Floral Festivites

Hello there, how are my crafty friends on this chilly Monday? Monday is my catch up day and it's been a good day so far. Over the weekend I got some time to watercolor and I made my very first Christmas card for the year! 

I've invested in some Penny Black supplies that I can pull out and do a little watercoloring or dabbling with the card parts in spare moments. My first completion used the Floral Festivities stamp, inked on watercolor paper and colored in with Distress Ink re-inkers. My colors for pink and red ( Worn Lipstick and Fired Brick) came on a bit too strong, but I went with it anyway, fussy cutting the image. I used the circle dies to cut Concrd & 9th Grapefruit card stock, and a white circle that had been embossed with the PB folder called Variegated and colored with Distress ink to match the focal point. 

I'm just in time to enter this to play in these challenges:
NBUS as the stamps and EF are new
Penny Black Saturday Challenge and Freshly Made Sketches. 

Also: The Holly and the Ivy Christmas Challenge  this one is new to me, first time linking!) and Peace on Earth Christmas. 

Thanks so much for your visit today! I appreciate every one. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 
               Make something beautiful!  

Autumn Blessings for Freshly Made Sketches

 Hello. thanks for joining me at my blog. Today I'm excited to be guest designing at one of my favorite card challenges. Thank you to the team at Freshly Made Sketches for inviting me!

I have a fall card for you today. Have you been jumping in to all the best fall things now that it is official? I couldn't resist pulling out some of my fav stamps from the Autumn Blessings set by WPlus9 designs. 

I went for a soft look today by using Cold Press watercolor paper and stamping in a soft brown ink. Using Distress Inks and re-inkers, I watercolored the sunflower wreath, adding Glossy Accents to the berries. Sponged the banner with pale ink to match the flowers. 

The stamps and dies form a gorgeous wreath. I did take the liberty of cutting that up and arranging the florals to fit the sketch. FIrst thinking of using a basket under the banner, I decided it just needed a twine bow. 

I hope that you will enjoy seeing the samples from the terrific DT and take a crafty break so that you can play along! See you next time. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Sending Smiles for Freshly Made Sketches!

 There's a party going on and I'm not too late to join the fun! Freshly Made Sketches is celebrating their 600th sketch! This fabulous team of talented card-makers has inspired and delighted us for 12 years! 

I had to pop in and share a card for this big occasion. 

I pulled out autumn - themed dies and watercolors and created my card using the sketch as the starting point.  I've often played along at Freshly Made, and hope they continue their challenge for many more sketches to come!

Card supplies: 
I used Distress Ink reinkers to watercolor on watercolor card stock for the die cuts
Curio Autumn Finding Die and Rustic Wreath Twigs Die from The Greetery
Card stock: Peacock from Concord & 9th
Stamps: Paper Hugs Transparent Stamps from Penny Black

Thanks so much for visiting today! I hope you are having a wonderful day and I'm sending some hugs and smiles your way. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Colorful Birthday

 Hi there, stamping, friends, I have to tell you that today's card features some of the new colors from Concord and 9th and I am SMITTEN with them! I was so ready for these fresh new hues, and I especially like how there are light and darks of the same shades that work well for ink blending. My favs are the series of pretty pinks and oranges, soft blues and greens that pop. 

That brings us to today's card. 

Keeping my design simple, I die cut octagons, and stamped the grid image with versamark  for added interest.  The colors of card stock are sprout, parsley, sea glass, and oceanside. 

Using white card stock, I cut the flowers from the Duet Die (Penny Black) three times and glued them together. 

I am happy to be in time to enter this at Freshly Made, using the delightful sketch by Karren, although I used the mirror image.

I appreciate your visit, and hope you are doing well today!  I will be back soon. It's a busy week, but I have lots of new stuff inspiring me to get crafty! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

 

 

Welcome Winter

 Hello, welcome to my blog today! I'm jumping ahead to a new season with a simply made card and a sketch for inspiration.

There's nothing like a sketch to kick start your creativity, and this week's Freshly Made Sketch did just that. 

Combined with the new paper pad I just got, it was a quick card and lots of fun to make! The three panels were just cut from the paper. I stamped the greeting and small bird from a long retired holiday set onto a white card stock square.

Thanks so much for popping in, I always enjoy your visit!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Paper is from Carta Bella - Welcome Winter

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!  

A Wonderful Friend

Birthdays are a great time to let special friends know how much they mean to you. I enjoyed my stamping time by pulling out all the stops on this birthday wish for a wonderful friend. It all started with the patterned paper, you know how that goes, right? 

All I needed was some ink blending with beautiful floral images, gold foil for added elegance, and a great sketch! The lovely paper made it easy to dress up the envelope too. The foil I used is gold, but the photo is misleading because it just doesn't show the shine!

 The elegant sketch from Freshly Made was my taking off point. 

I am also playing along at Tic Tac Toe Challenge where I used the middle vertical row - florals, patterned paper, and die cuts. Also,  I think this is a good fit for Sunday Stamps Sweet Pastels. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I will see you again next week! Thanks so much for your visit and kind words. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies used: 

Stamps and dies - Fleur Impressions ( The Greetery)

Inks - Altenew Sea Shore and Rose Petal Crisp Dye Ink minis

Paper: Mintay Karola - Lovely Day

Glimmer by Spellbinders - gold foil, Yana's Special sentiments, Essential Duo Lines Rectangles, Yana's Diamond Floral Frame from Birthday Collection, Glimmer Foil Machine

I

Remembering Ukraine

 Welcome to my blog! Sharing a card today that was made specifically to honor the heroic people of Ukraine using the colors of turquoise and yellow that represent the nation's flag.  

 I did a bit more coloring with my Zig markers for the lovely border which was die cut and added according to this great sketch! 

I just realized that I switched the orientation of the panels but I think my interpretation is still OK.  I'll be back with two more posts over the weekend, thanks so much for your visit! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies:  Pinkfresh Studio - Just a Hello stamps and dies;  the Prayers die and sentiment are from Simon Says Stamp (retired) 

Pumpkin Season

 Hello! What gorgeous fall weather we've been having! It's a sunny Saturday, and before getting outside I have a quick post today, using the Pumpkin Season stamps and dies by Julie Ebersole. 

I love the simplicity of these images and just had to give a favorite color combo a whirl. The challenge at Fusion inspired orange and turquoise. After embossing the outline images in gold, I sponged inks to color the solid stamps allowing for gradation of the hues. I am adding Freshly Made Sketches to the playlist. The panel of kraft with stripes brings out the gold accents and sentiment. 

Also adding this to NBUS since the stamps are brand new. 

This was hard to photograph, it shines IRL. 

Hoping you're having a great day take care and thanks for visiting!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!