grateful to call you friend...

 Well, hello!  It has been a while since I last posted.  Ten days in fact.  I don't think I have ever gone ten days without posting something.   I had thought I would post the card I'm posting today last week, but I didn't get around to making it until earlier this week.  I will be posting this to Just Us Girls (anything does with dies), Color Hues and Pinkfresh Studio August challenge.  So, here we go, lol!

A few months ago I purchased the Pinkfresh Studio Art Deco Floral Arch stamp, die and stencil set.  It was one of those buy the stamp set and get the stencils and dies free.  Couldn't pass that deal up now could I?  I used the Color Hues combo of navy and teal for arches, stems and flowers.   The challenge for the PFS August challenge is beautiful backgrounds.   The PFS background die I used is no longer available (I think it is called Sparkle Diamond), but I absolutely love it and think it makes a beautiful background for the floral arch.  I used some of the navy blue ink that was left on my blending brush on the top of the panel before adding the die cut arch.  I die cut a second blank arch and adhered to the top one to provide a little more stability.  I stamped and die cut the sentiment (cutting a second blank for the sentiment, as well) and adhered it to the card front.  I finished with some tiny dark blue gems that I had in my stash.  The inks used are from Altenew.  I used navy (appropriately), Galactic Stream (dark teal) and Teal Cave (medium teal).

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

Cherry Blossoms

 Hello!   Can't believe it is already the end of February and spring will soon be here.  To be honest we haven't had much of a winter here in the Pacific Northwest.   I have a begonia on my front porch that is still green and blooming!   And because we have had a mild winter the cherry blossoms are already blooming on the Japanese cherry trees!    But enough talk about our non-existent winter I'm here to talk about a card that I made for the following challenges:  Just Us Girls (mood board), the Paper Players (sketch) and one more entry for the Pinkfresh Studio February challenge (I went with the anything goes option).   Let's look at what I made.

My sweet bloggy friend, Lisa, picked the mood board this month as a member of the JUGs team and she picked a photo of a yummy pink mug of hot cocoa.  I don't have any mug stamps, but I did zero in on the branch of what looked to me like cherry blossoms in the background as my inspiration along with the color pink.  I used the appropriately named Pinkfresh Studio Cherry Blossom die and stencil set.  I wanted soft colors so I used the residual ink left on the blending brushes I use with pink, green, brown and yellow distress oxide inks.  Love the soft look that provides.  I then die cut everything and assembled my little branch of cherry blossoms.  I used the Pinkfresh Studio postage stamp dies to create the elements of the sketch using white, pink and pink glitter cardstock.  I adhered everything to my card base and then finished with a gold foil Memory Box sentiment tab.   

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

grateful for all you do...

 Hello!  Popping in on this cold, but sunny day to share a card that I made for the current JUGs challenge, as well as the Pinkfresh Studio monthly challenge.  I haven't participated in a PFS challenge in a very long time.  The challenge is year in review and so I went with April:  Flower Frenzy and May: Frame it Up.  The JUGs challenge is stenciling.  The SSS Wednesday challenge is also stenciling so I will add it to that gallery, too.  Let's have a look at what I created.

Back at the beginning of January, PFS had a weekly special of buy the die set For Never Give Up and get the stamp or press plate and stencil set free.  I couldn't resist especially since the image is so pretty and who wouldn't like buying one product and getting two more in the process!  I used PFS inks in Coral Reef, Passionfruit, Berrylious and Grassy Knoll to stencil the image.    After diecutting the image and the sentiment I pulled out the PFS Dotted Fancy Frames and Folk Edge Rectangles to create my backgound.  I used some light coral cardstock to die cut the thin frame using two of the Dotted Fancy Frames together and then glued it to the white base layer.  Since I'm in my "no dimension era" I glued everything flat to my card base.

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

fall themed thinking of you card...

 Hello!  I'm popping in with a card for the August Pinkfresh Studio challenge.  The theme is pattern play and I thought that meant patterned paper.  Oops, I was wrong, lol!  Good thing the challenge is anything goes.  Have a look at what I made.

Because I thought the theme was playing with patterned paper I immediately thought of my nice stash of 49 and Market papers.  Fall is coming (even though it is kind of warm here in the PNW!) and that is where my mind went.  So, I got out my 49 and Market Vintage Orchard patterned paper as it has a fall feel to it.  The next product I pulled was my PFS Berry Branch stamp, die and stencil suite of products.  The stamp set is actually a Christmas themed one, but I think I have used the stamp for more fall themed card than Christmas ones, lol!  I love that the stamp is versatile like that.  I stamped the image using PFS Doe ink and then used distress inks in Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, Scattered Straw and Aged Mahagony for the stenciling.   Once the stenciling was done I die cut the image with the matching die.  The patterned paper was die cut using a PFS Folk Art Rectangle die and then layered on a card base.  The sentiment is from the PFS Amazing Things stamp set and was stamped in the Doe ink.  I die cut the sentiment and additional layers to give the sentiment a bit more stability.  Simply layered on the elements and I was done!

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

Patterned Paper Play...

 Hello!  Popping in to share a card for the Pinkfresh Studio monthly challenge that closes in just a few hours!  Here is what I made.

Used lots of papers from the 49 and Market Kaleidoscope collection for the card.  I stamped the entire image on one piece of patterned paper and then the flowers on another.  Die cut them out and then layered them.  Used the PFS elegant circles and rectangles dies to layer behind the flowers and then die cut white cardstock with the largest PFS postage edge rectangle.  Stamped the sentiment, die cut it and then layered all the elements on a light green cardstock base.  

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

wishing you...

 Hello!  Popping in with a quick post to share a card for a few challenges.   Those challenges are Color Throwdown, Sunday Stamps and Pinkfresh Studio.  Let's have a look at what I made.

The sketch at Sunday Stamps is a fun one so I couldn't miss playing along. Even though there is a theme for the Pinkfresh Studio June challenge the challenges are actually now anything goes so I went with that and used PFS products.   For the three elements in the sketch, I used the Pinkfresh Studio Beautiful group of products.   The stamp set has two large stamps that contain three floral stems each.  I only wanted to use the floral stem you see on my card, so I cut three strips of white cardstock and then stamped each image that way.  It was simple and very quick.  Then I used the stencils to color my flowers orange and the leaves green.   Once that was done, I die cut each image.  To bring in the turquoise I first die cut a PFS postage edge die and then ink blended the edges with Peacock Feather distress oxide ink.  The flowers were arranged so I could determine placement of my sentiment.   That is from a different PFS stamp set.  Once the sentiment was stamped, I glued on my stems and then added Nuvo drops in Morning Dew to some of the little flowers.   

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

last minute cards...

 Hello!  Popping in with a couple of cards that I made at the last minute for two challenges:  Pinkfresh Studio May challenge and Altenew monthly challenge.  Let's have look at what I made.

My first card is for the Altenew challenge.  Back at the end of April I received a surprise in the mail.  A personalized stamp set from Altenew!  That is the stamp I used for my card.  Sadly as I was stamping the image I realized that there is a flaw in the image.  I was able to fix it so I will still be able to use the stamp in the future.  I stamped the image on watercolor cardstock using VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink, applied clear embossing powder and heat set.  I colored the image with Tonic Studio Aqua Flow pens.   Once the image was dry I die cut it with a Memory Box arched die.  Two more of the arched dies were cut and adhered behind the main one.  I adhered the panel to the kraft cardstock base and then added my sentiment.  I used the Altenew Fancy Thanks die and cut it from glossy black cardstock from Memory Box.   Two additional layers were cut and adhered for a bit more dimension.  Will add this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge. 

My next card is for the Pinkfresh Studio monthly challenge that is closing tonight!  Yikes... talk about last minute, lol!  Let's have a look.

The challenge at PFS is frame it up so I pulled out a couple of my favorite PFS stand alone dies and the pretty Amazing Things suite of products.  I used the Fancy Rectangle Frames and Nested Rectangles:  Postage Edge dies to frame up my floral image.  I stamped the image using Memento Tuxedo Black and colored it with Copic markers.  I layered up the frames and then added the die cut image and the sentiment.  The Fance Rectangle was die cut from pretty white glitter cardstock from Simon Says Stamp.

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

grateful in green...

 Hello friends!  Popping in to share a card that I made for the current Just Us Girls challenge and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to be inspired by green, as well as the Pinkfresh Studio March challenge.  PFS has gone to an anything goes challenge, but they do have additional inspiration.  I didn't use the inspiration.   Let's have a look at what I made.

I recently purchased the PFS Grateful Greenery stamp and die set and I was determined to use it as soon as I could.  When I saw that the challenge at JUGs was the word green, I immediately grabbed them and got to work.   I stamped the graceful branch with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and did some simple Copic coloring using two shades of light green.  I then pulled out my pack of 49 and Market Kaleidoscope papers and found one that toned well with the Copic colors.  I die cut that with a PFS Nested Rectangles:  Postage Edge die.  I found some light green cardstock that also toned well with the patterned paper and die cut that with the largest Postage Edge die.   I then pulled out another PFS die set called Curvy Leaves and die cut more of the patterned paper and vellum.  Then I got to layering all the elements as you see.  I finished off the card with the green bow, sentiment and tiny drops of Morning Dew Nuvo drops.    I love the bright and fresh greens that I used.

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

good tidings and cheer...

 Hello!  Popping in with a Christmas card!  Yep, a Christmas card, lol!  Might as well get a head start on cards for next year, right?  This is for the December Pinkfresh Studio challenge, as well as the Sunday Stamp challenge which is a sketch.  Also adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  Let's have a look.

I had wanted the Pinkfresh Studio Floral Bauble bundle of products for along time.  PFS had them on clearance and then after Thanksgiving there was an additional amount of savings so I jumped on it and got everything.  I used Pinkfresh Studio inks in Coral Reef, Passion Fruit, Berrylicious, Emerald City and Evergreen for my color palette.  I love how the stenciling turned out!  Die cut everything with the matching die and then decided how I was going to use the Sunday Stamps layout.  I decided to die cut a Simon Says Stamp snowflake from silver cardstock for the side elements.  I adhered the snowflakes with glue and then popped up the floral bauble with foam squares on white cardstock die cut with the largest PFS postage edge die.  The sentiment is from the Floral Bauble set.  I stamped it in black, die cut it and adhered with glue.   I love the sparkle from the snowflakes. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a very happy new year!

just a note...

 Hello!  Popping in with a quick share today of a card that I made for the September Pinkfresh Studio challenge to use a wreath and for the Paper Players challenge of a clean and simple design with either plants or animals.  I went with plants.  Have a look.

I don't know about you, but I like getting a deal and getting something free.  Scrapbook.com has deals and freebies on a weekly basis.  This card was made with several different freebies from Scrapbook.com that are also Pinkfresh Studio products.    With the theme of wreath at Pinkfresh Studio I decided to use a set of PFS circle dies that I had recently purchased.  I think they are the Folk Circle dies set.  Anyway I used several of the dies to cut the circle as the base to layer on the floral vellum pieces that were one of the PFS/Scrapbook.com freebies.   The other freebie is the sentiment.  I layered up all the vellum elements on my wreath base and then added it to a white cardstock panel that I die cut with the PFS Sparkling Diamonds cover die.  I finished with the sentiment.  Clean, simple and super quick to make!

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

two cards...

 Hello, hello!  I'm popping in to share two cards that I made recently.  First up is a card for Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.  Let's have a look.

I used the pretty CTD combo of light blue, kraft and cream with the Greetery Bittersweet Bouquet stamp set.  I thought it would look pretty stamped in the light blue with a light brown and I was right.  Once stamped I die cut the panel with a rectangle die and then trimmed the panel into three pieces.  They were adhered to my card front using foam squares.  I die cut the Greetery bow from the same cardstock used for the panel (PTI rustic white) and then blended some of the light blue ink in the center.  I finished with a sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp set and a few light blue and clear sequins.

This card is for the Pinkfresh Studio August challenge to use washi tape and for the JUGs challenge of anything goes with stencils.  Now, you might ask where is the washi tape?  Well, the entire background is washi tape!  I adhered it to thin white cardstock and then die cut it with a rectangle die. You can't see it in my photo, but I added some glossy accents to the fur on Santa's hat and sleeve, to the tree he is holding and some of the leaves on the left side and then added Rock Candy glitter.  I stenciled the Pinkfresh Studio Berry Branch image, stamped over the stenciling with the coordinating stamp and then added Rock Candy glitter to the berries.  The sentiment is from the PFS Folk Snowflake (I think that is the name) that I stamped in the same light green I used to stencil the berry branch and die cut it with the matching die.  I added the panel to my card base and then adhered the stamped image with glue.  Another Christmas card to add to my stash!

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

wishing you the best day...

 Hello!  Hope all is well in your world.  I have a card to share with you for a few challenges.  Namely, Pinkfresh Studio June challenge, Color Hues color challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to emboss.   Let's have a look at what I made.

The June Pinkfresh Studio challenge is to use ombre or color gradient.  When I started this card Color Hues hadn't announce their new color combo, but I had decided to do ombre inkblending using distress oxide ink in Spun Sugar.  I got as far as inking up the cardstock and then die cutting it with the Pinkfresh Studio Artistic Blossoms die set before being distracted with other projects.  When I got back to trying to finish the card Color Hues had post the new combo and it was pink and sage!   A few days later I was finally able to ink up some cardstock with Bundled Sage distress oxide ink.  I tried to get a decent ombre look with Bundled Sage distress oxide ink.  It is subtle, but there is that ombre look.  I die cut the piece with the smallest rectangle in the Folk edge rectangles die set and then matted that piece with some white cardstock that I had embossed with an embossing folder.   That was die cut with a large Fold edge rectangle and adhered to my card base.  I adhered three of the Artistic Blossoms in the center with liquid adhesive, added the bow, the sentiment from the PFS Amazing Things stamp set and then added some tiny gems to finish it off.   

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

two simple cards...

 Hello and happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone here in the US.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend and Memorial Day.  Our weather isn't so great this weekend (unfortunately typical for the Pacific Northwest!), but we will still have a good time!   I'm popping in to share two pretty simple cards that I made for a couple of challenges.   Let's have a look at card #1.

This card is for Color Hues (use coral and teal) and the Pinkfresh Studio May challenge of flowers.  I don't often make two cards for challenges hosted by papercrafting companies, but I had just gotten the pretty Pinkfresh Studio Amazing Things stamp, die and stencil set.  I'm on a mission to use products at least once right after I get them and so here we are, lol!  I stamped the image and then stenciled the flowers with Pinkfresh Studio inks in Coral Reef and Passionfruit and distress ink ink Abandoned Coral.  The leaves were stenciled with Pinkfresh Aquamarine and Teal Cave inks.  I used a PFS scalloped rectangle die to cut light gray cardstock and then adhered the stem to the frame before adhering it to the white cardstock base.  I finished with a sentiment from the Amazing Things stamp set that I die cut with the matching die and popped up.

This next card for the current Color Throwdown challenge is super simple.  I don't think I have made a card this simple in a very long time, lol!

  The colors for this week's CTD challenge are olive, grey and white.  Perfect for a masculine card.  I make birthday cards for my mom to give to her grand and great-grand children so this one will be going to her to give to my son who is turning 18 in just a couple of weeks.   I can't believe he will be 18!  Seems like it wasn't that long ago he was heading off to kindergarten!  Time sure does fly.  Anyway, I did direct to paper inking with Crushed Olive and Weathered Wood distress inks to get my colors.  I have been going thru my craft supplies, again, to determine what I need to purge and came across this little circular die with the trees in it from Simon Says Stamp.  Don't know the name of it, but it sure is cute.  I die cut the trees from the Crushed Olive panel and then die cut that with a square die.   I used the same square die to cut the Weathered Wood panel and then adhered the two together using thin foam squares.   I added it to a white die cut panel and then added the Memory Box birthday sentiment tab.  Like I said, super simple!

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

two cards...

 Hello!  Popping in to share two cards that I made for several challenges.  First up is a card I made for Color Throwdown and the May Pinkfresh Studio challenge of flowers.  Take a look.

I have had the Pinkfresh Studio Charming Floral Border set of products for along time and I think have only used it once.  Shame on me because how sweet is it?  I stamped the image twice and then used the stencils to color the flowers using Pinkfresh Studio inks.  When I initially did the stenciling of the purples the second shade was too close in color to the first one use so I had to re-stencil the image using a darker purple.   Didn't have to do that with the oranges and the aquas.  Once the stenciling was done I die cut the borders with the matching die.  I die cut additional borders from scrap cardstock to adhere behind the stenciled ones to give them more substance.  There were adhered to my favorite PFS Sparkling Diamonds cover plate die.  I decided that I didn't want to cover up any of the pretty stenciling I did so I used a sentiment from the Charming Borders set that I embossed in black on vellum and then trimmed down with a sentiment strip die.  I finished with these little clear droplets that I have.  I don't know where they came from, but I sure do like them!

This next card is for Freshly Made Sketches and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  Take a look.

I found the FMS sketch to be a bit of a challenge for me.  I wanted to use patterned paper for the card and used some green and blue plaid paper from a Memory Box 6x6 pad.  I die cut the center rectangle and then flipped the paper over to cut the strips from the other side.  I think I got my strips too close to the center rectangle, but no going back now, lol!  The center rectangle was popped up with foam squares and the strips around the rectangle with thin foam squares.  I had previously inked up some white cardstock with brown and blue distress oxide inks (vintage photos, gathered twigs and blueprint sketch) so I used those to die cut my little Birch Press Design Budding Twigs from those.  Some of the pieces have alot of inking and some only a little.  I liked the variation it provided.  I adhered the twigs together and then attached them to the center rectangle.  I finished with the twine bow and an Open Studio "happy birthday" sentiment tab.  

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