Color Me Happy

 Hello friends and welcome to my blog. Do you have trouble coming up with names for your posts? 

For this post I began with "Carried Away by Color" and that wasn't quite right. I thought this card was a "happy accident " but chose Color Me Happy instead. All three are true. This happy accident began with an inked background and a background stamp combined.

In the mood to do some blending I combined Oxide inks in Worn Lipstick, Carved Pumpkin and Scattered Straw. Gina K has come out with a grip mat and on the other side are two background stamps, you can see it HERE. It's new to me and I love that it has multiple uses. I stamped with purple ink over top of the blended ink panel to add geometric images.

I looked at that panel for days! Not wanting to cover it up. Finally I decided the leaf images and HELLO sentiment seemed a good mix including gold sequins to dress it up. A bit quirky maybe, but I like it, even the purple!

I can't remember when I've had so much fun playing. Hope you have a great day and enjoy wherever this crafting journey takes you!

Adding this to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Penny Black Saturday Challenge, NBUS and again to The Four Seasons Challenge. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies:
Penny Black dies - Dignified, Fall Foliage
Hello from Honeybee Stamps

Gentle Thoughts with Pinkfresh

 Hello, happy June! It sure has been a while since my last post. I'm on again and off again with stamping as we're having gorgeous weather and quite a few activities. I did pull out the Magnificent Magnolia suite from Pinkfresh Studio and inks from Altenew for a creative session  this weekend. 

I am smitten with these gorgeous florals. I stamped in pale gray ink and used the stencils to fill in pastel shades of yellow, pink and green. The die cut bouquet is a lovely size for a focal point on a card. I layered foam tape behind it for dimension and mounted it on The Classy Frames die from Penny Black. For the card base I used the stand alone cut Sparkling Diamonds (PF) on C&9th card stock. Nectar. It's my favorite of their colors, although it's sure hard to pick just ONE. 

That's it for me today. I'm entering several challenges, listed below. Thanks so much for coming round to visit me!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Challenges: 
NBUS where we use our new stuff!
Tic Tac Toe - I used the bottom row; Ink Blending, Floral, Sequins
 Double D - asked for Frames 
Just Us Girls - Layers
Pinkfresh Studio  - Monthly Challenge for June

Lots of Love

Happy first day of May! I always love the first day of a new month and May is one of the best! If April brings showers, and then May flowers, allergies are sure to follow! On a good note, the vertigo I'd had last week is on the way out. It's been good to be outside again  and feeling better too.

Starting out the post with something new! A pretty circle frame that I wanted was out of stock, so I found this one instead (Pinkfresh Essentials: Ornate Circle) and got to creating. 

 It is an amazing delicate frame that can be used to completely die cut the circle as I did here, or left in the card front with just the points cut to add texture.

Also new to me, I embossed a panel using the Altenew Soft Blossoms EF. I colored with sponged Altenew inks, and the coordinating stencil set. Then if you can believe it, I CUT that panel up by hand for the focal point. Sponging a bit of ink behind them, I popped up the flowers with foam. The sentiment is from the Soft Blossoms stamp set and is the only stamping today. 

Thanks so much for your visit. I hope your day is going well! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

I'm adding to the following challenges:
NBUS: of course, with new EF, stamps and stencils and hugs to dear Darnell whose kindness and craftiness encourages so many!
The Card Concept: I was inspired by the soft pastels for my Clean and Layered Card. 
                                     Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes
                                     Inkspirational: Seasonal occasions - Spring                                                   flowers, Mother's  Day

Altenew Whimsy Motif for the Flower Challenge

 Hello, and welcome to my blog again! Today I'm reminding you there's still time to play at The Flower Challenge where we encourage you to add a heart to your project. The samples in the gallery are inspiring! I never knew there were so many creative ways to add hearts!

I'm continuing to enjoy 3D embossing and ink sponging so I pulled out the Whimsy Motif folder from Altenew.  

After embossing the bouquet and adding colors to the panel, I cut it apart and added a mat behind the design. I really like the way you can see the pattern continue on the main card panel. I added a small postage square, a die cut heart, and three metallic pearls. 

There are still two weeks left of this challenge, here's a cheer! Come join us! 

I so appreciate your visit today and I love seeing your comments. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!

Reflections of Nature

 Hello everyone! Having a few rainy days in a row was restful and I got some stamp time in over the long weekend. 

I finally inked up a few stamps that've been in my "new things" pile for way too long. The Greetery Reflections layering stamps and die create pretty trees bordering a lake. Very much like the natural surroundings where I live. 

I sponged a sky for the background using Salvaged Patina and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide inks. Other inks were used with sponge daubers for the trees, trunks, sand and lake images. 

I really look forward to changing the colors and making different combos for the sky with this set. It's so easy to use!

This is a slimline card, made on purpose so that I could play along with Tic Tac Toe, using the top horizontal line: slimline, trees, green. 

It's great playing with challenges because I find myself reaching for that never-been used-stuff, so I'll add this also to NBUS. 

Thanks so much for joining me today, I will be back tomorrow!

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

s

Other supplies: Sentiment from Penny Black - Carefree Wishes 

Brother - from SU Family Reunion (retired); SU Cucumber Crush card stock

Black thread.  Dies - Honey Bee Slimline Dies. White embossing powder

Where have I been, you wonder? SCOTLAND!

 Hi stamping friends, I have a card to share today, but first a bit of news and a few pictures! 

I usually enjoy posting two or three or four times a week, but got slowed down because we had a fabulous trip to Scotland! There was the  excitement of planning - we decided to go and three weeks later we were on the plane. And preparing. Then the two wonderful weeks we had there. We call it our trip of a lifetime! And the miserable and ongoing stint with Covid my dear man came down with after we got home. Sigh. 

Let's have a look at a few glorious memories. 

We saw beautiful scenery of nature, pastures sheep, the hairy coo, lakes, waterfalls and the ocean. Oh, 5 rainbows. And beautiful Edinburgh. 

So a card, you said?  Creativity is hard to get back into after so much time away.  I made my card using new-to-me supplies, featuring the Jumbo Buckeye Leaf from The Greetery. 

I  sponged it using Oxide inks and added a few marker details. Using smaller images from Curio:Autumn Findings dies I assembled my focal point, adding the sentiment from the Autumn Bliss Stamps & Cut Combo. My background panel was stamped with a Penny Black stamp using WPlus9 inks.

I'm entering this at NBUS and glad to be jumping back to stamping just for fall. Hope your day is wonderful! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

We are Family

 Hello there! It's been a snowy weekend and I've been happy staying inside and catching up on a few things. January is a big month for family birthdays and today that was my focus. A card needs to be in the mail tomorrow, so I got busy! 

My husband and I grew up in Maryland and his family spent lots of time on the water. When I saw the Gina K stamps depicting Magnificent Mallards I knew it would really help with those guy cards. The sentiments are specifically geared towards family adding to it's usefulness. 

My card is a CAS(E) of Mindy's fabulous card HERE. I was inspired by Jen's sketch at Freshly Made as well. Also entering at NBUS #34 as it's my first time using this set. 

That's it for me today! I hope your week is off to a wonderful start. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Inspired By 195 White Christmas

 Hello again, and welcome! We are loving seeing your amazing cards in the gallery! Ready for a White Christmas Challenge at Inspired By? Believe it or not, I took the longest time figuring out where to go with this theme as there are so many options and the photo is delightful. 

I ended up going with a snowy night sky, taking all my inspiration from a lovely card Kristina showed at the Holiday Workshop 2021 at Online Card Classes.  Culling a few snowflake stamps from various sets, I made a background and did some inking to add depth of color around the edges. Keeping this simple to make and easy to mail were important. 

The Stampin' Up! Snowflake Wishes stamps and dies came to live with me last year, but I am just getting around to using them! With a snowy embossed background, a white heat embossed sentiment, a few rhinestones were the only embellishments. 

Joining in the fun at NBUS - never been used schtuff. 

I know you will find great inspiration at the blog, have fun with this challenge! Thanks so much for your kind comments. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Inspired By 193 Friends Fall Together

 Hi! Today I am celebrating my favorite fall event, when friends and family gather for the Thanksgiving holiday. Our theme this month at Inspired By is Friends Fall Together. For my card, I did some ink blending on the stamps before stamping them using my MISTI so that I could achieve multiple tones. 

The larger leaf images are from WPlus9 Autumn Leaves stamp set. The smaller leaves and sentiment are from Gina K. It's my first time using the Wreath Builder template and I really enjoyed it! My card measures 4.50" square. A bit of gold thread and gold embossing are the dress ups. 

I was more inspired this time by the theme although these are super fun prompts. Hope you will play along! 

Have a great day! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

I'd Fall for You! Inspired By 191

 

Hello! Welcome to today's new Inspired By Challenge! My card reflects the fall mode that I am still enjoying. 

When I saw the prompt I pulled out my favorite bear and created a scene of him and his friends gathering. Remember the cute squirrel?

You know I like keeping sentiments wide open until I am certain who I'm sending the card to. I thought this one fit well. The background was inked with Distress Oxides and I saved a piece of it for the sentiment strip. I colored the images with Copics and added dimension with a woodgrain embossing folder. 

                              

I'm so glad you came by to visit today! I hope you will play along too! You can choose from 2 photos or a sketch this time. Anyone can submit a card or project they have made. We hope to inspire YOU to create. Enjoy!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies used: 

Stamps: Sugarpea Design - Hey Fall, HoneyBee Stamps - BItty Buzzwords and dies

Accessories - Sugarpea Design - Birch Forest Die

Inspired By... Colorful Fall

 Welcome back, it's time for a new challenge at Inspired By! Our weekly challenges are filled with inspiration and multiple options for your participation. I hope you will check them out and join us by adding your creation to the gallery this week! 

I love our theme of Colorful Fall.  Traditional fall colors are so beautiful, but I've been noticing a trend towards purple or pinkish leaves in the paper-crafting world lately. Here's my take on that combination. 

For the leaves, I used a sponge dauber to add layers of color until I was satisfied with the blend. I created a frame with kraft card stock, inking a leaf pattern with a stencil to add interest, adding all to a square card base. Here's the photo prompt for fall.

Here's another should you prefer to make a Holiday card. 

I will also be joining the CAS challenge at The Paper Players. 

I appreciate your visit today, thanks for spending a bit of time with me.

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Card supplies: 

Stamps: WPlus9 Autumn Leaves and dies; Gina K Stamps Autumn Wreath Builder

Inks:  WPlus9 - Hayride, Sweet Nectar, Cockleshell

Stencil: Gina K - Leafy Stencil

Color Hues #18 Purple and Teal

 Hi, and welcome back to my blog for the next installment of color duos at Color Hues! Purple and Teal brings many things to mind but I decided to go with an abstract background for my card. 

I heat embossed the background stamp in white and sponged inks to add color. I die cut the HAPPY and some stars in white and gold foil, and the birthday in a dark purple card stock.  

This card was fairly simple to make and will be even easier to give! I can't wait to see the wonderful inspiration from the rest of our terrific team. 

Hope you will join us! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used are from Honey Bee Stamps:

Diamond Daze Background Stamp, Happy Birthday Word Dies.

Inspired By... Quote Me

 I had an idea right away when I saw the theme for Inspired  By Challenge #162 called Quote Me. I had many quotes I could choose from and wanted to feature a favorite Bible verse. Imagine  my delight when the quote fit perfectly into the Open Book Die from Sugar Pea Designs! I'd been waiting for this die to get back in stock and now is the perfect moment to use it for the first time. 

Here it is!

Do you remember Verve stamps? I loved the Scripture verses especially and think the sentiment and die from PTI works well with it. 

I did some ink blending on the background and the large book. The flowers were colored with Copics. I added a few gems and Glossy Accents to the thin black strip. 

Want to know something about my color combo? I saw Sen. Amy Klobuchar wear a beautiful coat in a luscious color of pale pumpkin on Inauguration Day. Honey or marigold come to mind. She paired it with a burgundy scarf and face mask. Honestly, you can find color inspiration everywhere, HA! I love the honey gold of the bear in our photo too. 

I will also share this card at NBUS, never-before-used-shtuff! 

Hope you will be inspired to play along! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by~

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: PTI - Inspired Prayer Mini Set and Die, Verve

Paper: Neenah Solar White

INK: Gina K Amalgam Black, Versamark

Accessories: Copic markers, Distress Oxide Inks, Glossy Accents, Buttercream Gems, Open Book Sugar-Cut Dies

Let's Inspire Some Cheer!

 Hello, it's Thursday! Time for a new challenge at Inspired By, are you ready? 

Our theme is Pretty as a Pitcher, and the photo features a beautiful bouquet. Now, I do have several stamps in shapes of containers I could have built a floral arrangement in. A bottle, a watering can, or a mason jar. Alas, no pitcher. 

How about if I use a die and my imagination and call it a window box? That is exactly what I did, have a look! 

What it really boiled down to is wanting to use these fab florals stamps and dies, Signed & Sealed from The Greetery. The Halfsies Diamond Die allowed me to use quite a few of these sprigs that looked to me to be similar to those in the inspiration photo. I also used the Windowpane Plaid Background Stamp to echo the classic stripes on the pitcher. 

A bit of ink was sponged on the panel behind the flowers, and I added spatters of gold paint, gold thread and a few sequins. My photo is a bit dark, sorry. The flowers are a tad lighter IRL. 

We can't wait to see what you will make! Please join us!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: The Greetery - Signed and Sealed; Stampendous - Friendly Phrases

INK: Versamark, WPlus 9 - Flamingo, Miami Spice, Appletini, Mojito; Distress Oxides - Broken China, Tumbled Glass

Accessories: Altenew Metallic Watercolors, Nordic Die - The Greetery

Inspired By for Hero Arts

 Aren't you glad we have ushered in the new year? 
I'm still in wintry mode with one of my favorite snowman images and a new-to-me background stamp from Hero Arts. Stamping the Starry Night Background, I created a night sky by sponging Distress Oxide inks in Broken China, Blueprint Sketch and Wilted Violet on top. 

I colored the snowman and filled in the sentiment with Copic markers.

You can see the layer of patterned paper behind the die cut frame in this close up. 

The paper has subtle stripes and an ombre effect that I love! I added splatters of white gouache and a die cut snowflake or two to the focal panel. This card makes me happy! I hope it makes you smile too.

I will be laying very low this month. Meaning: staying at home. Stamping every day! I really appreciate you spending some of your moments here. Thank you!

I'm playing with the Hero Arts Stay Crafty Challenge where I was inspired by Debi's card 

and 

NBUS, Darnell's spot where we showcase our never-been-used-stuff! Also, the Paper Players are asking for us to use something new as well. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Hero Arts - Starry Night BG, Happy Mail. Avery Elle - Be Jolly stamp and die

Paper: Neenah Solar White, DSP - SU

Accessories: PTI - Scallop Stackers LG Die; snowflakes from Elizabeth Craft Designs