Congrats card with Derwent Inktense

Good Tuesday to you! 

I've been wanting to do something that feels "normal" today. You know we have our daughter's wedding in a little over two weeks, and our other daughter and our daughter in love are both having babies in a month or two! You can imagine the busy-ness all these wonderful events entail. Truly they are such a blessing. 

I just needed to regroup today. For me that means making a card, and posting! 

Lucky you! 

I'm sharing this card I made recently to add to my stash. 

I intended only to do some coloring with my Derwent INKtense pencils to better my skills. You know that I love coloring but I still don't have a favorite medium. I've been debating adding a new product.  Polychromos Colored Pencils. I know what your'e thinking.  I said the same thing to myself. Admonishing that I must first decide if I really LIKE coloring with pencils and second, to make sure a new choice of pencils that I 'think' will be better actually WILL. 

That's the story behind me pulling the Inktense out and using what I have. I learned this time that I get a much better result if I color softly in a circular motion and then wash over it with a paintbrush that is barely wet. Also, adding water to the darkest part and moving the brush to the lighter part of an image helped. It's important to clean your brush in between images, otherwise, you will just spread the dark ink and that defies the idea of shading totally. 

I appreciate you sticking with me through this long post! Thanks so much for visiting. If you have any comments on your favorite pencils, I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps:  PTI - Circle of Love, Fresh Bouquet

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Stampin' Up! - Basic Black and Cantaloupe Crisp

INK:Simon Says Stamp - Intense Black

Accessories: PTI - Scalloped Stacker Dies - Large

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites

Hello! 
Surprised to see me post two days in a row? Well, I am surprised too. 
I'm inspired again by Laurie's Fabulous Favorites Challenge at PTI for this week. Stand alone dies? Count me in! I just got a brand new one in my order that arrived today and couldn't wait to use it. 

I paired the new die and sentiments set up with the beautiful Orchid Expressions set that I worked with yesterday. 

Now I'm delighted to have two anniversary cards ready for my stash. I don't often work ahead on Anniversary cards or send them often. But I love the choice of sentiments in the Huge Sentiments stamp set. I will get lots of use out of that as well as the Huge Banner Die and the Huge Congrats die.I love that this die is actually two dies so that you get a larger layer to use behind your word for extra depth. 

My colors are Soft Stone card stock, and Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Amethyst Allure, and New Leaf inks for the blossoms. You know I'm not much of a gray person, but I love the way the colors pop against this pale neutral gray. 

Thanks so much for visiting today!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

          Make something beautiful!

Other accessories: 
Mix & Mat Pretty Brackets Die, Cover Up Hexagons Stamp set

Win It Wednesday with Laurie

Hello, I'm wishing you a happy day before Tuesday flies by! 
Sorry my regular posting has fallen by the wayside. Today I was happy to spend some time stamping so I could play along with Laurie's second challenge for Papertrey Ink called Laurie's Fabulous Favorites. For this week we are to choose our favorite card stock color. 

I made my card with a monochromatic color scheme of Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores and Simply Chartreuse, on a card base of Vintage Cream. I was so inspired when Michelle used these colors for her darling baby card HERE that I couldn't wait to use them. 

My photo isn't the best, we're having dreary weather today! 
Most supplies are listed below. Thank you so much for visiting! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies from Papertrey Ink unless noted *
Stamps: Orchid Expressions, Circle of Love and dies
Paper: Vintage Cream, Aqua Mist

INK: Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Tropical Teal, Simply Chartreuse, Harvest God, Honey Nut; WPlus9* Old Gold for sentiment

Accessories: Scalloped Stackers and Mix & Mat Pretty Brackets Dies

Stitching Garden: A favorite

Hello, and welcome!
I am posting today as part of Laurie's Fabulous Favorites Challenge at Papertrey Ink. Who could resist the challenge to feature one of our favorite sets? It was a hard choice, I love all the florals, but Stitching Garden is hands down my favorite. 

 I layered the beautiful Scalloped Stacker Frame over Bitty Big paper in Green Parakeet, and built my florals on top of a layer sponged with polka dots for added softness. I bit of pink luster drops highlight the flower centers.

It's rainy here and I'm ready for a stay at home day today after a busy weekend. Hope your week is getting off to a great start!

TWO for Mojo Monday

Hello! Just a quick post from me as I want to make the deadline for the Mojo Monday challenge tonight! I pulled out some patterned papers and the Glorious Globes set from Papertrey Ink and came up with two cards. 

I'd never used this set before and it was on my must-do list for January. I'm glad I inked it up, I see so many possibilities with the globe images and cute sayings. 

My first card uses the sketch as shown. I love that Julee gives us the measurements as it really helps, especially with a sketch with many layers like this one. 

Here's the card. 

Here's the sketch. 

Since I had all the stuff out, I put together a second card using the same stamps and different papers. This time I turned the sketch on its side. 

So glad you have come by today. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday. 

My Monthly Hero January Card Kit 2019

Hello! Happy Friday. I can't believe one more week has gone by! 

I created three cards over this past week using the monthly kit from Hero Arts, and I have to tell you how much I love this kit! The stamps and dies are super fun but you get many other supplies as well that make it a terrific value. I began by stamping the images, coloring them with Copics, and then die cutting them. 

The stamps involve a fabulous floral shop display that I featured in the first card. I just love that bicycle image, I know it will be handy for many types of occasions. 

The second card was inspired by the patterned paper in my stash. Framing the three images with die cuts, I added only small hearts and some ribbon from the kit as embellishments. This one is so simple but you know what? It's my favorite. 

For the last project I created a shaker card using the heart-shaped balloons for a Valentine's greeting. 

As always, I thank you so much for stopping by! Hope you have a really wonderful day. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Love the MUGS

Hello crafty friends! 
I've been away from my stamp room this month but I have squeezed in just a teeny bit of time to stamp. Using the limited supplies that I have with me has been refreshing! 

I'm popping in today with a re-make just in time for the Transformation Tuesday Challenge at Papertrey Ink. It's one of my favorite challenges because it encourages us to tweak a card that we've already made. 

I loved this card I made for my Christmas stash this year. 

Today's card shows a remake using the same stamps and a Valentine's theme instead. I changed the style from elegant to clean and layered. I kept it simple using die cut images, a few fishtail tags, and embossed and die cut details on the mugs. Crystal effects on the rose and striped heart add glossy interest too.

PTI supplies used: Merry Mugs stamp sets and dies, card stock and Penned Elegance sentiment stamps. If you get a chance, check out the challenge HERE to see the beautiful cards Laurie made!
I enjoyed sharing this with you. Hope your day is wonderful!