Wildflower Birthday Card #2

 I hope you're doing well today. How's your crafting going? 

With our recent move, I'm totally having to re-think my crafting process as my supplies are limited and in one small closet. It goes something like this - I bring out the cutter and cut card stock. Put that away after use, and haul the Empress machine to the dining room table. Then come the dies or embossing folders. After those are put away,  some color medium and general supplies for assembling take over the table.

Can you imagine I'm getting a few steps in as I go back and forth from room to room? When the card is complete, it all goes back in the closet until next time. Of course, there are similar steps needed for the photography too!

I know, I know, it's not so bad. Not everybody has a craft room/space! One way I can streamline is to make several cards with the same supplies. So, here is card #2 using the Wildflower Birthday collection from Stampin' Up! 

Oh, how I love these pretty papers! This birthday greeting is for the dear grand who loves pink! All images are from the papers and ephemera. I stamped and embossed the sentiment from the set with gold powder. The clear gems adhered to the cake don't sparkle for the camera, but IRL they shine.

Wherever your steps take you today, I hope you can go with a smile. Sending hugs your way!  

PS. My dear man and I actually love our smaller home and simpler lifestyle. Less time is spent cleaning, lol!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful! 

Wildflower Birthday

Hello friends, it's a new week, welcome to my blog today! One of my favorite things about this hobby of card making that we love, is that you can create what you feel in the mood for and change out colors or techniques according to your whim. 

Lately I've been doing simple cards with clean watercolored images, but you know what? I've been missing playing with paper. So I got my fill of flowers and pretty papers with this card. 

Recently I  was smitten with a couple floral suites from Stampin' Up! This card was created with papers from the Wildflower Birthday Collection. Such pretty pastel peach and blues. I began by embossing white card stock with the Baroque folder from Anna Griffin, and used a die to scallop the bottom edge. The striped tag is part of the DSP, I cut it out and trimmed out the polka dotted blue strip to add vertically.

 The flowers and leaves on the tag are part of the images on the papers that can be punched out. The other panel was cut with a stitched die cut from the set. The lovely loose weave trim is so fun to work with and dressed things up. A sentiment from The Greetery and a few metallic gold pearls were  included for the final touch. That's it for me today, thanks for keeping on til the end of this post. Hope you have a great day!

I'll be linking up with NBUS - Never Been Used Stuff as the papers and die are new; and the lovely ladies at A Cut Above.

I Love Christmas!

 The Christmas in July theme has been everywhere in blog land, and I caught the bug. I don't need new stamps, but I love pulling out the older ones in my stash and creating with them anew. 

The challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throw-down asks us to use the technique of fussy cutting in July. I found these lovely gals from the I Love Christmas stamps (by Photoplay) that I had already colored and fussy cut. The decisions of where to start were easy! 

I also pulled out some favorite papers from the Candy Cane Lane pack (Prima). 

I had only a few scraps left, so I trimmed out some tags for the second card to add a bit more fussy cutting to the project. Although it's a bit busy, I feel sure my grand-daughter won't mind! 

 Isn't the candy cane a cute embellishment! I loved the products from this SSS kit last year, if you'd like there are a couple more projects HERE and HERE. 

Thanks for coming by to visit today. I'm happy to have my first two Christmas cards done! Motivation is one of the great things about challenges. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Watercolored Love You with Penny Black

 As I sit down to write this post, I feel at a loss for words. My dear older brother passed away just after Easter and that brought so much sadness. My husband and I were set to fly cross country today for his funeral tomorrow and for a chance to join with family and my siblings at his memorial. Unfortunately, health issues of mine came up and I have had to stay home. 

So, I made a card. 

How's that for just enough telling-it-like-it-is?

It's been way too long since I've used patterned paper, and it took me forever to pick the papers for this card! But I did have fun. Watercoloring was therapeutic as always and I have the satisfaction of doing something today. 

I fell in love with these adorable elephants from Penny Black, aren't they cute? It just happens that  at The PBS Saturday Challenge they are asking for Patterned papers. 

The stamp set Together Forever is new to me so I'll share this at NBUS too. 

Other details: the papers are from Waffle Flower (polka dots) and Penny Black ( pink with roses.) The sentiments and dies are from Honey Bee stamps. I used watercolors from Altenew for coloring on Canson 140lb Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper. 

Thanks so much for visiting today. I'm so grateful for your kind words and I've met so many of you through this craft that have come to mean a great deal to me. I'm hoping to get crafty again today, so I will see you soon. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

You Are Amazing

 Hey there! I'm here for a quick card share and I'm glad you've stopped by! 

I pulled out some patterned paper and made a fun fold card using WPlus9 Spring Floral dies. The sentiment is from Honey Bee. 

Thanks for having a look! 

I'm adding this to NBUS as the dies are new, and the Tic Tac Toe Challenge. 

It fits the rows Fun Fold, Die Cut, Spring and across Spring, Emboss, Patterned Paper. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Candy Cane Lane Part two

 Hello, welcome back to my blog! 

If you saw yesterday's post you know I have cards three and four featuring the SimonSays Stamp card kit and Candy Cane Lane papers from Prima. 

Stripes and polka dots, what's not to love?  All it needed was a mat for the sentiment piece and a few die cut snowflakes. 

I love the next one with the bold and fine stripes. 

The Santa was cut out, including the banner and embellished with the candy canes in the kit.  I am happy to have used all the paper up except for a few scraps left. 

I hope to have more posts made with the rest of the kit soon. 

Just a personal note: Did you hear about Moore County NC which had a sabotage of it's electric power substations on Saturday? 

That is where I live. Fortunately, we didn't lose power but the problem is still continuing with over 30,000 homes/businesses without power. It's scary that this can happen! The community has come together to provide food, shelter and places to charge electronics, etc which is very encouraging.

Give extra hugs to the ones you love today!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Inspired By.... What do you see?

Hey there! Hope you are doing well this day.

It's time for a new Inspired By Challenge! I am learning so much from these challenges because they really do spark my creativity. It's amazing how each of us sees the same inspiration photo but our designs can be very different and all very special! 

This week's theme is Bunny Roll.  I found a new stamp with this cute bunny in his pj's. Isn't he adorable! I colored with Copics in a very relaxed, cartoony style - no blending needed, so it's easy!

Of course with the quilt in the photo and the suggestion of bedtime, I had to include some patterned paper. The panel is made of DSP strips woven together. 

Here's a look at the photo and now it's your turn to answer. What do you see?       

 Check out the terrific designs from our talented designers, and give it a go won't you?

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Heaven Sent - Honeybee and dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, DSP  - Reverse Confetti

INK: WPlus 9 - Coconut Husk

Accessories: twine

Inspired by...Krafty Love

 Welcome to a new month! February is the month of love and Inspired By has risen to the challenge! 

I've pulled out lots of items from my stash that share the love theme and went to creating this card with a song in my heart. 

I found so much to inspire me in the terrific photo. The kraft and textures, mini floral print, lace and of course the hearts. I even spied a tidbit of silver ribbon for hanging the hearts pictured and incorporated that on the focal image in between the stacked layers of the die cut heart.

 

Supplies are listed for you below if you're interested. Hope you are having a safe, healthy and happy day!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: The Greetery - With Love at Christmas 

Paper: Neenah Solar White, kraft, DSP - Penny Black, Beau Jardin

Accessories: SSS - Surely Stitched Heart Die, Love and Outline Die, lace from SU

Playing with Paper

 More just for fun stamping and today I'm playing with Paper! Hi, hope you feel like doing some creating today!

I love challenging myself to do something that's not normally in my zone. Using the sweet Special Delivery Papers Pad and combining three patterns was my task. 

I LOVE the papers from Waffle Flower! Although they have some cute new ones I must-use-what-I have, HA!

I paired the super cute fox and cat from Be Her for the focal point actually stamping the images directly on the pale blue DSP.  The clouds fade into the background of their faces. I added some shading and details with markers. I think maybe my grands when they receive this will see a resemblance to their Mimi and Papa. You think? 

My sketch is inspired by the terrific team at The Paper Players. I appreciate you coming by today! I know so many of you are having snow and awful weather. Stay warm and well! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

The Merriest Ever

 Hello everyone! Here we are at mid-week again and I'm sharing from my latest rummage through my stash. I had time over the weekend to watch some card-making videos using card kits. You know how wonderful Vicky and Tina (and many others) are with whipping out the most amazing cards with paper and other bits from a kit? I marvel and learn something new about design each and every time. 

Whatever I made today just had to include elements from years past kits and lots of paper play! 

The "merriest" sentiment, the girl and the deer were die cuts from Papertrey Ink's Fairy Tale Christmas Kit.  I also used the pretty ribbon and papers from the kit and the stamped second part of the sentiment.
For the floral spray focal point I combined stamped and die cut images from The Greetery. 

In reflecting, I may have made this card too busy - I find the ten cards gals keep thing much simpler and I will keep that in mind for next time. But you know me - I had to add more than a few gold sequins and clear Nuvo drops to make it shine! 

If you are new to stamping, kits are a great value. I liked having a kit or two on hand when I was traveling for a month at a time. THAT seems like long ago! 

My fav part of this card is the "when we're together"  being the happiest of times. I hope you can find a way to be together with someone special in your life today!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

ETA: Those cute circles with the pinked edges were from dies also included in the kit. It's retired now but shows that with some kits the items are useful long after. 

Pretty Papers Get Well

 Birdsong. Isn't that a sweet word? Singing birds are one of my favorite sounds in the mornings. The gorgeous paper pack of mintaypapers I used for today's card is called birdsong - - and I just love it! 

I needed a get well card and thought these feminine colors and vintage images were soothing and made a pretty combination. For a focal point, I inked a rose in several layers of colors and surrounded it with subtly stamped leaves. 

I trimmed the scripty sentiment with scissors along the curved lines, and used a die to cut the thin strip of the second phrase. Sequins and Nuvo drops are the simple embellishments. 

Freshly Made Sketches provided the layout inspiration for this design. After all my cute critter cards, it feels good to make something a bit fancy today.  You can be pretty sure I will be back with another post tomorrow. I find it hard to concentrate on many activities lately, how about you? But stamping holds my attention and using my hands to create is better than staring at my phone.

I am so glad that you keep coming back! Have a great day!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Fleur Impressions, The Greetery; PTI - Warm Wishes

Paper: Neenah Solar White, SU - Crisp Cantaloupe, Mintay by Karola - birdsong

Home Sweet Home

 I am so glad that you're here! It's Saturday and I'm enjoying an easy at home day. Just ate some of those grilled burgers that I had a hankering for yesterday, and spent a bit of time playing with Home Sweet Home (from SSS.)

No dies, just scissors. Plus stamps paper and ink. It felt good to create simply today and using these cute Waffle Craft papers made it extra nice. 

I love the sentiment on this one, it made me choke up a bit. It's been awhile since I've seen family and I do really miss getting out to do the things we used to do.  

I thought the lineup of rainbow stripes worked well for the layout at Freshly Made Sketches. 

Keeping with the colors in the paper, I stamped the houses over it and colored with Copics in the same shades. One of the great things about Waffle Flower papers is that their packs are 5.5. x 8.5 so you get two cards from each sheet. At 80 lbs the paper is able to stand up well for coloring, heating, or embossing. I added clear Nuvo drops to the hearts for shine.

For the second card, I used a blade to cut out the rectangle, using the printed frame of the paper to cover the pattern with the clouds and birds. Sending hugs Special Delivery is a nice thought for any time of year. Nuvo drops for the plane, a bit of shimmer on the sign, and a few enamel dots for embellishment. That is all.

I will also enter the SSS Challenge to Layer it Up. Hope you enjoy whatever the day brings you!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Pretending to be Normal

Do you ever buy a stamp set just for one sentiment? Well, I hadn't until now. But this cute floppy-eared bunny pushed me over the edge. Of course, "Life's a Beach" is a fun thought especially if that is your last name, lol. Or even if it's not! It is the name of the stamp set from The Cat's Pajamas that found it's way to my home recently.

I assembled this card rather quickly after spending way too much time puttering around with a complicated but more "normal" design. I don't like that one well enough to share it, you know? 

But I love the way this cute and quirky card turned out. Hope you do too! I did a bit of paper piecing, a little loose Copic coloring and ink blended lightly with Distress Oxide ink in Speckled Egg, a new color for me. 

Shimmer pen helps the sand to sparkle and I added glossy accents to the bunny's nose.

I am playing along with three challenges!

NBUS (the stamp sets, Life's a Beach and Get Grounded (Ink Blot Shop.)

The Paper Players and Freshly Made Sketches. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit me today. I really have appreciated your kind comments! Hope you have a great day. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Day 6 Paper Piecing with a Twist

How are things going for you? I am glad you are able to visit today! As we begin a new week, I'm trying to get caught up in my crafting for the Online Card Classes Spring Card Camp. For day 6, Kristina taught us how to mass produce cards by paper piecing. 

Mass producing cards is something I almost NEVER like to do. But if it includes using patterned paper, I may give it a try. Before I knew it, I had made 14 cards! 

This is just a sampling of them. I really love having this colorful array of cards made. Later on, I may get around to sharing the rest with you, but for now I need to get caught up with the other days' projects. 

I'm very happily sending these to my beloved MIL to send out to family. I had sent a couple dozen cards already but she can really use these as they are all unisex and generic in nature. Most of the others say "hello" or "I'm thinking of you" on the front. I had to force myself to let the paper shine and keep the rest simple. As in easy (for me) and not fussy! 

Thanks so much for coming by today. I'm off to play. Sending hugs - 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Sentiments and dies are from The Greetery.