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

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!  

 Well, hello, I guess I am due for a new post! I'm glad that some challenges have been up and running again, I really do need the inspiration. 

I have some new things to make with and had fun coming up with today's card. 

I never know exactly why, but I could not resist this darling set from Gina K. Unless it's the **snow.** It's a theme lately. I'm on a roll here from my warm house in the sunny south. I don't ski but I sure love this happy guy heading down the slopes. The Furry Flurries is my new stamp set. 

In order to play with the design by Amy at Freshly Made Sketches I had to stamp the mirror image of the stamp. Her sketch goes downhill from right to left, but the skier when stamped normally goes downhill from left to right. Reverse stamping fixed it! This is why I love challenges so much. Had to go refresh my memory on how to do this! Jennifer (HERE) has a great tutorial. Would I have bothered if it were not for the challenge? Nope.

Happy to feature again the Snow Much Fun paper pad from Doodlebug. The sentiment strip is cut from one of the papers. 

For embellishments, there are a few die cut snowflakes, details added to the image with a Shimmer pen. The coloring was done with Copics and I fussy cut the image.

That's all for now! I love that you come to visit, hope your day is wonderful!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Entering this to : 

NBUS
Freshly Made Sketches
SSS Wednesday Challenge
Love Those Pretty Papers
The Four Seasons Challenge

Spread Joy for Penny Black

 Hi friends, good to see you. It's time to celebrate my Penny Black stamps again! I have so many Christmas images and sentiments from this company that it's a delight to be inspired to add one more card to the collection at Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  I've loved being a Guest Designer this month! 

A hard challenge involves choosing which stamps to use? My new snowman came out to play today. Or should I say snow - girl? 

She was kind enough to wear pink so I could try out a non-traditional color scheme that's been on my to-make list. I combined two shades of pink and aqua using my Copic markers and Concord & 9th card stock. 

The stamps I used are Frosty Feathers (new to me) and Feeling of Christmas. I thought these went together well, although I'm looking forward to using the Frosty Feathers sentiment in the future. It says something about it never being too early for Christmas music. I think this might be a fun sentiment for a spring-time card decked out in flowers, ha!

Today's card is decked out in a trio of snowflakes and Iridescent white cord. 

Please have a look at some of the wonderful creations at the Penny Black Saturday  Challenge Blog. Those who manage the blog and those talented friends who play work so very hard! A huge thank you. 

You should check out the fabulous fun and wonderful cards at Double D

.

Also, Darnelle has hosted another beautiful year at NBUS, giving our new supplies a home to show off in. NBUS=never-been-used-shtuff

I'm sending good wishes for you to have a wonderful few days as the year comes to an end. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

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!  

What I Love...

Hello friends, hope you are doing well in this new week! I've been keeping inside because of the heat and having a blast with my stamps and morning tea. 

The card I'm sharing would be perfect for the feature I used to have on my blog called "What I love Wednesday..." There is still a link to it in my sidebar. Here's today's love list: birds, sweet flowers, my two fave  card-making colors, and the cutest sentiment which has to do with something else that I love to do. SING!

It was made for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge (which I also love) with stamps and dies from their card kit which I've really been enjoying recently. They're asking for us to Focus on the Sentiment,  I had quite a few large word dies to choose from. The copic coloring of the images and keeping this design simple brought a smile to my face today. Hope it will make you smile too! 

Thanks for coming by again! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies:
Simon Says Stamp - Tweet friends stamps and dies
Penny Black - Immense YOU die; Allover Stitches embossing folder
Distress Oxide Inks sponged for the large sentiment
Neenah Solar White card stock

Songbirds Make my Heart Sing

 Hey there, friends! It's nearly the end of the week, and soon will be the end of the month, and I've been mostly MIA. I'm here today to fix that! 
I've pulled out a new-to-me stamp set, and was inspired to join a card challenge I've just discovered called Triple B: Birds, Blooms, and Butterflies! Use one or all three in your cards.
I spent a few tries with mediums to color the bird, but liked this one best using Copic markers and made it into a card. 

What I love about this Songbird stamp set (Concord & 9th) is that the bird on the tree branch is a separate stamp, and there are images to add to the branches for each season of the year. I used the flowers and buds for a spring scene. Deciding it needed some texture, I added the border of stitching, and a bit of color randomly dotted with a stencil. A few flat sequins and two butterfly die cuts complete the card. 
Thanks so much for joining me today and taking a peek at this creation! It's been nice sharing a bit of time together, let's do it again soon!  

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Card Supplies: Concord & 9th - Songbird Stamp Set. Lawnfawn - Just Stitching Double Rectangles. Tim Holtz - stencil. Sequins are from The Cat's Pajamas. Stampin' Up! - butterfly dies. 

NBUS Challenge #50 using a new stamp set

and Triple B Birds, Blooms & Butterflies has a lovely mood board. I used all three B's on my card. 

Thinking of Blues for Color Hues

Let's say goodbye to Green and Gold and enjoy some blues at the Color Hues Challenge!  For challenge #60 Marcia has chosen Blue and Turquoise for our hues and the DT samples are amazing! 

I never quite know what inspires my stamping or how the process makes twists and turns as I go along. For this card, I began with a gorgeous embossing folder and just fiddled with adding color!

The Spring Burst 3D folder (from Spellbinders) has deeply embossed florals with detailed leaves. I began by coloring the large floral spray after it was embossed, lightly with Copic markers.  I love how the big bloom turned out, but felt the other leaves and blue vine needed more contrast, which I added with colored pencils.

The sentiment (PTI) and black mat, and a few sequins are the finishing touches.  I will continue to experiment with ways to use this pretty folder, the deep texture is fabulous. 

I hope that you've been inspired today and will join us in playing along! 

Be yourself
          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Black White and Bright

Hello, welcome back to my blog! 

I was inspired to pull out black foil and the Glimmer Machine and had fun coloring one of my favorite florals.

The Pinkfresh Studio Bright Days Hot Foil Plate and dies were used, and although I have the coordinating stencils I didn't use them. I colored the blooms with Copic markers. The Woven foil plate created the black cross-hatch. I love how this looks in real life! Bold and shiny. 

Trimming vertically the right side of the card front a bit shorter than the back allows the pretty paper inside to show. Lastly, the sentiment from Neat & Tangled was embossed in white onto black card stock and popped on foam for dimension. 

This has turned out to be a fav of the cards I've created this year. Bright colors are my jam!

Just Us Girls challenged us with a Mood Board. I was inspired by the colors in the bottom left corner, the bold graphics and the HELLO. 

See you soon, wishing you the best!

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

This Little Piggy

 I love when a card challenge prompts me to have a look through my stash to find just the right stamp. That's what happened when I re-discovered this cutie on the oldie-but-goodie set, This Little Piggy (Sugar Pea Designs.)

I colored the piggy with Copics and layered 'her' with polka dotted paper and a layer of stenciled hearts. 

I've gotta think some one will love this Valentine!

I'm playing with: 

Inkspirational -  I was inspired by the colors in the Moodboard

and Just Us Girls Color Challenge Week

and SSS Wednesday Challenge,  Fun with Dies. I used Deckle Edge dies from Spellbinders to cut the card layers.

I really appreciate your visit! I hope you've been inspired and ...tickled pink!

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Sweet Valentine

 Hello crafty friends, I hope you are ready for a new week. Soon to be a new month. I squeezed in a bit of crafty-ness while watching football yesterday. When the score got close, I was only able to sit on the edge of my seat and hold on!

Coloring is easy to do while doing something else so I pulled out the stamps from Penny Black and went to town with my Copic markers. 

I kept this very simple as it's for the grands. Also for the sketch challenge at Freshly Made, which has been on my mind all week.  Squeaking it under the wire at the line up just in time! 

Hope you like it! It's quick and easy but sometimes that is just what is needed. I rounded the corners for a bit of playfulness. I feel sure this sketch will become a go-to!

Have a great day!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 
                   Make something beautiful!   

DSP is from Stampin Up!
Penny Black Stamps: My Sweet 

I'm adding this to Penny Black Saturday Challenge  and SSSWednesday and Inkspirational Challenge.

I was inspired by the yummy sweets!

I love Christmas!

 It's absolutely true that Christmas is my favorite time for making cards! Here's another one for you using Say It With Stamps I love Christmas set.  Actually I like this sweet image so much I colored it a few times and made two cards to share. 

I combined it with a cover-plate die also from Say It With Stamps! called A2 Knit. I took inspiration from the product package and used the plate as a background. Have a look! 

Using a favorite non-traditional color combo makes me happy! I placed aqua card stock behind the white piece. I love the look and texture this die gives! Dressing it up was easy with snowflakes, gems, and glitter along the snow. 

For the second card I used traditional red and green with a background of a night sky inked in blues and dotted with snowflakes using white acrylic paint. 

I used the sentiment included with the set and added an arched window and red mat. You know what's so special about the set? There are a few different options to place in the girls hands. Instead of candy canes she can hold gifts, a tree, a stocking or a steaming cup of hot cocoa. How fun is that! When coloring with Copic markers I gave her a nose, mouth and pink cheeks.

I'm playing with some challenges at: 

Hand Stamped Sentiments 

Krafty Chicks  

SSSWednesday Challenge   add some sparkle

I've really enjoyed sharing with you today and I appreciate the time you took to spend here. Much thanks. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Calming Cluster Florals for Freshly Made Sketches

 Hi there, I'm here to share a quick post with you today. Crafting time has been sparse the last couple of weeks, but I was able to make this card yesterday, just for fun! 

I have a pile of new stuff I just couldn't wait to explore and play with! The Calming Cluster Stamp set from Altenew was first on my list. It comes with a matching set of dies, an embossing folder and stencils which I look forward to using later. 

I chose to use a new technique of coloring to me. Using Copics, it's two tone coloring, which involves no blending. It's so easy to do and fits with the whimsical style of the florals. Spatters of white ink. I just couldn't resist their playful addition. 

I was inspired by the great sketch at Freshly Made. 

and I will be entering this at NBUS as well.  It's so wonderful to have these challenges as a way to keep us stamping and inspiring each other. I appreciate your visit today! You are such an encouragement to me. Wishing you a very happy Friday! 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Cards for Kids for The Paper Players #600

 Hello, and welcome! Isn't it amazing - SIX HUNDRED challenges at the Paper Players! This talented and delightful group of stampers has been creating cards to inspire us through 600 weeks! Not sure how many years it is exactly. It is a lot.

Today Ann has chosen our theme of Kards for Kids for our CAS challenge. 

I stamped this sweet girl from the Hello Bluebird stamp set onto watercolor card stock, colored her with Copics and then created a mask to place over her. 

 Stamping the sand in Wild Honey Distress Oxide inks gave a hint of a scene. I brushed watercolor in swaths for the sky and completed the card with a sentiment.

Loving all that white space! I sure hope you'll join us in this fun challenge. I can't wait to see what you make! Have a wonderful week! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies used: 
Stamps: Hello Bluebird - Seaside Girls stamps; Inkblot - Get Grounded, SSS - Uplifting Thoughts

The Paper Players #589 Hello Bluebird Garden Party!

Hello friends!  Maybe you are old enough to remember circling a flagpole for May Day celebrations on May 1? Well, I'm not quite that old - but I think outside parties and flowers are a lovely remembrance. I still can't believe it is MAY already! It's also Sunday so that means time for a new Paper Players challenge! Our theme provided by dear Jaydee is - birds and/or bees, take your pick! Or use both as I did. 

I'm again featuring a Slim line card that measures 3-1/2" x 8-1/2". I had so much fun creating this garden party celebration! The images were colored with Copics with accents from a white gel pen added then die cut. The backgrounds were ink blended with DOX inks. 

Here's a close up so you can catch a look at those bees! I will list supples below for those who like details. 

Be sure to check the lovely inspiration provided by the Design Team and join us, won't you? 

Stay tuned for my second post today to follow soon. Have a great time with your weekend crafting! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: Stamps - Hello Bluebird Garden Party and coordinating dies, Sentiment from Park Play
Distress Oxide Inks (Cracked Pistachio and Broken China 
Dies: I used the Mama Elephant Slim Film City dies for the outer scalloped mat and the long postage stamp bordered edge. The SU stitched square die created the windows. 
Paper: SU Soft Sky
Other: Wink of stella for bees wings, white gel pen, Copics