a vase of flowers...

Hey friends!! Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!  Hope you have a wonderful day.  We are going to head out later to spend some time up north of us in the little town of Woodenville, WA.  They have a beautiful nursery called Molbak's and we are going there.  And there will most likely be a few other stops along the way!!  Have a card to share that I made using the current MFT sketch and the colors from ColourQ.   Every week I take a look at the MFT sketch and tell myself that I'm going to make something, but it never happens.  I was determined to play along this week with some yummy new MFT stamps and dies.  I used the MFT Beautiful Blooms stamps and dies for the card.  Using my mini MISTI made it so easy to line up all the little flowers... love it!!   The vase was die cut from white cardstock and then I inked it with some Stampin Up! Coastal Cabana to look like it was full of water.  The flowers and stems were stamped using SU!'s Certain Celery and Rose Red inks, as well as Hero Arts Pale Tomato.   The panel behind the vase of flowers was die cut using an MFT Inside and Out die-namics die.   Love that stitched edge.  To break up all the white I added a panel of kraft cardstock that I embossed with some burlap for a bit of texture.  Finished things up with a little banner stamped with a happy birthday sentiment.  Hmmm... now I think maybe I should have found a "Happy Mother's Day" sentiment!  Since this is a pretty clean and simple card I think I will also add it to the Creative with Stamps line up.

Thanks for stopping by....


Supplies:  Cardstock: white; kraft; Stamps: MFT and AJVD; Dies:  MFT; Inks:  Stampin Up! SU!, Hero Arts and VersaFine; burlap fabric

don't forget...

Hey friends!!  Wow... gorgeous weather, again, here in the Pacific Northwest!!  Today is supposed to be in the 80s!!  Popping in with a quick post.  I always try to make something for the Essentials by Ellen challenges and the door will soon be closing on the current pin-sights challenge so had I to get something made.  I have been playing around with my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors and I think I'm finally getting the hang of them... YAY!  After stamping the balloon image from Up the Happy in watermark ink three separate times I applied white embossing powder and heat set them.  Each balloon was watercolored using colors from the palette provided in the challenge and then die cut once dry.  I watercolored a panel using another color from the palette and then added some gold.  Let it dry and die cut it with an MFT inside and out stitched rectangle die.  I recently got a mini MISTI and I must say it is a pretty nifty tool.  I was able to get a nice stamping of the sentiment using the MISTI.  The strings were stamped and then I added the balloons.  A little bow from the Merry & Bright set was added to complete the scene.  Going to add this to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  I'm also going to add this to the new Creative with Stamps challenge of CAS... I think this is pretty clean and simple.

Thanks for stopping by today...


Supplies:  Cardstock: white, Ranger watercolor paper; Stamps:  Essentials by Ellen Up the Happy and Merry & Bright; Dies:  Essentials by Ellen:  Up the Happy, MFT Inside and Out Stitched Rectangles;  Ink:  VersaMark and VersaFine Onyx Black; Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors

mondo hydrangea...

Hey friends!!  Well... the weekend is coming to an end and so is my boys' spring break.  My little guy is pretty bummed that he has to go back to school, but I know he will be happy when he remembers that on Friday he gets to go on a field trip to NW Trek!  I had some time and wanted to get something made using the current color combo from ColourQ before the challenge closed.  When I saw what the new Essentials by Ellen Mix it Up challenge was I knew just what I wanted to do.  Recently I was finally able to get my hands on the gorgeous Essentials by Ellen Mondo Hydrangea stamp set and I just had to ink it up for this challenge.  This month's Mix it Up challenge is to combine Essentials by Ellen products with products from Taylored Expressions.   Taylored Expressions used to have a stamp of the month club and the set I used called Make it Memorable was the March 2013 stamp of the month.  You could also get the matching dies and I used those as well.  I stamped the Mondo Hydrangea using VersaMark watermark ink on Ranger watercolor paper, applied black embossing powder and then heat set.  Followed the same procedure with the leaf.   Once that was done I taped the panel to my little wood cutting board and then did some very simple watercoloring using two of the colors.  The butterfly was stamped in the Pumpkin Pie ink and then die cut.   The layout is based on the current sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and boy did Karren provide a tricky one!  I had a bit of a challenge when it came to adding the angled piece, but I think it came out fine in the end.  A strip of black cardstock on the opposite end balanced everything out nicely.  Before adding my butterfly I adhered some clear rhinestones to the body.  I didn't have enamel dots in the dark orange so I colored a couple of rhinestone with a dark orange Copic as a finishing touch to the sentiment label.  I 'm going to post this to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  The SSS Wednesday challenge is celebrating its 7th birthday so I know there are a ton of cards, but with the chance to win one of 7 gift certificates I just couldn't pass it up.  Also posting this to Creative with Stamps challenge #1 - butterfly.  If you haven't checked out this new challenge, you really should!

 

Thanks for stopping by today...

a couple of cards to share...

Hey friends!!  Wow... we are having some seriously gorgeous weather here in western Washington!  So happy that my boys are on spring break during this good weather!!   Given that it is spring break I have been on a break of sorts from crafting, but after we got home from an outing today I whipped up a little card for a few challenges.  I'm also going to share a card that I made a few days ago when I had a bit of time.   I will be posting the first card to the following challenges:  Color Throwdown, CAS(E) this Sketch and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is celebrating its 7th birthday... YAY!  The challenge this week is quite appropriately to create a birthday card.   I combined some stamps from Concord & 9th (Eat Cake & Celebrate) and Reverse Confetti (Color Me Happy) to make this card.  The brushstroke image is from the Color Me Happy set and was stamped using yellow, orange and red inks.  I then stamped the candles image from Eat Cake & Celebrate in black ink over the brushstroke images.  The happy birthday was die cut using a die from the Eat Cake & Celebrate die set and then stamped with the companion sentiment using aqua ink.  That was then popped up with foam dimensionals.  I added a few enamel dots to finish things off.

The second card is for the current Reverse Confetti Sketch for You to Try.  I used two different sets (Walk by Faith and Butterfly Dreams) and some fun Reverse Confetti quick card panels (Hoppin' Dots).   I cut the striped teal panel on the diagonal and then adhered that to the yellow polka dot panel.  A circle was die cut using an A Jillian Vance Design polka dot circle die and then stamped with the sentiment from Walk by Faith in black ink.  The butterflies were die cut using the companion dies to the Butterfly Dreams set and then stamped with teal and yellow inks.  Enamel dots were added to the bodies and then they were adhered to the panel.  I die cut a leaf image using another RC confetti cut die (Petals 'n Posies) and then stamped it with the matching image in yellow ink and adhered it to the card as a frame to the circle.  Adhered the panel to a simple white card base.  I really like how this card turned out.  I will also be posting this one to the current Word Art Wednesday challenge.  ETA:  Sweet Lilian from the Leaf Studio stopped by my blog and encouraged me to enter a brand new challenge called Creative with Stamps.  The first challenge is butterflies so I will be entering this card with them.  Thanks for letting me know about your challenge, Lilian!!

Thanks for stopping by today....


Supplies:  Cardstock:  white, Simon Says Stamp fog; Stamps:  Reverse Confetti and Concord & 9th; Dies:  Reverse Confetti, Concord & 9th and A Jillian Vance Design; Inks:  Stampin Up!, Hero Arts and Memento; Enamel Dots:  My Mind's Eye