain and no plans but to relax a bit. For me that meant catching up on some photo edits and blog posts. Popping in for a quick share today of a sweet card for another granddaughter birthday.

Did you know that Jennifer and Kristina gave a new card class recently on Embossing folders? It was informative, and so fun to pull those folders out to play. 

For this card, I used a 'diffuser' so that I could leave an area without embossing for my images. I've had it forever but never used it. The stamps are also new. These adorable bunnies are from Penny Black transparent set called "Cuteness."

After embossing the outer part of the panel, I stamped the focal point  in the off-center circle and colored with Copics very simply. Then, I used masking to ink the embossed part, using light blended strokes. I was going for a pastel look but got a bit too heavy handed in the top left corner. I know my sweetie will not mind. She's two! 

I loved using this technique and will try it again soon as it makes it easy to dress up a one layer card. 

Thanks for visiting, have a great day!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: PB Carefree wishes, Dashed Design EF, Distress Oxide inks

Playing in these challenges:

PBSC Penny Black Saturday Challenge 

NBUS 

Color Hues Challenge #86

 Here we go on this happy first day of May with a new challenge at Color Hues!  Our duo of Lilac and Lime comes from Julie, and we want you to play along with this sweet pairing. 

I have a sweet little grand with a birthday coming up, so I came up with a card for her. She loves pandas!

I found this set from Altenew (Roaming Pandas) that's been around awhile. I thought it would make great guy cards. Instead, I loved putting a girly twist on it for her, have a look!  

The Immense LOVE die from Penny Black makes a great spot for this big guy to sit. I rummaged through my stash to find a hat and also die cut a heart for the birthday theme. 

Please be sure to check the inspiration found at the challenge blog. We'd love to have you play along! Thanks for taking the time to visit me today. I always appreciate you stopping by. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Other supplies: card stock is from Concord & 9th, the EF and sentiment are from PB.