sending joy...

 Hello, hello!  Popping in with a card for several challenges:  Just Us Girls (word week: Joy), Color Hues (Pink and Aqua), Sunday Stamps (sketch) and Paper Players (clean and simple Christmas).  Lets have a look at what I made.

It is rare that I make a card for four different challenges, but this card is one.   It started out that I was only going to make it for Sunday Stamps and Just Us Girls, then I saw the color combo at Color Hues and had to add it to the mix.   Then I saw the challenge from Paper Players and couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a clean and simple card!   Several years ago I purchased a pretty Stampin Up! set called Joy of Noel.  I had used a few of the dies from the set, but never the stamps.  I pulled it out for this card.  Stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored with Copics in shades of aqua and pink.    The die cut "joy" is a very old Simon Says Stamp die that I cut from white cardstock three times and adhered together.  I then colored the top layer with the light pink Copic marker I used to color the berries.  Embossed a white rectangle with the pretty holly swirl embossing folder.  I trimmed that panel down a little bit and then added the aqua cardstock strip to the one side.  I tried to use a strip of pink cardstock on the card, but neither color I tried worked with the Copic colors I used.  So I used sparkly silver glitter cardstock!  Really like how it looks.  Layered on the colored image and the sentiments that are from an older Simon Says Stamp set that I just love.  One more Christmas card to add to my stash!

Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Birch Press Design...

 Hello everyone!  The Birch Press Design blog is still down so here I am with my first of two BPD blog posts.  I hope you enjoyed what I made.  Let's have a look.

Memory Box recently released two new fall themed 6x6 paper pads (Nutmeg Forest and Nutmeg Plaid) and I just had to use them for my card.  I used a plaid for the background and one of the gold foiled patterns for the scalloped circles (Poppystamps Scallop Pinpoint Rings).

For the acorns and oak leaves I used the new Oak Leaves Contour Layers die set.  I had a piece of cardstock that I had layered several different distress mica sprays on and used that for the acorns and leaves.  The hello sentiment is the brand new Hello Scripted die and I die cut that from kraft cardstock three times then layered together.  

I layered on the plaid background and the die cut circles on to a kraft cardstock base.  I arranged the acorns and leaves and then added the sentiment.  I love the rustic look of this design. 

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

autumn blessings

 Hello!  Popping in with a card for the current Color Throwdown challenge.   For this card I combined a newly released Simon Says Stamp die set with a very old (but favorite) Simon Says Stamp stamp set.  Let's have a look.

As I have said before I love pumpkins and when I saw this super cute Autumn Arrangement die set from Simon Says Stamp I had to get it (didn't hurt that it was reasonably priced, too!).   To get the colors that I wanted I used distress inks in Rusty Hinge, Aged Mahogany and Forest Moss.  I inkblended each color onto white cardstock and then die cut the pieces.  Because this is a smaller die set I was able to use up pretty much all of the inkblended cardstock and get enough pieces for my arrangment.  I used the Memory Box pierced arched die set for the background layers, stamping the sentiment (from the very old SSS stamp set by the same name) on the smaller arch with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.  I then arranged all my pieces.  I layered the small arch onto the larger one and tucked the left-over leaves in the corner.  I finished by adding all the flowers and a tiny drop of Morning Dew Nuvo drops to each flower center.  I adhered the panels to my kraft cardstock base and I was done.  This also works for the Card Concept so I'm going to add it to their gallery.   My card would probably fall into the clean, but somewhat layered category, lol!

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

Old Fashioned Christmas

 Hello everyone!  I had a post ready to go for the new release from Simon Says Stamp and once, again, Blogger flagged it and unpublished it.  When I read the email it said that I was engaging in SPAMMING!  I had about 7 affiliate links in my post and that is all.  I tried removing those links and republishing, but it flagged me, AGAIN!  So... here I am writing a completely new post and hoping that it gets published.   So incredibly tired of Blogger!   Here are the cards I made:

SSS generously sent me a stamp set called Old Fashioned Christmas.  It features four images and several sentiments.  For this card I stamped the image of a decanter on watercolor cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and then did very simple watercoloring to make it look like there was some type of alcohol in the decanter.  The bow was also stamped on watercolor cardstock (twice) with the Nocturne ink and then watercolored.  When the image was dry I trimmed out the full bow and then just the top portion of the bow (if that makes sense, lol) and layered them together with thin foam squares for a little dimension.  I die cut some Christmas foliage from watercolor cardstock and added a wash of color to the pieces.  Once everything was dry I adhered the pieces to my decanter and finished with the sentiment from the stamp set.

For the second card I stamped both of the drink images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored very simply with Copic markers.  I die cut the panel with a rectangle die and layered it on glitter cardstock with a light peach hue to it.  I added a bit of more sparkle to each drink by adding glossy accents and Rock Candy glitter to the ice cubes, cherry and orange slice.  

That's it for me.  If you want to check out the release, please click the link to Simon Says Stamp that is over on my side bar.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

autumn frame...

 Hello!  Popping in with a quick share of a card that I made for Color Throwdown and Paper Players.  Will also add it to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  Let's have a look.

I used the Simon Says Stamp Autumn Frame stencil and inks from Altenew (Terracotta) and Pinkfresh Studio (Doe and Sweet Mustard) to create the autumn frame.  Once down with the stenciling I die cut it with a rectangle die.  The sentiments are from the SSS stamp set Cozy Autumn Hugs.  I stamped them with the PFS Doe ink and die cut with matching dies.  I die cut additional layers and layered them behind the sentiment.   I added the panel to a kraft cardstock base, adhered the sentiments and then added some tiny gems. 

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

spooky manor...

 Hello everyone!  Happy day before Halloween!  I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, but I just couldn't resist creating a somewhat spooky scene with the new Birch Press Design Littletown Spooky Manor and Wavy Hillside dies.  Today would have been my day to post on the Birch Press Design blog, but the blog is still down so I'm posting here.  Let's have a look at my card.

Lots of inkblending going on with this card!  I started by die cutting the Wavy Hillside die from dark green Memory Box cardstock and then inking up the edges with Forest Moss distress ink.   For the sky and the moon I used more distress inks.  Scattered Straw for the moon and Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord and Scorched Timber.   With all the inkblending done I let everything dry.

The pieces of the Spooky Manor and trees were die cut from purple and black Memory Box glitter cardstock.   Yellow glitter cardstock was just for the light in the windows.  I saved the arched fall out pieces from the window to create a little graveyard scene up on the hill.  So fun I could use the pieces for that! 

I layered the hillside pieces on to the background using two heights of foam squares and liquid adhesive.  At this point I decided to add splatters of foundry wax in Gilded to the sky.  So I used masking paper to cover up the bottom and splattered away.  I then heat set it with my heat tool.  Now it was time to add the "tombstones", trees and spooky manor.  I finished with a computer generated sentiment that I die cut with a banner die and inked up with ink from the blending brushes. 

I really like how it turned out.  I will be adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

more clean and simple mixed media...

 Hello!  I'm back and like the title of my post says I have more cards created in a clean and simple style that feature some mixed media!  Love combining things that don't seem like they belong together, lol.  Let's have a look at what I made.

This card is for Freshly Made Sketches and I just love how it turned out!   I used lots of distress mica sprays and I think the Fossilized Amber distress spritz for the leaves.  The whole thing started when I created the tag I used on this card.  I had alot of the sprays left over in my splatter box and so I decided to grab a piece of watercolor cardstock and soak up all the leftover sprays.  The end result was a brownish color.  Once it was dry I added some additional mica spray in Mulled Cider and Harvest Moon (I think, lol).   I let it dry and then die cut the leaves using a leaf die from A Jillian Vance Design and a set of leaf dies from Simon Says Stamp.   A piece of off white cardstock was die cut with a rectangle die and then I worked on the arrangment of the leaves.   When I had that done to my liking I took a picture so I could get the placement just right.  I glued down the leaves and then added the sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Cozy Autumn Hugs stamp set with strip of foam tape.  I finished with the little bow.  

This next card is for Color Throwdown and I will also be adding it to the Just Us Girls gallery as I added a little bit of stenciling.   Take a look.

The CTD colors this week are orange, cream and kraft.  I thought the newly released Birch Press Design Splendid Cosmos Contour Layers die would look pretty in those colors.  I die cut the main flower from off white cardstock (PTI's Rustic White) and then added orange ink (Pinkfresh Studio Apricot) to the center of the flower extending it out on the petals.  Got a little too much on that one bottom petal, but I think it looks fine.  I die cut the center pieces from kraft cardstock and then added a little bit of the residual orange ink on my brush to the pieces.   Everything was then glued together.  I originally had another ide for the card, but when I tried it I just didn't like it.  That happens sometimes, right?   So, I decided to sleep on it and in the morning pulled out a brick pattern stencil from MFT Stamps and added the partial brick pattern to a kraft cardstock panel using Picket Fence Studios Luxe Paper Glaze in gold.   Once dry I adhered the flower and then added the sentiment that I had hot foiled on cream cardstock in matte gold.   Again, clean and simple, but with a little touch of mixed media.  Try it sometime!

I was sad to learn of the passing of Color Throwdown team member, Barbara Anders.  She never failed to amaze me with her gorgeous cards!   Her talent will be greatly missed.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

hey pumpkin...

 Hello, again!  Here to share a card that I made for the current Paper Players challenge to create a clean and simple card with a tag on it.    I'm also going to post it to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of Halloween.  Let's have a look at what I made.

The elements of this card got started when I was making the card with the big pumpkin on it.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to use the big pumpkin die set or this Simon Says Stamp die set called Stack o' Pumpkins with the CTD colors.    I die cut the Stack o' Pumpkins from the orange cardstock, as well as the aqua cardstock I used for the other card, but as I played around with the die cuts I just didn't like what I was coming up with.  So, I set Stack o' Pumpkins die cuts to the side and made the other card.  Then I saw the challenge at the Paper Players I thought I could use the other pumpkins on a tag.   While this card is pretty clean and simple I went in a mixed media direction with it.  For the tag I sprayed some white cardstock with Fossilized Amber distress spritz, let it dry and then spritzed on some Fallen Acorn distress mica spray.  I die cut the tag and then used what was left over to back the open ares of the jack o' lantern pumpkins.  I added a bit of distress oxide ink in Gathered Twigs to the tops of each pumpkin.  I didn't want to waste the aqua colored die cut pumpkins so I glued them behind the orange ones.  I stacked all the pumpkins on the tag starting with the bottom one.  I used thin foam squares on that one and then glue for the other two.   I recently purchased a package of Penny Black Beautiful Branches stick and shine so I used one of the branches along with bronze Deco Foil in the upper left corner of a white cardstock rectangle.  I added the tag and then finished off the card with the twine bow and the sentiment.   I didn't have twine in the brown color I wanted so I used some cream colored twine and spritzed it with Gathered Twigs distress stain and Fallen Acorn distress mica spray.  I really like how it turned out.

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

halloween greetings

 Hello!  Popping back in with another card for a few challenges:  Color Throwdown, Just Us Girls and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.   Let's have a look at what I made.

It's pumpkin season and I am here for it!  I LOVE PUMPKINS!! And making card with pumpkins on them, lol!  Couldn't resist using the Simon Says Stamp Pumpkin die set along with the CTD colors and inspiration from the JUGs mood board.  I die cut the pumpkin from orange cardstock and then added some light inking with distress oxide ink left on the blending brush I use with orange oxide inks.  I die cut the stem and leaves from aqua and green cardstocks and did the same thing with them.   Black cardstock was die cut with a rectangle die and then embossed with the spider web embossing folder.  I adhered that to a light gray cardstock base, added the pumpkin and leaves and finished with the sentiment that was stamped in black on the same light gray used for the card base and die cut with a tag die.  To tone down the gray I used the residual ink on my black soot oxide blending brush.   Another Halloween card to send to one of the littles in my life!

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

celebrate today...

 Hello friends!  I'm popping in to share a card that was supposed to be posted to the Birch Press Design blog on Wednesday, October 16th.   Unfortunately, the BPD blog was hacked and Dave, the owner of Birch Press Design was forced to remove the entire blog!    I decided to share what I made here so those of you who aren't on Instagram or don't want to go to the BPD Facebook page can see what I made.  So here we go!

I used the recently released Meadow Berry Branch Contour Layers and Evening Moths dies set for my card.  I wanted bit of a fall/rustic feel for the card so I used orange Memory Box cardstock for the berries and two red Memory Box red cardstocks that are more on the coral side of red.  

I used glossy accents on the berries and moth and then sprinkled on Rock Candy glitter for some subtle sparkle.  I used a Poppystamps circle die set for the two circles in the background.  They were die cut from cream Memory Box woodgrain cardstock.   The background rectangle was die cut from Memory Box kraft woodgrain cardstock.  

After adhering all the pieces as you see, I finished the card with the Celebrate Today Noted Script hot foil plate that was foiled using matte gold foil.   A little side note about hot foiling.  I haven't done it in ages so I was a little worried that I had forgotten how.  Thankfully I remembered and my foiling turned out perfect!  

Well, that is it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

merry & bright...

 Hello!  I'm popping in with a card for Freshly Made Sketches that I made using products from Evergreen Season by 49 and Market.   I think this also fits the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to add texture.  I have lots of texture in those layers, lol!  Let's have a look!

I haven't had much time lately to make cards because my son is learning how to drive (finally!) and I the one spending the time in the car with him as he learns.  He is a good driver, but the process is taking longer than I thought it would.   Very different from when I learned to drive.  Anyway, being short on time I turned to the laser cuts and ephemera pieces from Evergreen Season along with pretty patterned papers to get my card made.  Yes, there is a tag underneath all the greenery, lol!   I die cut the two pieces of patterned paper with a rectangle die.  I then used the same rectangle die on the angle to cut the top piece and layered the two together.  I added the red twine to the tag, added thin foam squares to the back and then adhered it to my card front.  I layered on all the laser cut elements and the merry & bright banner.   It doesn't show well in the photo, but I did add glossy accents to the pine cones and then sprinkled on some Rock Candy glitter.  

Well, that's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

sweet wishes release...

 Hello, hello!  Did you see?  Simon Says Stamp has a brand new release called Sweet Wishes.  You can find the complete collection of products right here.  Simon Says Stamp generously sent me the beautiful Sketched Leaves stamp set and I created two projects with the set.   I went full on autumn colors mode for both projects.  Let's have a look at the first one.

For the card I started off by stamping the maple leaf on watercolor paper with VersaMark watermark ink, applying gold embossing powder and then heat setting it.  I then used my Tonic Studio Aqua Flow pens in autumn shades of red, yellow and brown for the background.  Once the piece was dry, I die cut it with a rectangle die and then sprayed it with distress mica sprays in Harvest Moon, Mulled Cider and Fallen Acorn.  I roughed up the edges for a more rustic look.  I embossed the sentiment in gold on vellum, trimmed it down and tore one edge.  I wrapped the other edge around the back of my panel, secured it with glue dots and tied the bow.  The panel was then adhered to an off-white cardstock base.  Adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to add texture.  

I really had alot of fun creating my next project.  Let's have a look at it. 

When I first saw the stamp set I knew that I wanted to create a decor type piece with it.  I went with a tag design using a Stampers Anonymous #8 thick board tag with a distress #8 heavy stock tag on top.  For this piece I used distress oxide inks in Carved Pumpkin, Fossilized Amber, Bundled Sage and Gathered Twigs.  I blended on the inks to my liking and then splattered the tag with water.  I let the tag dry for a bit and then stamped on the three leaves using VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.  I finished the tag with lots of splatters foundry wax in the color Gilded.  I heat set the splatters to give them shine and make them permanent.  The edges of the tag were also roughed up for a more rustic look.   You don't see it in the photo, but I used some Tim Holtz washi tape to cover the sides of the thickboard tag for a more finished look.  Then I adhered the inkblended tag using Multi Matte Medium and let it dry.  

For the leaves I used the same oxide inks on a piece of cream colored heavy stock cardstock.   Once I had the inkblending done I stamped each leaf using the Acorn ink and then trimmed out each leaf.  There are matching dies that you can find right here, but I don't have them (yet!).  Since the leaves are fairly large, trimming them out was pretty quick and easy!   I also splattered the leaves with lots of the Gilded foundry wax.  The edges were roughed up and then I glued each leaf on top of the image stamped on the tag by adding glue down the center of each one.   To finish I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark watermark ink, applied gold embossing powder and heat set.  The sentiment was then die cut with a cute little fancy shaped tag from Simon Says Stamp.  The edges roughed up and it was adhered to the tag.  I also added a little bit of inking to the edges of the leaves before gluing them on.  Some Memory Box fairy drops in autumn shades were added, along with the ribbon bow.  I custom colored the ribbon using the mica sprays in Harvest Moon and Mulled Cider.  I really love how this tag turned out!

The challenge at Just Us Girls is to create a project based on the word leaves.  My tag fits the challenge perfectly so I will be posting it there.   Love it when things work out like that!

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

fall cards...

 Hello, hello!  Popping in with a couple of fall themed cards to share.  I thought our normal wet and dreary fall weather had arrived the other day, but nope!  We are back to sun and relatively warm temperatures.  It's a little annoying as I really want to wear my warm and cozy tops, but some days it is too warm!  Oh well, I'm sure the wet and cold will be here soon enough, lol!   And I should not be complaining anyway, my corner of the world has not faced the devastation that the southeast has!  Absolutely sickened by the response of the current administration, as well!   Anyway, you came here to see cards, so here they are.

This one will be heading off to Freshly Made Sketches.  I generally don't make cards as busy as this one, but felt in the mood, lol!  All the papers, stamps and dies are from a Simon Says Stamp fall themed card kit I got last year.  Finally putting it to good use!  I used distress oxide inks for the leaves.  I inked up the leaves using the tiny distress ink blenders and they worked like a charm.  I pounced on one color and then was able to add the secondary color exactly where I wanted it to go!  To make things easy on myself I die cut all the images first, left them in the cardstock and then lined up the images.  It worked perfectly.   I trimmed down the background paper, added some additional pieces behind it for strength and adhered it to my card base.  The gingham paper was die cut with a tag die from the kit, the leaves adhered along with the sentiment.  I finished everything off with the two little bows.  I really like how it turned out.  Will add this one to the current Time Out challenge, as well.

This card is for Color Throwdown and as you can see I used that pretty tag again!  It was right there at my finger tips so why not?   The mushrooms are from a die set from the Greetery.  I inked them up with distress oxide inks and then adhered them together.  I had the embossed background panel on my desk as well so decided to use it, too.  I went with the debossed side as sometimes I like that look better than the embossed side.  The embossing folder is from Simon Says Stamp and came in the card kit that I used to make the first card.  I die cut the tag from off white cardstock, inked up one corner with distress oxide ink that was left on the blending brush and then added the mushrooms.  The sentiment is from the Greetery Oakwood sentiment set.  I finished off the card with the double bow at the top of the tag.   More my usual clean and simple style!   Adding this card to the Simon Says Stamp World Card Making Day line up.  

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Well, that's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day. 

cozy hugs...

 Hello, hello!  I'm back with another card that I made using one of the laser cuts from the 49 and Market Vintage Orchard set.   When I saw the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this particular laser cut immediately came to mind.   Let's have a look at what I made.

As you can see the card is very simple.  I die cut kraft cardstock with a rectangle die.  I added splatters of  Gilded foundry wax and then heat set the splatters with my heat tool.   Sentiment is from the Simon Says Stamp Cozy Autumn Hugs stamp set and was stamped using VersaFine CLAIR Acorn in.  I used thin foam squares on the back of the laser cut and placed it on my panel.

I stamped the second sentiment on kraft cardstock with the Acorn ink, as well and then adhered that to the laser cut with tiny foam squares.  The panel was then added to a kraft cardstock base.   Making cards has been a little hard for me to do lately due to not having the time so it is nice having the laser cuts to help me quick and pretty cards!  So this card will be going to Freshly Made Sketches and to the current Time Out challenge to be inspired by a quote about autumn.  My friend, Greta, is on the design team.  The card she made is absolutely amazing.   Also adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Birch Press Design

 Hello!  Popping in to let you know that I have a post up on the Birch Press Design blog today.  Here is a little peek of what I created.

Hope you will head over to the Birch Press Design blog to see the full project.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Autumn and Christmas

 Hello!  Popping in to share two cards that I made for the Sunday Stamps and Paper Players challenges, as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  One card features autumn and the other features Christmas.  Both were made with products from 49 and Market.  First up is the autumn card. 

This card features 49 and Market Vintage Orchard collection.  I have fallen in love with 49 and Market products.  They are absolutely gorgeous!  For this card I used a beautiful piece of floral patterned paper for the background.  The tag was die cut from another piece that features a more mixed media look.  The floral piece, as well as the butterflies and bee are what they call laser cuts.  They are more substantial than regular thin die cut pieces of a similar style and I love them!  I popped the floral piece with thin foam squares and then added the butterflies and bees with glue.  The sentiment is from a Simon Says Stamp birthday set.  I wrapped the green twine around the background panel, pulled the ends through the hole in the tag and tied the bow.  I then flipped the tag over, added thin foam squares and adhered it to the background.   This is going to Sunday Stamps and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge. 

The next card is for the Paper Players challenge and features the 49 and Market Evergreen Season collection.  Let's have a look.

I started with a white cardstock panel that I embossed with a Spellbinders embossing folder with a Christmas/holiday theme.  I decided to go with the debossed side for this card.   The tag featuring Santa and the floral cluster are from the Evergreen Season Ephemera Bits and just like the laser cuts they are made from a very high quality cardstock that is super substantial.  I pulled out a piece of plaid paper and trimmed it down per the sketch.  That was adhered to the white panel and then I layered on the tag and floral cluster.  The sentiment is also from the Ephemera Bits pack.  I finished the card with the green twine bow and some Rock Candy glitter to the center of the white flower.  One more Christmas card for my stash!  I'm also going to add this to the Peace on Earth challenge.  They have a fun inspiration board, but I just went with anything goes. 

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.