difficult time...

Hello!  Popping in with one of those cards that no one really wants to make... a sympathy card.  One of my very dear friends lost her brother-in-law to COVID-19.  He was a 30 year veteran of the Las Vegas police department and was well respected.  I'm just so sad for my friend and her husband who just lost his big brother.  I used the color combo from Color Throwdown as it was more masculine and lent itself to a sympathy type card.  I used the Altenew Mini Delight: Strength stamp set for the feathers and a sentiment from the Altenew Starry Flowers stamp set.  I found an ink that was close to terracotta to stamp the tip of the feathers after stamping them with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink.  The terracotta ink is from Hero Arts, but I don't know what it is called as it is in cube form and there is no name on it.  The layout is from CAS(E) this Sketch.  I die cut white cardstock using a stitched dot rectangle from A Jillian Vance Design and then stamped the sentiment.   To create the split look from the sketch I embossed lines on either side of the sentiment.  I adhered the panel to a light gray cardstock base with foam tape and then adhered the feathers.  Adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Happy Wednesday!

Hello and happy Wednesday everyone!  Since it is Wednesday that means I have a card up on the AJVD blog.   Here is a little peek of my card:

I hope you will head over to the blog to see my card.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

simple cards...

Hello!  Popping in with a couple of simple cards that I made for two different challenges.  The first card is for the current CAS(E) this Sketch challenge.  This card was really easy to put together because I used die cut pieces from the Spellbinders March 2020 card kit called Feeling Hoppy.  And right now Spellbinders is having a promotion where you can get past kits at a great price!  Simply click here to be taken to the sale or click on the banner below.   Scroll to the bottom of my post for another deal from Spellbinders!   The Feeling Hoppy kit is an Easter one, but I was able to find pieces that worked to create my little collage.  I die cut white cardstock using the largest stitched dot rectangle die from A Jillian Vance Design, adhered it to a white cardstock base and then added all my little pieces.   Love it when a card comes together so quickly!

The second card also uses something from Spellbinders.  This time I used two of the dies from the Amazing Paper Grace Fluted Tracery etched die set.  I had not used those two dies together before and when I saw the Paper Players sketch I had my opportunity.  I used some patterned paper from Moda Scrap that I have had for quite sometime to die cut the intricate rectangle.   This was accomplished by taping the two dies together and then die cutting the paper.  I then die cut two more pieces using a light weight white cardstock.  All three were adhered together.  I die cut the rectangle only to create a solid background for the intricate piece and adhered them together.  I die cut additional coordinating papers using dies from A Jillian Vance Design and adhered everything to a white cardstock base.   The sentiment is from Altenew and was stamped using VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist ink.  I then die cut it with a banner die from MFT and adhered it to the card front.  Again, another simple card that came together quickly!

Finally Spellbinders is also offering a bundle of products valued at $175.00 for $40.00!  You will get stamps, dies, embossing folders and embellishments in each bundle.  Simply click on the banner below to grab your deal!

sunflower...

Hello!  The weekend is almost upon us!  I'm popping in with a card that I made for Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches (I think you knew that one was coming, lol!).   I pulled out a very old stamp set from Flourishes Stamps that was illustrated by Marcella Hawley.   I have always loved the large sunflower from this image and have had it out on my desk for quite sometime.   When I saw Color Throwdown design team member Amy Rohl's card featuring a gorgeous sunflower I was inspired to finally use my sunflower stamp set.  I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored very simply with Copic markers.  I used two shades of yellow for the petals, two shades of orange for the little ladybug and two shades of green for the leaf and stem.   Once I was done I die cut my cardstock with an A Jillian Vance Design stitched dot rectangle die and then adhered the panel to a white cardstock base.   I then used my Glimmer hot foil system to hot foil the sentiment using orange foil.  I die cut it with a slanted banner die from MFT.   I die cut some black cardstock using the same die, layered the two and adhered it to my card with foam tape.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Wednesday with AJVD...

Hello!  I hope your week is going well.  It is Wednesday and that means that I have a post up on the AJVD blog today.  Here is a little peek of my card:

I hope you will head over to the AJVD blog to see the full card.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

flowers...

Hello and happy Monday!  I'm popping in with a couple of cards that I have shared on Instagram.  One card is for the MFT sketch challenge and I was just going to use Instagram to enter the challenge, but decided to post it on my blog since I still have a little bit of time before the challenge closes.  The second card was just something I colored up last week and turned into a card.   With the card for the MFT sketch challenge I used one of the images from the MFT Magnolia Blossom stamp set.  I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored the flowers with two Copic markers (R81 and R83).  The stems were colored with one (YG67) and the center of the main flower with just one color, as well (Y02).  I had originally started coloring the image with different colors, but it was too bright.  I really took my time with the coloring and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.   I fussy cut the image once it was done and then finished up the rest of the card per the sketch.  I have a medallion die from MFT that I used for the background.  I don't know what it is called and I don't think it is available any more, but it is sure is pretty.  This is my first time using it.  I stamped the sentiment (from a retired MFT stamp set called Spring Blossoms) on vellum with watermark ink and heat embossed with Ebony embossing powder from WOW!

With the second image I used my ZIG markers.  I love the Mondo line of stamps from Ellen Hutson and one of my favorites in the Mondo Gerbera Daisy.  I used that one and stamped it on smooth bristol cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.   This is another one that I spent along time on the coloring.  Once I was done with the ZIG coloring I added a little bit of depth with a brown Polychromos color pencil.  The image was die cut with the matching die.   To make the card I kept it simple and just added a little strip of yellow cardstock that I embossed and a simple sentiment that I stamped with the same Acorn ink.  I think coloring with my ZIGs is my favorite way to color. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

golden sakura...

Hello!  Got some crafty time in and made a card for the two challenges that I pretty much always combine:  Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches!    The FMS sketch is a square one and generally I don't like to make square cards (not sure why), but I decided to go with the square on the finished card.  I stamped the Essentials by Ellen Mondo Sakura on smooth bristol with VersaMark watermark ink and then embossed using WOW embossing powder in Metallic Gold Rich Pale and then colored with ZIG markers.  I used Pink Flamingo and Orange to create my peachy color.   And then finished with little touches green.  I will admit that I had to start over because I added little touches of color to the stamens and then die cut the image.  The little bit of color wasn't dry and it smeared on to the image.   Another live and learn, lol!  With the second image I didn't add the color to the stamens until after I had done the die cutting!  I created a background piece by scribbling two shades of blue ZIGs (Blue Hazel and Persian Blue) on some bristol cardstock and then blended it out with water.  After it had dried I die cut it with a Spellbinders classic square die.  The piece was adhered to an off white cardstock base and then I added the flower image.  Finished off the card by stamping the sentiment with VersaMark on vellum and heat embossing with the same embossing powder used for the image.  Sometimes simple is the best.  With my floral image I think this will also work for the current Inspired By challenge so I shall post it there, as well.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Happy Wednesday!

Hello and happy Wednesday!  It is already the middle of July!  How the heck did that happen?  I have a card up on the AJVD blog today and it features some fabulous new products!  Here is a little peek:

I hope you will head over to the AJVD blog to check out my card!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

hello there

Well... hello there!   Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!  I attended my niece's bridal shower and had a nice time.  She is will be getting married in early September and is fortunate that her venue is moving forward with her wedding.   I did get time this morning/afternoon to make a card for several different challenges:  Fab Friday (sketch), Sunday Stamps (colors) and Inspired  By (inspiration).   When I saw the inspiration photo at Inspired By I immediately thought of the pineapple themed stamp sets and settled on one from Simon Says Stamp (no longer available) called One Cool Pineapple.  This set also includes a watermelon slice making it perfect for the inspiration.   I stamped the pineapple and watermelon slice on watercolor paper with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink.  I filled in some of the gabs with a little flower from the set, as well.  I then did simple watercoloring with distress inks.  I used Mowed Lawn, Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber and Spiced Marmalade for the pineapples.   The watermelon slices were colored with Mowed Lawn and Picked Raspberry.   The little flowers were colored with Mermaid Lagoon.  Once the piece was dry I die cut it with a rectangle die.  I didn't want to cover up all the coloring that I had done so in order to keep with the Fab Friday sketch I die cut the smaller rectangle directly from the main rectangle.  I then adhered the main rectangle flush on my card base and popped up the smaller rectangle with foam tape.  The sentiment is from the SSS set called Hello Darling.  I heat embossed it with black embossing powder from WOW Embossing on vellum and then die cut it with a fishtail flag die.  That was adhered using rolled up glue dot so that the adhesive wasn't as noticeable.   A simple take on the sketch, but I like how things turned out!

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great week!

happy wednesday!

(Check out my CTD post here)

Happy Wednesday everyone!  I have a post up on the A Jillian Vance Design blog today and here is a little peek of my card:

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

guesting at color throwdown!

Hey there!  Super excited to be guesting at one of my very favorite challenges:  Color Throwdown!  I love me a good color challenge and CTD has been the top color challenge out there for 601 challenges!   For my card today I used a lovely image from the Pinkfresh Studio Hanging Florals stamp set.  I decided that I wanted to use the image to create a wreath.  I stamped the image on smooth bristol cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR ink twice and let them dry.   After I had colored each image and cut one out with the matching die I realized that I should have die cut my pieces first and then stamped them.  I ended up ruining one of the colored images and had to start over.  Live and learn, right?   The images were colored with my ZIG markers and Polychromos color pencils.  I trimmed off the ends of the image that I did not need and then arranged the pieces on my die cut panel.   I used a sentiment from the Pinkfresh Studio Believe in Yourself stamp set and heat embossed it in black on vellum.  The vellum was trimmed into a strip and wrapped around the panel.   I'm also going to add this to the July Pinkfresh Studio inspiration challenge.  The challenge this month is summer and I think my brightly colored wreath just says summer!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Spellbinders 4th of July Sale!

Hello!  Popping in to let you know that Spellbinders is having a 4th of July sale!  This sale starts today and runs through the 7th of July.  Just click on the banner below to be taken to the sale!

Spellbinders is also offering a special deal regarding their kit clubs.  Right now you can get a 10% discount off your first month of a new club subscription!  Spellbinders' clubs are an amazing value to begin with and to get an additional 10% off your first month?  That's even better!  Just use the code 'JULY'  to get the discount. 

Thanks for stopping by and happy shopping!

poppies and butterflies...

Hello!  I'm popping in with a couple of cards.  First up is a card for this week's Color Throwdown and Sunday Stamps challenge.   I really like how this card turned out, but as I was making it I ended up creating a little bit of headache for myself, lol!   Originally I was going to save this card to share for my regular Wednesday post (July 8th) on the A Jillian Vance Design blog, but because I ended up using the color combo from Color Throwdown I decided to share it now.   A Jillian Vance Design has many stand alone die sets and the Poppy die set that was released earlier this year.  They also added a new product to their line up that helps you give dimension to your flowers like the poppy flowers I created.   You can find the Petal Pusher Stylus and Shape Up Mat flower shaping combo in the store.  The stylus is made of medical grade stainless steel and has two different balls to use to shape the flowers.  I die cut the flowers from a poppy red cardstock and then misted the back of each flower (2 flowers to make one poppy) lightly with water.  I let them dry for a little while and then used the stylus and the mat to give the flowers shape.  Once they were completely dry I adhered two flowers together to create each poppy.  The centers of the flowers were die cut from black cardstock (2 for each flower) and adhered to the center of the flowers.  I then die cut multiple leaves to go with the flowers.   The headache part came into play when I went to arrange the flowers per the sketch.   My flowers had a really nice shape, but nestling them together was very difficult until I determined that I needed to place the two smaller flowers on their sides!  Once that happened I was able to get the card finished.  The banner die and the sentiment are also from A Jillian Vance Design.   This is definitely a hand to a person kind of card with all that dimension!

The second card is for Freshly Made Sketches.   After all the effort that went into the first card I decided to go the easy route and use some pieces from one of the Spellbinders ephemera packs that I have.  These pieces were part of the Stay Wild card kit from Spellbinders.  I die cut some off white textured cardstock with an AJVD rectangle die and then layered up all the different pieces per the FMS layout.  Once everything was adhered I added the card to a kraft cardstock base.  Super, super quick and easy!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Happy July!

Hey everyone!  Happy July!  Can't believe that July is already here!  It is also Wednesday and that means that I have a post up on the AJVD blog.  Here is a little peek:

I hope you will head over to the AJVD blog to see the full project and to let me know what you think.  Have a great day!