Let's Make Two

Gratefully, we had some much needed rain yesterday and I had time to finish two cards that have been worked on bit by bit this week. No online challenges this time. Just my own goal of using a new to me die. I unwrapped that package and gave it a whirl! 

I began by combining the Curvature Die from Penny Black, and the Garden Party dies from Pinkfresh Studio. When I had a moment, I  randomly cut a bunch of these, a few in color, but mostly from white card stock. 

 Adding Altenew inks to color, I sponged with aqua, teal, pink and green, including the teal in the corner of the card front. These dies are fun to layer, the possibilities are endless! The Curvature die in white makes a soft home base for my focal point. The sentiment from SSS Happy Day is stamped and die cut. 

The fun part came with the leftover bits of flowers on my desk. Here's take 2! 

Even the Blush pink panel was already cut to size sitting there on my desk. Better to use it up! With the very simple layout, I jazzed it up a bit with  a small dot EF and a few clear crystal sequins. The sentiment is from Penny Black called Special Thoughts. My completed cards are overflowing their space, so I'm using generic sentiments in hopes of donating them. 

Thanks for visiting me today! 

I guess I do want to add this to Darnell's NBUS Challenge, the Curvatures Die is my new schtuff. That item is still on my desk, so there is more to come!

Enjoy SUMMER

Are you having warm summer days this July? I hope you're enjoying them! Do you have a favorite summer fruit? I love a really good, locally grown peach. We have the best peach orchards nearby! 

This card is all about delicious fruits. Have a look! 

Our new challenge at Tic Tac Toe goes live today, and I couldn't wait to go with the Fruit option. I had in mind the Fruit and Summer Colors from top row across, but as I got caught up in making the card, I lost forgot about the patterned paper! Glad there are 9 options per board, as I then went with the diagonal: Layers, Die Cut, and Summer Colors.  

I used a medium green card front, with a diagonally striped embossed white panel layered on top. The fruit stamps are from Pinkfresh Studio Fruitalicious. I wanted bright shades so used my Zig markers to color them, and then fussy cut them. 

The sentiment is stamped and die cut from Simon Says Stamp Happy Days set. Keeping embellishments simple, I chose a few clear sequins, and used a coat of Glossy Accents on the cherries. Cherries are another of my fruity favorites!

Please enjoy pleasant days, wherever you are, and be sure to play along with the challenge! We love seeing your creations. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Adding this to the challenge:

Double D Potpourri

NBUS - I'm using this Fruitalicious stamp for the first time. Be sure to check out this month's special challenge with prizes!

Kindness in Bloom Birthday

 Hello, friends! I'm back with my last card for this week. Our weather has been super hot and in my craft room I'm keeping cool, busy, and contented. 

I decided to play along with Freshly Made Sketches, and pulled out the new-to-me Kindness in Bloom stamps and dies from Pinkfresh Studio. I love the wonky look of these flowers and appreciate the stripes on the leaves. Coloring with Zig markers, I followed the example on the stamps packaging and used bold strokes with white spaces on the flowers. 

I loved discovering (or being reminded?) that PFS dies cut out all the images at once, making this so easy! I used a border die to cut the accents for the line across the sketch. 

I appreciate you taking the time to come and visit with me. Hope you have a great weekend. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

I'm entering this to these challenges: 
NBUS - new stamps and dies
Freshly Made Sketches 
A Cut Above 

Other Supplies: Hexagon Die is from WPlus9; Border Dies are from Penny Black; The Happy Birthday stamp and die are from Simon Says Stamp.

Stenciled Blooms

 Earlier this week I hoped to add to the gallery at  Freshly Made as they have a lovely, simple sketch. The week has been busy but a rainy Saturday gave me time to create. I was happy to be hunkered down at the craft table this afternoon!

I brought out one of my favorite sets lately, Butterflies in Bloom (Pinkfresh Studio). These flower stencils have large open spaces making it easy to vary the intensity of the inking for a shading effect. 

I chose Altenew inks in soft Blush and added a pale yellow to the flower centers and a faint hint added to a couple of the blossoms on the outer edges.  I am challenging myself to learn to use a lighter hand when I stencil. It's a work in progress! 

Adding ink to white card stock, I created a background using mint green inks. For the leaves, I blended a yellow green with a blue-green. A gold pen supplied the butterfly body and the dotted flower centers. 

Mustering all my momentary restraint - I did not add any embellishments. Aren't you proud of me? I'm thinking the simplicity of the sketch is just enough. The bling will come out another day. 

Here's a look at the sketch! 

I enjoyed the time to stamp just for fun today. I need to do it more often!  I'm happy you came by for a visit too. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft!

             Make something beautiful!  

Other supplies: Frame is from The Greetery; Sentiment is from Altenew 

Sparkle for Spring

It's been a busy time! Lots of household improvements going on including having the walls and kitchen cupboards painted. It's lovely to have it finished. Also, I'm teaching a local Papercrafting class, so there was prep work to plan and assemble the projects. 

It just happens, a found a new card recently made and photographed. Ready to share! 

The flowers were embossed in gold, colored using inks and stencils, and die cut. I love having the bouquet arranged for me so it is cut in one pass. Layering it on a scalloped stitched panel and a stitched frame made it easy to assemble. The stamps are Flowers for the Soul from Pinkfresh Studio.The sentiment is a favorite.

The gold thread, gold embossing and gold metallic gems add some sparkle! I'm happy to play at The Paper Players. I love a good TTT challenge and used the middle row across; sparkle, flowers, embossing and the right row vertically; sentiment, embossing, layers. 

  Wishing you a wonderful day and much joy. Thanks for coming by!

         Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!   

Happy Easter Wish

 Hello there! I'm sorry to say that I don't often make Easter cards, even though it's an important holiday and there are so many lovely options to choose from right here in my stash. Today changed that.

I'm delighted to share it with you! 

The well-loved oldies came out first, beginning with the Cathedral Die and stencils from The Greetery. Some light sponging of pastel inks behind the windows and at the card base created a soft base for the bouquet. 

The flowers and leaves are from the very new-to-me Garden Party Die from Pinkfresh Studio, cut from white card stock and sponged with color. Also brand new, these Ethereal Butterflies from Memory Box seemed to round out the scene, with their rich texture and an added pearl. The sentiment is from Spring Day... by Penny Black. I got an extra nudge from the challenge at Double D,  Easter/Church/Cross. 

I'm so thankful to these ladies for their beautiful inspiration and hard work. 

I will add this to the lineup at NBUS  and Die Cut Divas  Celebrate Spring as well. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to come by today and say hello. See you again soon!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Grateful for You

 Hi friends, I'm glad to see you! I'm wondering what happened to make this week rush by so quickly!

I thought it would be fun to enter a card into the monthly challenge at Pinkfresh Studio. The theme is Sew Much Fun based on the many products in a recent release featuring sewing items. 

As I looked through my supplies I found some pretty flowers ready to go! Here's my card. 

The elegant circles die has lovely stitching elements, and the pale pink card stock was given a quilted stitched pattern with the Sparkling Diamonds coverplate die. 

I used the Flowers for the Soul stamps and dies.The florals were stamped and embossed with gold and colored with markers. Gold foil leaves are the only embellishment. 

I had trouble with this card. You know? It just didn't come together easily and I almost wanted to start over, then had not the best lighting for the photo. Some days that happens! 

I'm entering this to the theme challenge of Clean and Simple Florals going on at The Paper Players.

I'm remembering not to be so hard on myself. (grin) I leave you with a farewell wave, wishing you a good time creating! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Happiness for You

Happy Friday to you! A while back when I got my Zigs out I did some coloring for future cards. This is one of them. I began with stamping the images from Butterflies and Blooms (a new-to-me stamp from PinkFreshStudio) onto white card stock. 

After cutting it out, I layered it onto aqua card stock, placing a vellum gingham panel (SU) behind it. Here's what I love - my favorite  EF from Altenew (Piped Floral Lace). I just keep choosing this one! It's the debossed side that forms the card base layer. 

Tiny silver dots are the only embellishment. Entering this in Tic Tac Toe challenge #287 middle row across: Layering, Encouragement, Enamel Dots/Sequins. 

 Team O has some wonderful samples and it is so easy to play along! I also love to play at Word Art Wednesday  NBUS and Simon Says Stamp. I hope your weekend is wonderful and I want to say a heartfelt thanks for your visit. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful! 

Freshly Made in Lavender

I stamp every day, even if it's just a little something. I pulled out a few things yesterday and began thinking I would just assemble a bit of a kit to have handy for the future. Turns out I kept going, and was inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches to turn it into a card. 

Have a look! 

The Pinkfresh Studio Beautiful Soul stamps and dies have been in my stash and were calling to be used since I'm so ready for spring. I paired the stencils with Altenew Rose Petal inks and  loved the combination. 

Then I added a smooshy bit of ink blending at the bottom of the card to keep in  step with the sketch. And of course, a few sequins!

It was hard to photograph. Sometimes the simplest cards are the hardest. The colors IRL are lovely. The stamping was done with Watering Can (Archival Ink) which is softer than black and my preferred choice when using pastel colors. 

That's all for me today! I am off for a walk in the sunshine. Hope your weekend is extra wonderful!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Adding this to play along:
Make My Monday asks us to use two dies.

Beautiful in Blue

 Here's a mid-week post from me, I can't believe how the days have sped by! 

You know, I don't use blues often, or smoky shades either. But the cards from the talented ladies at Color Hues took my breath away. So I decided to play! 

Using Distress Oxide inks in Faded Jeans and Bundled Sage I did some stenciling with the Magnificent Magnolias stamps and stencils from Pinkfresh Studios in my stash. 

I kept the inking light so there was lots of white to brighten things up.

The card base is a paler blue card stock that I inked to match the flowers. It almost looks soft like suede, I love that bit of texture.  A generous sprinkling of flat opalescent sequins for more shine, and it's done! 

I'm happy to add this to the challenge at the Color Hues Challenge. I hope you'll consider playing along! Have a beautiful day. Thanks for your visit. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Grateful for you always

Happy Monday friends,  I hope things are going well for you. I've continued to have some creative time daily and a few cards are ready in the line up. Here I'm using the Flowers for the Soul stamps, stencils and dies designed for Pinkfresh Studio by Dawn, previous owner of W+9.  Her stamps are what I bought in my very first excursion from being a Stampin' Up! only stamper. Her work is beautiful, and these images are based on her hand painted flowers. She is so special.

I kept the card simple so that the florals and sentiment can shine. I'm entering these challenges: 

The Paper Players - I used the middle row across 

Addicted to stamps & more  - use die cuts or stencils
Just Us Girls - stencil week 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Flowers for the Soul

 Hi there, friends! You can never have too many flower stamps, right? I'm back with another recent purchase from Pinkfresh made into a sweet birthday card. Truly dainty and feminine, the Flowers for the Soul set is beautifully designed by Dawn Woleslagle. 

What I love about PF dies is that they cut several groups of images with one run through the machine.  Once I die cut there were many images in various sizes to play with. I used just a few for today's card. 

I stamped the flowers and heat embossed them with gold powder. Using a rainbow of DOX ink colors and the stencils, I added color. 

For my background panel, I sponged using the same colors lightly. Then embossed with a folder for added texture. Using gold designer paper and gems for the accents ties the focal point together. I used a narrow panel of white card stock. Having the sentiment hanging over the edge doesn't bother me! I wanted more of that background to show. I can't wait to make another one!

Thanks so much for your visit today! Hope this summery card brings a smile to your face. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies used:
Dies - Crimped Frame (The Greetery); Leaves - Altenew; Birthday - Buzzwords (Honeybee)
The EF is from Spellbinders
Inks: Rnager Distress Oxide - Salvaged Patina, Worn Lipstick, Cracked Pistachio, Carved Pumpkin, Fossilized Amber

I'm adding this to the Monthly Challenge at Pinkfresh 

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

The Flower Challenge Add Layers

 Hello, I'm here to remind you about our monthly theme at the Flower Challenge. We want you to use Layers on your card along with a bunch of flowers. Or even just a few flowers. You still have until the end of the month to upload your creation to our gallery, and we hope that you will!

I used inks to create a layered background for my card. This background has been in my 'already made' folder for quite some time. I can't remember exactly what I used but it involved ink smooshing and spatters, and a bit of a scripty stamp. 

The gold foiled florals from PinkFresh Studio were colored with Copics and arranged around the diamond shaped panel. 

I hadn't done foiling in quite a while and it was nice getting out the machine and  becoming familiar  with this technique again. I look forward to having a bit more play at a smooshed background too! 

How would you like to craft today? I hope your creative time is enjoyable. I'm glad you've come by, and I want to encourage you to check out the DT inspiration as well. See you soon! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Floral Delicacy for The Paper Players #601

 Hello everyone, thanks for making the challenge at The Paper Players a favorite! It's time for #601 and it's a wonderful sketch for us from LeAnne! 

A new-to-me set of stamps and dies called Floral Delicacy seemed ready for me to ink up for the first time, here you go! 

I was wondering what colors to use and inspiration HIT! A favorite tea cup. I've so often wanted to use these fabulous colors.  Voila!

After arranging the elements according to the sketch, I added a sentiment using gold foil on black card stock. 

It will be fun to see what you make with the sketch.  I hope you will play along! What will inspire you?

Thanks so much for your visit today! I'm adding this to the fun challenge at NBUS.

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

             Make something beautiful! 

Supply List 
Stamps  Floral Delicacy  - The Greetery,  
Ink  Altenew - Coral Berry, Ruby Red, Warm Sunshine, Ocean Waves, Dusk
Other  Foil plates - Spellbinders, Cover plate - Sparkling Diamonds Die by Pinkfresh Studio

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)