Sweet Chickadees

 Hey, isn't it great that September is here! It's one of my favorite months of the year. This morning I sat and listened as the birds were singing on the patio and splashing in the water from the sprinkler. I love birds almost as much as I love stamping. 

Finding a new embossing folder that comes with a die to cut the chickadees was intriguing and here you can see the result! 

I used Hammermill white card stock, and ran it through with the EF. Then using a damp brush and my watercolor paints I washed in a pale blue background around the leaves and branches. After letting it dry, the next step involved watercoloring the leaf images and branches, carefully. Lastly, the chickadees were die cut, then embossed, then colored with my colored pencils. I also used those to add details to the leaves. Popping up the birds adds dimension, and the texture of the embossing is so nice! 

I added Nuvo drops in black to accent the eyes, a banner with pearls and a birthday wish. 

Today is a special day! The birthday cake is in the oven. The family is gathering later. Life is good! Wishing you smiles and happy thoughts today!

I will enter this to:
The Paper Players Challenge, using Texture, Free and Things that Fly

NBUS - love the new EF and dies!
SSS Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: 
Simon Says Stamp - Chickadee Gathering Embossing Folder and Die
Card Stock from Spellbinders
Banner and Greeting - The Greetery

Anchored in Hope

 Happy new day! 

Today I'm sharing a card made in honor of the 800th challenge at The Paper Players, can you believe it? Those designers have been inspiring us for a long time! I'm excited to remember that it was one of the first challenges that I took part in way back when I started my first blog (2007). It's still one of the best card challenges out there. I'm pleased to mention that I had the privilege of being on their design team for a year, it was wonderful. 

Back to today...I'm caught up in the last days of summer in my thoughts. Here's my card!

I took a literal version of this timeless sketch that is the same one the Players used on their first post. 

I began by choosing an aqua card stock for the base layer, and I sponged ink around the edges. It's my first time using the Waffle Flower Craft Dies - Floral Anchor. I love that these dies contain individual flowers and leaves but also included are two dies that feature the same flowers already arranged in groupings. That made it easy!  I embellished my clean and layered card with black twine and pearls. 

Thank you, Paper Players!! 
I'm playing also in the following challenges: 
NBUS where I'm using the new dies and sentiment
The Card Concept Summer by the Sea, clean and layered style is  inspired by the title
We Love Stamping Summer Blooms

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies:
DSP is Pink & Main -  Bright Botannicals

sentiment is also Waffle Flower - Overlapping hugs Additions

Looking Forward to Fall

 Hi, I sure am looking forward to fall, especially since our temps are still high 90's and it's so very HOT! We were at the beach last week and we had a daily heat advisory so we couldn't be outside as much as we would have liked. Had a good time anyway! 

Back at home in my craft room, I put together today's clean and simple card using a fun mix of oldies for fall. 

I was inspired by The Paper Players challenge and Freshly Made Sketch Challenge. 

I"m also looking forward to some crafting with new goodies and more time to play next week. Hope you will stop back. I appreciate your visit, I'm wishing you a wonderful weekend! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Peonies for the Paper Players

 Hello and happy day to you! A beautiful new set of stamps designed by Dawn Woleslagle just had to join my collection of floral images recently. The Perfect Peonies stamps are from Honeybee Stamps. I love the timeless beauty of Dawn's illustrations, I am a huge fan. With some uncertainty about being able to do them justice, I began coloring with Copic markers. 

Most often I prefer using a damp brush and re-inkers, but I really enjoyed using the markers this time. I added a sentiment from Altenew, white gel pen accents and mini sequins. The image was on white card stock sponged with light pink ink.

I like the simplicity of this card - just stamps, paper, and ink!

I was happy to see that this fits the color challenge at The Paper Players, and I will also add it to the NBUS Challenge, and SSS Wednesday Challenge, Fabulous Florals. 

I know I'll enjoy using this set again. Keeping this short, hope you don't mind!

I hope you enjoyed your visit, thanks for coming by! See you soon. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Stencils, Clouds, and Sunshine!

 It always takes me some trial and error and rummaging through my stash to come up with an idea to make new supplies my own. That's what happened today when I went to try out the stencils included in Kristina Werner's Weather Together Bundle. It has been on my desk for a couple of weeks now. 

Wanting a card for general encouragement, I searched for the sentiment first. Among my Penny Black stamps, I came upon just what I wanted in the Love Big stamps. I wanted my sky to suggest a sunrise. 

I used Distress Oxide inks to color the scene, using only 2 of the cloud stencils, and inking lightly. Another sentiment carries the sunshine theme to the card inside. 

I have to be honest and say that I had doubts about the usefulness of the Weathered Together stamp set at first. I'm happy that I now have a few ideas and a few more sentiments lined up to be able to create with it. I got help also from The Paper Players Challenge this week! 

I may have to get going on anther entry! Also entering the Stencil Fun Challenge.  and the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by to visit. FInishing this card and getting it posted has given me a nice sense of being productive this morning. Have a great day! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Other challenges include:
Word Art Wednesday
Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog 
Shopping Our Stash Weekly Challenge Blog - Summer
The Four Seasons - Summer 
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes (Penny Black stamps)

 

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!   

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!  

One More for the Paper Players

 I could have titled this post: "Here's what I did today" or, "Wow! A card made in less than an hour!" Both of these are true. 

I am usually trying to feature my newer or just purchased supplies but it felt so good to pull out some older things and make a very unfussy bare bones card.

When I saw the sketch I immediately grabbed the patterned papers I've wanted to use (from Penny Black) and went from there. A tall die cut flower from Concord & 9 and a banner zig zag die for the fuchsia border were used. The sentiment from the Greetery could be for a birthday or anniversary. I like that it's open-ended.  I'm adding to my daughter's stash of cards to send including many to children.  

Sometimes it's best to KISS. Simple was really fun this time. 

Don't you love this sketch from The Paper Players?   I also was pretty excited to be chosen as the Headliner last week with THIS card. 

I love that you came to visit! I hope you find many things to celebrate today. I'm also playing at A Cut Above.  

 and SSS Wednesday Challenge ATG.  Have a great day!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Birthday Balloons for The Paper Players

 Hi, happy mid-week hello! It's on to the next challenge for me and this is a fun one!

The Paper Players ask for a clean and simple birthday card using balloons. I had a birthday sentiment prepared that's been hanging around on the corners of my desk all ready to go for a few weeks.

Happily, I had a new-to-me set of Balloon dies in my container of new and unused stuff. I used a retired background stamp to create some pale pink dots randomly on white card stock. This card measures 3.5 x 6". Adding just a bit of shading to the die cuts and white gel pen highlights, I used foam dimensionals for extra depth. 

I have two grands that love pink, when I know which one I'm giving it to, I may add the number on a ballon to represent their new age. 

I will add this card to the challenges at: 
NBUS
The Paper Players

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: 
DSP and enamel dots - Stampin' Up!
Birthday Die - Whimsy Stamps
Balloons - Simon Hurley Balloon dies

Winter Birthday

 Hello friends! The cold temperatures call for heavy sweaters and I have a few colorful ones to share with you today! Made of paper, of course. 

Most of my stamp supplies purchased in last months have focused on Christmas and winter themes. Seems I'd had enough of flower variations for awhile! I'm glad I've had a chance to use these fun images for a February birthday. 

The Sweater Season Dies from Concord & 9th include so many small dies to add details, like the hats, hearts, snowflakes, collars and cuffs and other elements you can see on my sweaters. That was a delightful challenge to make the sweaters unique designs. The coordinating stamps include a knit texture and other stamps to embellish the sweaters with. They also have a cute sentiment. I didn't use it here, instead I chose these sentiments from a retired PTI set. I love how it all worked together! 

What else do I love? Bright colors, stars, hearts and polka dots! Provided here by Concord & 9th card stock -  the colors are even a bit brighter IRL and pretty papers from Simple Stories. 

The Sisterhood of Crafters has a Spots and Dots challenge. A new one to me, check it out HERE. Thanks, Leslie! 

This card is a slimline ( 4 x 6.5) and follows the adorable sketch from Jaydee. I see now that I put my sentiment on the other side.

Happy to play today at The Paper Players. Stay cozy, won't you? 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft

                  Make something beautiful!  

Under the Tree

 Hello and welcome to my blog on this cold, rainy day. A perfect kind of Monday to get creative with some new wintry die cuts to make a card for the sketch at The Paper Players. For winter and Christmas I seem to have acquired three new packs of DSP so I set out to use some for a snowy scene. 

I love to make snow men IRL but rarely have the chance since I'm living in SC. Making a die cut snowman brings fond memories of childhood play. Aren't all snow men just a little bit wonky? This one sure is. 

The new-to-me supplies are the papers from Doodlebug Design 6x6 Snow Much Fun pack; Snowcapped Tree Die from Waffle Flower, and Festive Snow Globe Dies from Concord & 9th. The sentiment is from a favorite from PB -  the Jolly Snippets set. 

Simple embellishment details come from Glossy accents added to the carrot and the hat, an iridescent white cord bow, and Stickles added to the snowflakes.

Here's the lovely sketch providing inspiration by the Paper Players.

 Also adding this to NBUS and the Christmas Kickstart Challenge. 

Thanks so much for coming by, hope it's been a great day for you!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

ETA: what makes this snowman wonky? Well, the googly eyes for one thing. Secondly, the die doesn't include arms for this guy! So that he fits in the snow globe, I'm guessing. 

A Sketch for the Paper Players

Hello friends! I'm back with a quick post today. I wanted to watercolor so I pulled out the images from this older set called "Just Breathe" from WPlus9. I love the image of the bird perched on the pretty peony that you see as my focal point. For this card, I created a background panel by randomly stamping only the flowers and leaves onto watercolor paper.

I stamped with Memento Toffee Crunch ink, and used Distress ink re-inkers to watercolor. I left this as a work in progress for a day or two. Then, inspired to join The Paper Players Sketch Challenge, I cut my panel in half and layered the focal image on the All-in-One Hexagon Die (Penny Black.)   

 Here's the sketch I followed. I really like the way cutting the panel worked out.

That's it for me today! Hope your day is going well. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful! 

Colorful Combo for Autumn

 Hello, how are things with you? Another rainy day had me wanting to stay cozy inside and so the stamps came out to play! Brand new leaf stamps arrived in my mailbox just in time to be inked up for the great color combo at The Paper Players.

Have a look!

I've long admired this set from Waffle Flower called Two Step Leaves Combo. Imagine my delight at winning a gift card to their store! Of course I added a few more supplies, ha! The Piercing Lines Texture Die also makes it's debut on today's card.

What I love about these leaf images is the detail created by the layering stamps, and the clean lines. Using mostly Distress inks to stamp resulted in a sketchy look for the leaves.  I had a hard time finding matches for the challenge colors, but I do like the result. The sentiment is from SSS and Gina K, as the Bold Summer Blooms set was still out from my recent session. Now I'm ready for one fall birthday in the family! 

I appreciate your visit today. I'll be sharing over at the The Paper Players and  the NBUS challenge. Seems there is a steady stream of never-been-used-stuff available in my craft closet! 

And one more. Tic Tac Toe challenge grid middle row asks for Any Color, FREE, and sentiment. I'm always inspired to play there, and I was happily a Designer's Pick!  

Hope it's a great day for you! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful! 

Supplies:
Inks: Altenew - Ultraviolet, Crimson, DOX - Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade
Card Stock: Concord & 9th

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

A Little Perk

 Hi card makers! I love card challenges so much for the inspiration and incentive they give me to get crafty. Yesterday after seeing the sketch at The Paper Players, I got busy. Here you go! 

I'm setting aside a few older stamps to play with in coming days and had pulled out Cup of Kindness from Concord & 9th and a new paper pad from Penny Black. I really love the versatility of this set. It has great sentiments too! The card process is pretty self explanatory. Just die cuts with a little stamping. I spent more time getting a photo of this card than I did making it. Isn't that refreshing? 

Thanks for coming by. It means so much to me to have you visit. Hope your day is great!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Challenges: 

The Paper Players 

Little Red Wagon  Make It Sew - I used a stitched rectangle panel
Love Those Pretty Papers