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!!

For the Color Throwdown - it's Fuchsia!

 Hi friends! Here I am posting on a hot Sunday afternoon so this card makes it to the Color Throwdown Challenge that inspired me today. I thought Kraft, Fuchsia and Orange were perfect colors for a happy card and I pulled out lots of new to me supplies and got busy! 

I began with a white panel which I embossed and sponged with Tea Dye Distress Oxide ink. The Happy Day stamps and dies (from SSS) have great sentiments. I also like that there is a large solid flower to stamp and two lined flowers to color. I used a combination of distress inks and brush markers to color them. 

More details can be found in the supply list below. I will be entering the Color Throwdown Challenge and 

 because this card was almost entirely made with new supplies, the never-before-used-schtuff challenge called NBUS hosted by Darnell. I was one lucky winner of her gift card and these new supplies are here thanks to her generosity! 

Of course, I did get a bit carried away while ordering. See that bow on my card? I saw someone use that Iridescent White Cord (SSS) and just had to have it!

Also linking to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge, Emboss it 

Thanks for your visit today, I hope your day is fabulous! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: 
SSS - **Happy Day stamps and dies
Inks - Worn Lipstick, Carved Pumpkin, Tea Dye
Sissix - **3D Texture Fades Quilted

** new

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!  

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!  

Capture Joy and Butterfly Kisses

Welcome back! Hello, on this sunny warm beautiful day, I'm so glad you've joined me. Today I'm sharing a quick post featuring the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for the month, called Capture Joy. 

Although his kit has sold out, many elements are still available singly for sale.  I hope that you'll enjoy a glimpse of four cards that I've made with these fun papers and stamps.

Some of you know that when I moved recently I did a major downsize and gave away most of my craft supplies. I did have a room full! It seems I've missed all the reams of patterned papers that I had the most! And to be honest, I'm being careful with bringing in the new stuff, lol! The card kit gives me a kick and I am loving this one. 

Butterflies and polka dots, what's NOT to love? Wishing you a fabulous day! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Challenges I am entering today: 
NBUS #75 - the stamps and DSP are new
Simon Says Stamp
Inkspirational Challenge #43  Their mood board is a fabulous array of colors and textures that inspired me. 

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

Happiness Always with Penny Black

 Hello crafters and friends, I hope you are as pleasantly surprised as I am to see my third post of the week. And it's only Wednesday! 

Today's card features stamps from Penny Black, and my watercoloring with Distress Ink re-inkers. Both are things I love to create with and the time spent is like therapy for me! 

I began by stamping on watercolor card stock, and coloring the images in. Then I fussy cut each of them out. I added sponged ink and the sentiment to the card base, and layered the frame on top. I love the soft pastels; the feminine touch of pearls is the only embellishment. 

I'm so glad you came by!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Penny Black Supplies: Delightful Day, Brew-tea-ful, Overflowing; Frame It Die

I'm entering the following challenges today: 
The Paper Players Theme challenge Spring Flowers
NBUS - Never Been Used SCHTUFF -The tea cup stamps are "new" 
The Card Concept - I was inspired by the soft colors and flowers, and made my Clean and Layered Card. 

Try It On Tuesday - For a Lady   Anything Goes
Penny Black Saturday Challenge     Anything Goes

Christmas in July!

 Hi, again! Hope your week is off to a good start. 

It's still July so when I saw Sheri's great new colors for us at Color Hues! I made my first Christmas card for 2024. She has chosen Red and Green and you may use the combo any way you wish, as long as you add only neutrals - black, white, kraft or gold, gray or cream.

Here you go! 

Pulling out my Winterberry dies, stamps and stencils, I created my focal point. I used Distress Inks and chose to layer the bouquet over an embossed white panel. 

The bow and the sentiment tag are also from The Greetery.

Thanks for following us at Color Hues, We hope that you will be stoked to create! 

They're asking for FRAMES at the Christmas Kickstart Challenge, so I'll also be linking up over there.  

I sure enjoyed your visit, stay cool!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Songbirds Make my Heart Sing

 Hey there, friends! It's nearly the end of the week, and soon will be the end of the month, and I've been mostly MIA. I'm here today to fix that! 
I've pulled out a new-to-me stamp set, and was inspired to join a card challenge I've just discovered called Triple B: Birds, Blooms, and Butterflies! Use one or all three in your cards.
I spent a few tries with mediums to color the bird, but liked this one best using Copic markers and made it into a card. 

What I love about this Songbird stamp set (Concord & 9th) is that the bird on the tree branch is a separate stamp, and there are images to add to the branches for each season of the year. I used the flowers and buds for a spring scene. Deciding it needed some texture, I added the border of stitching, and a bit of color randomly dotted with a stencil. A few flat sequins and two butterfly die cuts complete the card. 
Thanks so much for joining me today and taking a peek at this creation! It's been nice sharing a bit of time together, let's do it again soon!  

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Card Supplies: Concord & 9th - Songbird Stamp Set. Lawnfawn - Just Stitching Double Rectangles. Tim Holtz - stencil. Sequins are from The Cat's Pajamas. Stampin' Up! - butterfly dies. 

NBUS Challenge #50 using a new stamp set

and Triple B Birds, Blooms & Butterflies has a lovely mood board. I used all three B's on my card. 

Combining Stencils

 I am popping in with a card for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge, even though it's near the deadline, I just had to play along. You may have noticed my obsession with stencils lately. It continues! I learned so many ideas from the Stenciled 2 Online Card Class, that I pulled all my stencils out, and ordered a few more as well. 

I just couldn't wait to use this new stencil from Gina K designs, called Bold Bouquet. 

Beginning with pale blue card stock, I blended Oxide inks in layers using Salvaged Patina, Peacock Feathers, and just a bit of Shabby Shutters. 

For the next step, I inked the Stitched Quilt Stencil  (Frantic Stamper) over the entire card front. This simple layer brought cohesiveness to the design. Wanting to add texture, I used the Dot Fade stencil (Tim Holtz) and randomly daubed white craft ink in a few areas. 

I had a blast making this card and I was really pleased with how it turned out. I am eyeing all my stencils differently now that I realize how many ways they can be used. 

The Tic Tac Toe challenge had great options! I went with the top row suggesting Flowers, Word Die and Matching Envelope. 

It was easy to add a stenciled flower diagonally across the envelope with some design on the back and upper left front.  

ETA:  I didn't make it in time to enter at Tic Tac Toe. Next time!

I will also add this to NBUS, SSS Wednesday Challenge, and a new to me challenge at 

 I hope this encourages you today. Get those stencils out to play! I am grateful for your kind visit, thanks so much! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Black White and Bright

Hello, welcome back to my blog! 

I was inspired to pull out black foil and the Glimmer Machine and had fun coloring one of my favorite florals.

The Pinkfresh Studio Bright Days Hot Foil Plate and dies were used, and although I have the coordinating stencils I didn't use them. I colored the blooms with Copic markers. The Woven foil plate created the black cross-hatch. I love how this looks in real life! Bold and shiny. 

Trimming vertically the right side of the card front a bit shorter than the back allows the pretty paper inside to show. Lastly, the sentiment from Neat & Tangled was embossed in white onto black card stock and popped on foam for dimension. 

This has turned out to be a fav of the cards I've created this year. Bright colors are my jam!

Just Us Girls challenged us with a Mood Board. I was inspired by the colors in the bottom left corner, the bold graphics and the HELLO. 

See you soon, wishing you the best!

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Zigs Coloring with Flora & Fauna

 Here's a question for you. What do you do when your mojo is stuck?  First, I stamped images in January to color and worked here and there on them when I had snippets of time. Second, I got inspired by a new idea I saw online and instead of just watching it I determined to do it! Actually, it took me a couple of tries, but here's my card.

Using watercolor paper,  I stamped the lovely image from Flora & Fauna (WPlus9) in Warm Wool ink, which is a soft gray. Using Zig markers and a paintbrush I colored the floral spray, adding detail on the clock face with a black marker and die cutting the image. 

The new technique involved using the frame die cuts to create a shaped card with vellum as the main front layer. Using a cover plate on the vellum gave a wonderful etched texture.

The die cuts are hinged at the top so the card opens and this close-up shows the panel for writing your note inside. It's really nice that the card stands up on its own.  

These are the colors I used, and supplies are listed below for those who want more details. Thanks so much for sticking with me for this long post. Happy crafting to you!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supply List 

Stamps: Flora & Fauna stamps and dies from WPlus9
Ink: Warm Wool (WPlus9), Versamark
Accessories:  Lavinia Layers Background Die from WPlus9; 

Stitched Diamonds Coverplate Die from Pinkfresh Studio

For the video of the technique,  and many ideas, visit Jennifer McGuire HERE

I'm entering these challenges: 

TicTacToe where I chose the middle row across - Layers, Friendship, Circle

The Card Concept where my clean and layered card was inspired by the theme, flowers and colors. 

 

Happy Birthday Blooms

 Hello crafters, how is your weekend going? Mine has been low key but I'm puttering away at some needed household chores. Sometimes the strangest things happen when I'm cleaning off my craft table. A card emerges from the bits of paper that I'm supposed to be putting away. 

I've had the sketch from Freshly Made in my mind all week, and it's been simmering on the back burner. Today the inspiration and scraps of paper came together. 

The stamps and dies are from the Greetery, Birthday Blooms. I've been stamping extra die cuts and storing them in the envie with the stamps, so these were ready to go! I combined them with papers from Echo Park for a clean and simple birthday card. The little twine bow seemed to be the only embellishment needed. 

The circles in the sketch are so versatile! You'd be amazed at the many ways the DT used them! Check it out HERE. 

Wishing you a wonderful day. Thanks for visiting! 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!