A million LUCKY wishes!

 Sometimes inspiration leaves you in surprise since you never know where it will take you! 

That's how things went with today's card. I absolutely fell in love with these adorable critters, and colored them up one day so they would be ready to go! Then I forgot about them.

Usually when I see an inspiration photo, I begin by jotting down ideas. Stamp images or colors, or a sentiment to use, and things go from there. 

This time, I knew what I didn't want - a typical rainbow or good luck set. I just wanted to do something different, you know? My idea was only to use stripes and maybe not even green ones. 

So I took the brand new die I'd just received, and chose a color combo. After completing the panel I scratched my head, thinking this was all very nice but there were NO images! 

Lo and behold, as I pulled out different stamps, these happy little bunnies and a squirrel making dandelion wishes hopped out of the storage envelope and right onto my card. 

I even have a tiny bit o'green, see? And making wishes - maybe for good luck or a pot of gold? I added a tiny rhinestone gem to the base of each dandelion.

I will let you complete the story. And while you're at it, check out the fab DT samples and play along with us at the Inspired By Challenge! We love seeing how you are inspired!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Mama Elephant - Dandelion Wishes stamps and dies

INK: Gina K Amalgam, Copic Markers 

Accessories: Mini Slim Diagonal Stripes Cutting Plate from TE

Hello CAT-Lovers!

 Hello to all the cat lovers, out there - this one's for YOU! I don't count myself as a cat lover but in photos and on paper I think they're adorable! Especially when they have CAT-ITude! That's the theme of this week's challenge at Inspired By! 

I have to tell you that I had almost NO cat images, and since I prefer dogs,  that was OK with me. Until this Kwan Crafts Cats Background stamp of adorable cats found it's way onto my Am**** order. 

And just look how much fun I had with it! 

Here is our inspiration photo. 

Of course I added boldly striped DSP and the colors in the photo to assemble the layout. 

I hope you love it as much as I do! Said with a bit of catty sass. Meoow! 

Please play along with us, won't you?

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Kwan Crafts Cats Background, Avery Elle - Furry Friends

Paper: Neenah Solar White, PTI Bitty Big black

INK:Simon Says Stamp - Intense Black

Accessories: Copic markers, SU punch

Classic Thank You with Modern Roses

It's a sunny day and supposed to warm up this afternoon. Isn't that a wonderful surprise? I hope that some part of your day is filled with wonder and joy! 

I had the gorgeous rose images from the Modern Roses set (WPlus 9) on my desk, already colored and die cut. Please note, I colored these to practice detailed coloring with my Copics, not really intending to use them. It's just that I saw The Paper Players great sketch and the layout inspired the creation of this card. 

The roses were gold embossed, and a gold foil mat behind the black panel added elegance and drama to this classic design. 

I'm keeping this short as the blue sky beckons. Thanks so much for your visit! I will be back tomorrow.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: WPlus 9 - Modern Roses, Basic Labels and coordinating dies

Accessories: The Greetery - Nordic Frame Dies

Color Hues featuring Country Florals

Hi there! 

I just love turning the calendar to a new page and starting a brand new month, don't you? Happy day, it's March 1 and that means a spankin' new challenge at Color Hues! 

The colors I chose for our group were two of my favorites, yellow and blue. I created this card using Pinkfresh Studio's Floral Notes stamp set, keeping with a provincial country look for the florals

I heat embossed the blooms in white and colored them in using my Zig markers. For the background panel I stamped the Windowpane Plaid Background Stamp in blue. I added the die cut sentiment using the Birthday Blooms stamps and dies, also from The Greetery. I love the boldness and larger size of these sentiments. For more real estate, I made this card a into a 5 X 7.  Finding just the shade of blue in my sequins stash, made me happy! I must (blushingly) say that I love how this turned out. 

I'm just remembering that after our 20 years of frequent cross country and overseas moves as my dear one served the military, I dreamed of having a home that I could decorate and make our very own. We eventually had a new home built.

It featured yellow and blue and a french provincial style - and lots of flowery patterns and accents! Although now my style is simpler and more modern - I still love this look. 

That's what I love about this craft. It's only paper! I hope you can't wait to join us at the challenge with YOUR style!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Keeping it CAS Tossed FLorals

 It is Friday, hope things are looking up for you! After a couple very warm sunny days, I had spring on my mind.  These lovelies are from the Tossed Florals stamps and include the Floral Border die from WPlus 9. 

Since I've been keeping up with Dawn's lives, I have a little pile of paper bits already cut or colored and just waiting to be used on a card. Some are panels or backgrounds.

That makes completing a sketch so easy! It spares me having  to THINK so long in order to decide what set or images to use. I'm using this one from Freshly Made sketches, turning it horizontally.

The florals were colored with Copics, and I cut a small panel to keep the card simple, adding a few cut out images for a focal point, and rounding the edges. 

Enjoy your dreams of spring, whatever that means for you! I got my second vaccine dose, so my dreams of spring involve visits to those people I love and have not seen in so long. VERY soon! Be still my heart. 

Sending hugs your way today too. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: WPlus9 - Tossed Florals, Hello & Thanks and dies; Waffle Flower - Potted Lily (sentiment)

Paper: Neenah Solar White

INK: Gina K Amalgam Ink 

Accessories: Floral Border Die, Nuvo Drops, Corner Rounder 

Take a Number!

 Hello! Ready for another fun challenge this week at Inspired By? Take a Number has lots of possibilities! Using a number on a card is perfect with grandchildren's birthdays coming soon! And who doesn't love balloons? 

My little sweet petunia will love this mini slimline card in Flirty Flamingo with the three scalloped windows. 

I hope that you'll join us to play along! There are lots of occasions for using numbers. Birthdays, anniversaries, special dates. 

Or let the stripes colors and polka dots inspire you. We look forward to your designs! Thanks so much for your visit to my blog. Your comments are so cheering. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps:  NEW TO ME! Balloon Numbers from Sugar Peas and coordinating dies. Entering to NBUS. 

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Flirty Flamingo - SU

INK: Gina K - Amalgam Ink

Accessories:  COPIC markers, Wink of Stella, and NBUS - Mini Slim Square Window Cutting Plate - Taylored Expressions

Inspired By... Quote Me

 I had an idea right away when I saw the theme for Inspired  By Challenge #162 called Quote Me. I had many quotes I could choose from and wanted to feature a favorite Bible verse. Imagine  my delight when the quote fit perfectly into the Open Book Die from Sugar Pea Designs! I'd been waiting for this die to get back in stock and now is the perfect moment to use it for the first time. 

Here it is!

Do you remember Verve stamps? I loved the Scripture verses especially and think the sentiment and die from PTI works well with it. 

I did some ink blending on the background and the large book. The flowers were colored with Copics. I added a few gems and Glossy Accents to the thin black strip. 

Want to know something about my color combo? I saw Sen. Amy Klobuchar wear a beautiful coat in a luscious color of pale pumpkin on Inauguration Day. Honey or marigold come to mind. She paired it with a burgundy scarf and face mask. Honestly, you can find color inspiration everywhere, HA! I love the honey gold of the bear in our photo too. 

I will also share this card at NBUS, never-before-used-shtuff! 

Hope you will be inspired to play along! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by~

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: PTI - Inspired Prayer Mini Set and Die, Verve

Paper: Neenah Solar White

INK: Gina K Amalgam Black, Versamark

Accessories: Copic markers, Distress Oxide Inks, Glossy Accents, Buttercream Gems, Open Book Sugar-Cut Dies