Love Blooms

Hello, hi, and welcome! Just when I tell myself I have enough  stamps   (never enough of those!) paper or ink I find this fabulous paper pack that is so different and I LOVE it! It's the main feature on today's card. 

I started by filing through the La La Land Crafts 6x6 pack called Washi, looking for the one that would be easy to design with. These two sided papers are amazing, with bold patterns and striking designs. Swoon worthy!

Also on my desk were the leftover die cuts from another day. I thought two of these would work well to house my focal point and still allow the pretty papers to be visible. I didn't want to cover it up! I stamped and watercolored the rose using distress inks for the bloom and metallic gold for the leaves, and placed them over a strip of gold mirror card stock. 

A bow of gold thread and a simple sentiment and it's done! For dimension, the die cuts are two or three layers stacked together. You will be seeing this paper again as I really enjoyed the challenge of playing with it. 

Wishing you a great day, and happy crafting! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Challenges: 

Color Hues - Black and Red 
Love those Pretty Papers 

Supplies:
Penny Black  - Curvature Die, Love Blooms stamps and dies
Sentiment is from Altenew from this pretty set they sent me for free personalized with my name!  Charming Bouquet stamps. Boy, was I surprised!!

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!  

Blessed Gift

Sometimes you see stamps that you envision using to make the exact card featured on the packaging (well almost!)  These images of a snowy village and a beautiful sentiment warmed my heart so much I knew they were for me. Bought them. I didn't know it would take me so long to ink them up! Today is the day.

Why today? Jaydee's challenge at The Paper Players is a theme: Gifting. I've loved the sentiment from Penny Black stamps Peace and Love, referring to the gift of Christ at Christmas. I paired it with the village scene from the Sleigh Ride stamps, and painted the buildings with Distress ink re-inkers. Using Background Basic stencils to mask, I sponged a light night sky studded with a few stars. This card measures 4.25 x 5".

I have challenges to thank for keeping me inspired, keeping me stamping, and sending me to my stash to seek out just the right items. 

Besides The Paper Players, I will add this to the challenge at NBUS, and the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  

Thanks so very much for your visit. I'm not putting the boxes of Christmas stamps away yet! See you again soon. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Let's Skate for Penny Black

 How happy I was to be invited as a Guest Designer at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for December. I'm always happy to play with their wonderful stamps and dies, especially for the holiday season. The challenge is always Anything Goes, and this month there is an option of Snow. It's up to you! 

I featured a few snow flakes and an ice skating theme. My card uses the Let's Skate Dies and the Jolly Snippets transparent stamps set. 

I love the sentiments used in this set - there are 26 sayings that are short in length, beautifully scripted and so easy to layer as I did for my tag. Especially nice is the inclusion of some phrases that are more general in nature, not just for the holidays but for winter as well. 

These skates are so fun to use and just the right size! I die cut two of only one skate so they would hang in tandem but it's nice that PB has a die for each: a left skate and a right skate. I used shimmer spray to add a shiny luster before die cutting in white and silver foil card stock.

I just felt like using more patterned papers recently so this Pink & Main Chill is in the Air 6x6 paper pack was a welcome addition to my stash! I realized life could just not be right without a bit more DSP for Christmas, and such pretty options to choose from. A soft silver satiny grained DSP covers the card base. 

Lastly, the tiny bit of sparkle on the snowflakes are Micro Disco Ball Sequins from Gina K. They're so small they are hard to catch but every bit worth it.  

I hope that you'll pull out your Penny Black stamps or dies and come play along!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

 

Last Leaves of Autumn

 I don't know if it's the same with you, but seeing it on my planner really did cause a stir. Thanksgiving is a week away! How did that happen? 

I've been enjoying fall more this year as I am no longer in the North Carolina Sandhills which mainly has pine trees. Our move to the Charlotte area was good in many ways. We especially enjoy the beautiful colors in fall! The last of the leaves are hanging on. 

Today's card features a bit of watercoloring, a newly tried technique, and the Scripture verse that has been a special comfort. 

I began with stamping PB's Autumn Gala image in black onto watercolor paper. I used Distress reinkers and a damp paintbrush to color. The technique I tried was using Distress Glaze from Tim Holtz over the watercolored image, then heat embossing.  He suggests adding more detail with Distress Crayons on top. I went with adding a pale watercolor wash to the background and a few more details on the leaves with the reinkers over the slick glaze. Here's a photo so you can see the effect is like crystals. 

Putting the card together, the embossed panel is from the Variegated folder, and the verse is from Blessing: both by Penny Black. 

Blessings! That's what I'm wishing you today. I am so glad that you could come by. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 
              Make something beautiful!  

Thankful for Autumn

I recently made one more card before putting my autumn dies away and it seems just right to share now that cooler weather has been here making me want to get outside and kick up some leaves!  

 These papers were gathered from my stash. I did some ink shading on the edges of the yellow floral, then tore and layered the papers for a country look that mixed well with the plaid. Sponged inks provided the colors on the leaves as well. 

I'm happy to find it fits in with a couple challenges also. I love when that happenes. Thanks for coming by to take a look!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Playing along with:
Color Hues - where the challenge colors are rust and yellow
Just Us Girls - asks for Leaves on their Die Cut Week
Penny Black Saturday Challenge - I used PB Dies Fall Foliage and the leafy branch is Dignified; sentiment stamp from Sunflower Harvest Clear set

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

Simple Joy

Hello, happy National Dog Day!  I didn't have a clue about that when I made this card featuring a super cute canine and a sentiment that I really like! Over the weekend I brought out a mixed bag of supplies and just played for fun. 

Rummaging through my background stamps I found one from Tim Holtz that is all sentiments, many are out of the ordinary. It's called Tiny Texts and I thought this one was perfect for this image. Ignoring the cake or card that looks birthday-ish, I love that this pooch has prepared a perfect cup of tea and has flowers and fixings to enjoy his day. 

Sipping my cup of tea is an ordinary joy that I savor every morning with thanks for a new day. I love the smile on this little guy. Wish I was so cute! (early in the morning...) The pup image is fussy cut from the Good Times set (Penny Black).

Paper scraps, enamel drops, and simple coloring with Zig markers. 

Makes me happy today. What is your ordinary joy? Thank you for stopping by! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Challenges: 
Little Red Wagon - Circle of Life
Penny Black Saturday Challenge -  ATG, Embossing (the black circle is dry embossed but the photo doesn't show it. )
Neglected Stuff Challenge - I haven't used my ZIGs to color for a long time!
Krafty Chicks - Clean and Simple

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

More Garden Flowers

 Hi! This morning I'm popping in with a few more flowers from my garden of stamps and a card for you! I gave some thought to the colors they're suggesting for us at The Paper Players new challenge. 

I decided light washes of color would work best so I began searching my stash for stamps and inks. Inking up a cling stamp with brush markers gave the result I was looking for.  I spritzed it lightly before stamping, then used a damp brush to soften some of the lines. Once I'd colored the panel, using nesting hexagon dies framed the bouquet nicely. A shaped card is a nice change for me and I like it! A few tiny gems and a bow dress it up a bit.

Challenges: The Paper Players, Penny Black Saturday Challenge

You are so kind to come and visit. We'll do it again soon! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: 
Penny Black stamp - Garden Variety Cling Stamp, Blooming Sentiments

Card Stock - Concord & 9th Lilac

Happy Summer to you

 Hello crafty friends! I'm stopping in to post a quick share on this hot summer day. It's good to be back after a busy holiday week. I have another week busy with family visiting and there's nothing I'd rather do than spend time with loved ones. 

The first card I posted (HERE) using the Eclectic Garden dies (Concord & 9th) was a CASE. Today's card is my original design.

Instead of die cutting the florals from colored card stock, I used white and sponged on color using Distress Inks to create a softer look. I will really enjoy using these florals.

An embossed layer was also inked lightly for the background. The sentiment is formed by the Happy Edger Die and the text from Penny Black. It makes a bold statement. Finishing the card off only needed a few pearls for embellishment. 

 I'm playing in the Tic Tac Toe challenge using the left vertical row: Foliage, Layers, Flowers, or the middle horizontal row: Layers, Free, Summer Colors. I really love the options in the grid challenges!

Also adding to SSS Weekly challenge: Sending Flowers

That's all for today! I'll keep staying cool. Take care. See you soon. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Have a Nice One!

I felt like making a simple card to add to my birthday stash, I'm happy to share it with you.

This happy guy hauling a load of presents is from Penny Black stamps, called Nice One! I was pleased to find this panel with the image stamped and colored just waiting to be made into a card. The challenge at The Paper Players asks for a clean and simple card using only ONE stamped image. This one fits the parameters and I'm glad to be motivated to addd a bit of DSP and a couple of sentiments to finish it. Sending the same greeting to you - hoping today is a nice one for you! Thanks for your visit. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

I'm entering this at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge also. 

God's Masterpiece

 Happy to be starting a new week and a new month with a card to share with you. Hi friends, welcome to my blog. 

Spring flowers are starting to pop up here and there outside, and many are flocking to blog land as challenges seek projects decorated with blooms! 

Here's one that I made. 

Using the great layout from Jill that I shared HERE, I've used this rose from the Enchantingly (Clear Stamps) for today's card. The greeting is from Penny Black as well; Inspirational Sentiments. Re-inkers are the medium for watercoloring.

Thanks for your visit!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

The challenges I'm joining are: 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - use Penny Black
Try it Tuesday - embossing
Allsorts Challenge -  Clean and Simple
Penny Black Saturday Challenge  ATG

I did a little bit of stamping.....

 Hi Friends! While waiting for the big game on Sunday and staying inside for a couple days of rain, I did a little bit of stamping. Nothing big to share, but here I am again. 

I made three cards that are a CASE of Jill's cards using Sketch #1 Just Frame It. I've been so loving her sketches, especially those shared in January and I wanted to try her system of doing three cards using her batch method. Die cut all three cards first, then stamp and color, lastly add sentiments then assemble. A few more Valentine's are on their way! 

Have a look. 

I learned something. 1. This sweet sketch involves an image in a frame. In this instance, using the frame I had on hand wasn't the best option as it covered up much of the embossed detail. 2. While making three cards at once worked well, I didn't love them  I think using the Penny Black frame (HERE) is much better proportioned and the best choice for this sketch.  3. Ordering is easy! New PB frame dies are on the way to me. I hope you won't mind seeing me use this sketch again, lol!

Thanks for stopping by today!

I'm adding this to A Cut Above (using dies),  Double D challenge, asking for hearts and Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Bring a Letter

 The team at The Paper Players inspired us again with some wonderful samples this week! The theme is CAS cards having to do with mail. One thing that is especially nice at our new home is having our own mailbox on the curb. No more driving to a community mail building in our former rural neighborhood to get the mail.

This theme inspired another Valentine using "Cuteness" stamps from Penny Black. I colored the image with markers and fussy cut it out. Echo Park papers came in handy for making the die cut envelopes. The sentiment came from a brand new PB set called Love Big, thus I'm adding this to NBUS (which features our never-been-used YET -  stuff.   Simple and sweet. Have a great day! 

A Christmas Pair

 Popping in with a quick post on this chilly Sunday. Hi, how are you doing? I'm sharing a Christmas card today that I feel happy to have as the first in the pile up.

I used new stamps from Penny Black (Christmas with Mimi) and colored the cute couple with re-inkers used as watercolors. The snowflakes and designer paper were oldies from my stash. I'm keeping things simple with my stamping and getting used to multiple trips to the "closet" to rummage for supplies which I carry out to the dining room table. And back again. 

Those who visit my blog regularly know that we moved to be closer to our family, in spite of being 'very young' for this kind of change. (big grin here). Our move to a smaller home has been a good thing. It's an individual home in a huge 55plus community. You know - with lots of options for exercise and sociability, pretty neighborhoods with sidewalks, walking trails, a lake and an indoor pool. That last one is my favorite. So, I have big goals to move my body more. It's a .2 mile walk to that pool!

As it turns out, I do also have time and energy for stamping. It's no longer two hours per card, but just enough to have fun, share and keep up with you lovely stamping friends. Thank you for keeping on visiting me!

Challenges entered: 

Penny Black Saturday Challenge
Jingle Belles - using new/old  oops! I'm too late for this one.
A Cut Above - Anything Goes, optional New
Time Out - Inspired by something you love to do. For me, I love to walk in the snow, and gift giving is good to do too!

A Penny Black Valentine

Hello!  I didn't expect to stamp much after our move, but I also forgot that we are usually sick in January. So we are 'under the weather' and staying home inside due to the winter storm. Which for us, meant a bit of ice that is now melting. Either way, I'm happy to be house bound and enjoying sunshine today as I look out the windows.

Inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made, I water colored this sweet image using re-inkers. One of the best things about my new community is that there is a group that meets to make cards and collects them to be distributed at many venues and for every occasion. It makes me happy to be able to easily donate my creations and know they will make someone smile. 

I'm also sharing this at NBUS as the stamp is new, and Penny Black Saturday Challenge where they also focus on something new this month.

I hope you are doing well today. Thanks for your visit to my blog. 

The Flower Challenge - Count Your Blessings!

 Welcome to The Flower Challenge! Our theme for Challenge #95 is to use a stamped flower on your card.  So pull out those pretties and put some ink to paper! 

I've been going for the less is more vibe lately, and Penny Black's tulips from the Overflowing clear stamp (31-062) gave me a kickstart to a clean card. 

I watercolored using re-inkers from my Distress Inks. Adding TWO pearls (colored with Copic markers) seemed a good way to emphasize the "twice" in the sentiment. Am I the only one that thinks of these things?

Thanks so much for your visit today! Please come and visit us at the challenge blog where fabulous floral designs await to inspire you! 

I'm adding this to these challenges: The Penny Black Saturday Challenge,  and NBUS where I'm using the stamp and die for the first time. Time Out Challenges asks for cards of encouragement/friendship.

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Other Supplies from Penny Black:
Blessed Builder Clear set (30-996)
Berry Basket Dies (51-796)

Flowers for You at Penny Black

 Hi there friends.

 I couldn't be more delighted to share this news! I've been chosen as the monthly Guest Designer for The Penny Black Saturday Challenge,  so of course I said, "Yes!" I've been loving my Penny Black stamps and supplies, new and old. Actually, the "new" products have been multiplying quickly in my craft area, so I'm glad to use them!

You'll find their challenge to be fun as it's often 'Anything Goes' and this month the optional theme is Flowers. Who'd have thought ????

My very simple card uses the Charisma Transparent stamps and dies. With the addition of circle dies, I cut a framed window and placed the bouquet on top. Using versa mark and one of the floral stamps, I created a subtle background, topping it all off with a sentiment circle. I found it refreshing to use only one stamp set for this card. The floral image was stamped in pale gray and colored with Distress Oxide re-inkers and a brush.

I sure hope you will check out the inspiration at the challenge and play along! I'm so happy that you've visited today. Thanks so much! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!