Enjoy the Little Things

 Hello! Well, you know what they say. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. My version is fitting for those enduring this heat wave. If it stays HOT grab a lemonade and head to the stamp room to stay cool!

That's what I did this afternoon, and it was the perfect time to use some new supplies. 

I've had these pretty Lovely Layers: Dogwood dies from Honey Bee in the new-things-container since spring so I gave them a try for today's card. The layers and etching on the dies add lovely texture and details. I had trouble getting a good photo though. The papers from Concord & 9th are very pretty IRL but it was hard to capture these hues.

 I paired the flowers with the Immense Joy die and sentiment from Penny Black. I'll be entering the challenge at NBUS with dear Darnelle - who encourages us to share our never-been-used-stuff. And at the Flower Challenge, where they request CAS cards. Their DT samples are fabulous! 

I appreciate your visit to my blog today! Hope you've found a way to keep cool!

 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Poinsettia Builder for The Paper Players

 Welcome to my blog on this first day of a new week. Time for a new challenge at The Paper Players, and a first Christmas card for my stash for this year. It's a bit to early for me to be starting Christmas cards but you know with lovely and talented Ann's Sketch for TPP# 614 I had to go with what works and add a bit of elegance. 

Pulling out my Poinsettia Builder set (WPlus9) I found quite a few elements already stamped and ready to go, plus a few greenery pieces from Bells & Boughs. These are stamps for layering and the results are beautiful! 

If you haven't seen these before, check them out!* Here's my card. 

I used sponge daubers to add ink to the images before stamping and die cutting. I can't quite remember the inks I used but I suspect they're Distress Oxides as they blend so well. 

I arranged the bouquet on a die cut circle and assembled the card using Paper Rose's 6 x 6 Cosy Rosy papers. It needed a bit of sparkle so I added snowy glitter (hard to see), gold thread and a few sequins. The sentiments are from the Poinsettia Bouquet stamps. 

Please have a look at the wonderful samples our DT has for you this week and play along! Thanks for your visit today, it means so much that you come and have a look around. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

*Want to see more of my cards with this set? Find them   HERE and HERE. 

Thank You Friend

Hello! I love ending out the week with just a bit of stamping time and a card to share. 

I love flowers, and you can never have too many flower stamps, right?  The whimsical large images in the Simple Blossoms Stamp set  from Pinkfresh Studio were on sale for Labor Day and came to my house to play!

I inked them up using the layout provided at Freshly Made for a quick Thank You card. 

I added a large sentiment and black nuvo drops for the flower centers. 

Here's the sketch and I will enter this at NBUS too. 

We have plans this Saturday night! Will be joining friends who live lakeside and roasting hot dogs around their fire pit. That kind of fun really gets me in the mood for fall! Hope you have a great weekend, thanks for visiting.

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

             Make something beautiful! 

Supplies used: 

Stamps: Sentiment is The Greetery - Written In Ribbons plus dies
DSP is SU retired.

Accessories - The Greetery - Crimped Edges Die

 

Budding Beauties Cherry Blossoms

Our flowers and trees are blooming so beautifully right now! Our redbuds and azaleas, and beautiful dogwoods have been so pretty this week.  

I went to clean up yesterday's supplies after posting THIS card and decided to make one more card with this fun stuff before putting it away! 

The Halfsies Diamond die always makes a clean and elegant card, enabling the focal point to shine. I kept that very simple, inking up one cherry blossom branch image, die cutting it and adding an olive green thread bow. 

Another special die cut, *new* to me, is the Brick Layer Die. I placed the die on the card front itself.  The Halfsies panels were inked with Distress Oxides and placed over the card front. Adding an inked panel inside the top of the card adds depth and hides any writing on the inside of the card. Hope that makes sense. 

I wanted the look of warm stucco for the card front, so I let my inking be a bit mottled. I really liked how that turned out, but it was difficult to photograph!

This is my second card made for the Freshly Made Sketches this week. This take on the sketch is much more CAS. 

Thank you so much for your visit and kind words. Take care and I pray that you will stay well.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: The Greetery - Budding Beauties Spring Stamps, Sentiment Suite: Birthday Stamps and dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Pear Pizzazz

INK: Versamark, Altenew - Warm Mocha, Rouge, Crimson, Frayed Leaf: Distress Oxides - Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Aged Mahogany

Accessories: Altenew - Rose Gold Embossing Powder, The Greetery Dies: Halfsies, Brick Layer

The Greetery - Just Mason Around

Hello! Here I am back again with another post using my new supplies from The Greetery store. Nothing like very hot weather and new schtuff to keep me busy stamping, lol!
I played with the Mason jar from the Just Mason Around stamp set, stamping each of the three layering stamps in different color combinations and types of ink.

 I LOVE the way this jar image comes out any way you try it! So easy to layer, and with highlights and shading built in that make the jar appear almost three dimensional. 

Creating the rest of the card involved stamping the Summer Sketches florals with Warm Wool ink (WPlus9) and watercoloring the images with Zig Clean Color markers in a loosely flowing style.

 I assembled the card using gingham patterned paper, and elements of black for contrast. This set has a good variety of sentiments. With all the possibilities for filling the Mason jar, I'm sure I'll be using this set often!

I'm playing with the Inspired By Challenge, picking up on the barbecue party theme or in this case, a country kind of picnic. 

I hope good things are coming your way today! Thanks for coming by. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

The Greetery - Summer Sketches

Hey friends! What's up with this - I'm posting again! You can picture me playing with the new stamps from The Greetery every chance I get. 

Today's card features the Summer Sketches and Comforting Commands sets stamped with WPlus9 inks. I love the fresh clean colors of these inks, especially the pinks for layering! Old Gold was used to stamp the sentiment and is my new favorite neutral. 

I created a blended background in the top right portion of my panel using Distress Oxide inks in Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick. Adding spatters of Old Gold was the finishing touch.

That's all for me today. I do have other things I love to do in summer, and they are calling me! Have a great weekend. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

The Greetery - He Cares for You

Hi there! 

How are things going for you? We've had some delightful summer days. I've had snippets of time in the craft room to pull out my stamps from The Greetery. 

I've long been a fan of Bestsy Veldman's stamps and now that she has her own store, I'm inspired!  If you'd love to see her new offerings, check her out HERE. 

When I first got my new stamp sets, I die cut a bunch and stamped them in different colors. This bouquet was just laying around on my desktop.I stamped the sentiment with Oxide inks in layers of color, then with a paintbrush I softened them with a dab of water to give the look of watercolor.

I was inspired by THIS card from Kay where she used a paintbrush and water added to Distress Oxides to paint a background. I just had to try this! 

 I LOVE using the Scriptural quotes to encourage on my cards. Thanks so much for visiting my blog today. I hope you've been cheered and inspired. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: The Greetery - Summer Sketches, Fleur Impressions, Comforting Commands and dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, PTI - Lavender Moon

INK: Distress Oxides - Tumbled Glass, Broken China.   WPlus9 - Wild Mango, Miami Spice, Old Gold, Limelight, Little Piggy, V.I.Pink, Cockleshell, Bloomberry

Accessories: sequins

Simply Striped

A rainy weekend meant I had time in my craft room to stamp and sunshine was on my mind! I chose bold colors, simple stripes and softly watercolored images for my clean and simple card. I combined a few sets to make this, and was so happy to find the envelope from the Somebunny Love set was just the right size to pair with the cute bird. 

It was a delight to make using the rectangle stitched frames layered on the card base. I love it when a card turns out quickly, don't you? 
I'm playing with these challenges.

Thanks so much for your visit, have a great day! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: PTI Sending You, WPlus9 - Hello and Thanks, SSS - Somebunny Love (2 years old)

Paper: Neenah Solar White, PTI Bitty Big, Ranger Distress Watercolor paper

INK: WPlus9 - Warm Wool 

Accessories: Zig markers used for watercoloring, PTI - Pierced Feature Frames.

Amazing Birthday

Hi there!

We had a special birthday celebration yesterday and I had fun making this card for our daughter. I also made  a Brownie Ganache cake but I have to tell you - it's gone! The pretty bouquet on this card will last longer, that's for sure! 

The set, from SSS is called Mandy's flowers. I just love the images! I did some loose coloring with Peerless watercolors, fussy cutting the blooms. 

The sentiment on the front is PTI's Penned Elegance set. 

Here's a peek at the inside of the card.  I am still loving my sunny yellow! 

I am keeping this short so that I can get on with my day. Because of the holiday yesterday, today feels like a Monday, but it's not! So I am already a day behind. 

Hope you are having a great day!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Pretty Petunias

Hi there! Hope you're having a great Wednesday.
This is the day my post focuses on what I love and flowers are at the top of the list today. Especially these pretty petunias from the WPlus9 Modern Petunias stamps and dies. 
Love the flowers, love coloring, love pink and pops of gold. Here's my card for you!

The flowers and sentiment were stamped with black ink. 
I colored the flowers using Copics, not the medium I'm most proficient with but it was good practice. I used white and black layers to frame the flowers, and added gold embossing to the edges. Of course I had to use a few gold sequins too! 

It's been so hot everywhere today. I went grocery shopping early to beat the heat. Staying inside this afternoon made for fun crafting. Hope you are staying cool where you are! 

Thanks so much for your visit today!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Wplus9 - Modern Petunias and dies, Fresh Cut Florals; PTI - Stitch In Time Stamp set

Paper: Neenah Solar White, SU - Basic Black

INK:Simon Says Stamp - Intense Black, versa mark 

Accessories:  PTI - Stitch in Time Dies, Gold embossing powder, Copic markers

Papertrey Tuesday: Seasonal Borders - Summer

Hello,  it's Tuesday! 
That means I'm featuring products from Papertrey Ink. I use supplies from a few stamp companies, but I love the PTI Make It Monday Challenge and it usually works out well for me to create my Monday project and share it on Tuesday with you.  

At the moment, I'm totally captivated with hibiscus flowers,  tropical elements and bright colors! For today's card, I totally skipped the challenge and did my own thing, stamping the Seasonal Borders: Summer stamp set to create a floral border in an array of colors. Supplies will be listed below. I used the stitching portion of the Shape Shifters Circle 1 dies to enhance the focal point area. 

I'm so happy that you've stopped by my blog today. Another thing I love about Papertrey is the wonderful sense of community that's fostered by the company and carried out by so many of you! Thanks for all the comments and love.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: PTI - Penned Elegance, Seasonal Borders: Summer and matching dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Hawaiian Shores Bitty Big Patterned paper; Wplus9 - Dove Grey card stock

INK: PTI - Tropical Teal, Hawaiian Shores, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, New Leaf, Harvest Gold

Accessories: Shape Shifter's Circle 1 dies, sequins

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Papertrey Tuesday - Transformation

I am so happy that it's a new week. June is my very favorite month of the year! The weather outside is so delightful but I still found a bit of time to stamp. 

I decided to take part in the Transformation Tuesday challenge, and it ends soon so I'm posting early.

This is the card I made for the May Blog Hop. I liked it alot but I did wonder how it would look with more of a springy green. 

Here's the remake using Limeade Ice card stock. The colors of the flowers are exactly the same.

I slightly changed the placement of the elements and kept the sentiment clean and uncluttered. This shade of green didn't photograph well, it's paler IRL. 

By experimenting, we learn. I learned that I like the clean lines of the second card, but still like the first one best.

Have a great day! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

What I love: Springtime Blooms and more polka dots!

Hi stamping friends! 

It's Wednesday when I get to share something I love. I'll love watching the cliff hanger tonight on TV's Designated Survivor! Just thought you'd like to know. 

What else do I love?  I just can't get enough of pretty spring blooms and cute polka dots! Put them together in a comfy looking pair of boots and it just gets better.

I shared another image with polka dotted boots and flower awhile back. CLICK. 

Today's card uses another fun set from SSS called Choose Joy. 

I stamped the images, colored them with Zig markers, and added details with a white gel pen. Then I cut them out with scissors. 

I playfully arranged them along the sentiment strip, popping up the boots and flowers on foam dots.  I adhered gingham DSP to a card base, and placed the panel in the top left of the card. Of course a few sequins were needed to add sparkle. 

This card just makes me smile! Hope it brings you a smile today too. Thanks for visiting my blog! See you tomorrow.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!