Playing with Friends!

 Hi there! 

It's a special kind of sharing on my blog today! You know we stampers love to play in challenges and sometimes in person. One of my favorite blog friends is Michele at I Card Everyone. I so admire her ability to design fabulous cards and then present them with her bit of wit and good humor! 

Today I'm part of her series called Playing with Friends.  She is such a fun friend to have, and gives much sweetness with her blog and many comments of encouragement to others.

We each create using the same supplies or, in this case a theme. BEACH!  It is National World Oceans Day, so we are creating projects around oceans or things to do at the beach. Of course I went with the beach theme, since that is my last name! That certainly makes me qualified, you think?

I have loved the Hello Bluebird stamps Seaside Girls set and I decided this was a good occasion to (order) and use it.  I colored these friends with Copics and used the Ocean Scene die to create a beach scene. Brand new supplies to me.  Inking each panel, I added dots and splatters as needed and assembled them on the card. The middle layer of the ocean is popped up for dimension. 

The sky was lightly inked and stamped with my message for Michele: I'm so lucky to have a friend like you! That message is for you too, dear readers.

I love collecting shells at the beach. It's my favorite thing to do! I can't wait to see which way the waves took Michele for her project, please join me in checking it out HERE.  

I will be linking at NBUS and at The Paper Players Summer Theme Challenge. 

Wishing you a day filled with sunshine and smiles. 

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft           
          Make something beautiful! 

Yo, dude!

 A happy shout out to you today from my craft room! Hope you are doing well. 

This week's challenge at Inspired By is called Shred the Cake and the photo is so inspiring! Even if like me, you have to look up the terminology! Suffice it to say that if you can shred you have great skate or snowboarding skills. 

 

This one had me stumped at first until I got very literal with my interpretation. And remembered that I had this very cool Tiger and Lily set from Waffle Flower waiting to be used in my stash. What fun I had with this card for a young teen!

Coloring was done with Copic markers and I fussy cut the images. I found this DP in my scrap box. What stood out to me the most in our photo was the stripes, so I had to use it, echoing the photo colors as well.  The card measures 4.25 x 6.26 " so there is some extra room inside. 

It's my first time using this set, so I will be entering this at NBUS! Darnell is the best and I love to play there. 

How does the photo or theme prompt you? I can't wait to see how you have fun with it! 
Thanks for coming by my blog, it always amazes me that you keep coming. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Color Hues #19 Blue and Brown

Hi friends! I'm happy to turn the page on the calendar. Welcome to a new month, a new color challenge and my blog! I hope things are going well with you. 

Can I tell you that using only two colors is always a challenge for me? I want to pull out ALL the colors. I find that being challenged makes me think outside the box and create cards in different styes, which I think is tons of fun! I learn a lot this way. 

For instance, I've learned that the capybara, which lives predominantly in South America is the largest living rodent in the world, weighing in at 77 - 150 pounds?  I've traveled to South America but never ran into one of these guys! I've also learned that they can look CUTE - on cards! 

Here's my take on blue and brown for a simple gender neutral birthday card. I did some masking, coloring with Copics and fussy cutting this critter for the tag. For the card base,  I used a stencil to add a few polka dots with Distress Oxide Inks.

Blue and brown work well together, and I'm sure the rest of the team will amaze you with their creative samples. Check them out and join us at Color Hues!

I appreciate your visit today, thanks!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Waffle Flower - Summer Time; The Greetery - Cake Pop Sentiments and dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, SU - Marina Mist

INK: Gina K - Amalgam; DOX - Tea Dye, Walnut Stain

Accessories: stencil - PTI 

Inspired By...Love How You Lilac

 Hello, it's Thursday, you know what that means! The new challenge at Inspired By is Love How You Lilac with a beautiful floral bouquet and a pun to go with it. I don't get the pun (do you?) maybe you can explain it to me, but lilacs are my very favorite flower so I will start there! 

I love this beautiful new-to-me stamp Sweet Centerpiece from Penny Black. I stamped it onto watercolor card stock and used the Mungyo 46 pan watercolor set as suggested by Dawn Wholeslagle  on her fabulous LIVES and kept the coloring very simple. These images were too small to really build up layers but I kept with the colors in the challenge photo.  Masking the edges, I added a background with a dauber and Distress Oxide inks to really help the floral image to stand out. This is a 5X7 card that will go to someone special when the need arises. 

This card will make it's way to the NBUS blog as the stamps are brand new. I am so glad you were by to visit today! I appreciate your time and kind words.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Penny Black - Sweet Centerpiece, The Greetery - Fresh Air Stamp Set (sentiments)

INK:Distress Oxide Inks - Antique Linen, Dried Marigold

Accessories: Clear drops, WPlus9 - 5X7 Layers Dies

Inspired By...Hello Baby Flowers

Hi there, have you been inspired lately? I've been seeing foiled cards everywhere and was inspired to get out my foil and laminator and prepare a few backgrounds last week. One came in handy for the challenge at Inspired By! I went with the theme of Hello and Flowers. Here's my card.

I love mint and peach together so it was easy to incorporate those hues in my design. A few details: I used Thermo Web Deco Foil in gold and Transfer Gel with a stencil to create the foiling. Adding gold thread behind the focal point repeated that element. The stamps and dies used are from The Greetery: Opposites Attract (new stamps to me and I will surely be using them often!) and Birthday Blooms. We are thrilled to have so many participating in our challenges, and it's delightful to see your beautiful work in the gallery. 

Hope you will be inspired to play along! I will be adding this link to the wonderful challenge at NBUS, where I go to be inspired! 

Thank you for coming by, have a great day.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Watercolor Birthday

 Hello, crafty friends! It's me on a Monday, just popping in with a card for a couple challenges and some watercolor fun! I am glad to see you.

The weekly challenge at Waffle Flower is one you shouldn't miss! This week's theme is embossed resist watercolor. 

You know I love to watercolor so I pulled out Bouquet Builder #6 and dies and painted with my Mungyo 46 pan set. Embossing the image in Rose Gold (Altenew) adds a soft glow. Embossing first helps those hesitant to watercolor because the embossing holds the water in place. 

I had a foiled strip already made using a polka dot stencil so I added that for a focal point and to carry over the gold as an accent. That lets me add this to the challenge at The Paper Players to use polka dots on a CAS card. 

I am so glad you came by to visit today! Getting to stamp just for fun makes it a happy day for me! Take care. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Color Hues #18 Purple and Teal

 Hi, and welcome back to my blog for the next installment of color duos at Color Hues! Purple and Teal brings many things to mind but I decided to go with an abstract background for my card. 

I heat embossed the background stamp in white and sponged inks to add color. I die cut the HAPPY and some stars in white and gold foil, and the birthday in a dark purple card stock.  

This card was fairly simple to make and will be even easier to give! I can't wait to see the wonderful inspiration from the rest of our terrific team. 

Hope you will join us! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used are from Honey Bee Stamps:

Diamond Daze Background Stamp, Happy Birthday Word Dies.