sunkissed...

Hello friends!!!    Here with my card for this week's Less is More challenge.  June had five Saturdays so that means it is a "lucky dip" challenge and a "lucky dip" guest designer.  The guest designer this time is the super talented Hannelie of Desert Diva.   And in her honor Chrissie and Jen have chosen sand as the theme this week.   Taking my cue from Hannelie I decided to use some cork for my card.

Months ago (like back in December or January) I purchased a set of dies from My Favorite Things are to be used to create snowbanks.  I had never used them for that or any other reason and so decided to pull them out today to help create my little beach scene.  I die cut the cork sheet and then adhered the pieces to the cardstock using foam dimensionals for the piece in the foreground.  I did this so that I could place the palm trees in between the two layers of sand.  The palm trees (from the HA set Lauderdale) were stamped using brown and green inks and then carefully trimmed out.  To cover up any white cardstock that was visible after the piece were trimmed out I inked the edges with a Q-tip.  I also used a Q-tip to add additional ink to the palm fronds to give them a bit a shading.  The little sun and sentiment are from the HA set "Kiss from the Sun".  The two of the "coconuts" were made by coloring small yellow buttons with a dark brown Copic marker.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Green; Stamps:  Hero Arts; Dies:  My Favorite Things (fishtail flag and snowbank dies); Cork:  unknown manufacturer; Buttons:  PTI; Copic makers; Ink:  SU! Choc. Chip; Memento Dandelion and Bamboo Leaves

PTI June Blog Hop... a touch of gold

{for my CASology post, please click here or scroll down}

Hey... I'm back!  This time with my post for this month's PTI blog hop!  Yep... got'er done in advance, again...YAY!   This month the challenge is to use a bit of gold on your projects.  Hmmm... don't really care for gold embossing powder and most gold inks, except Tsukineko's Delicate Golden Glitz ink.  It is the most beautiful gold ink I have EVER seen and it is fantastic to stamp with!

For my card I went really simple and pulled out one of my favorite PTI sets, Harvest Berries.  I die cut the large leave image and then stamped it using Stampin Up!'s Pear Pizzazz ink.  I die cut the frame image from Boutique Borders:  Birthday and then stamped the scroll frame image from the companion stamp set using Delicate Golden Glitz ink.  The sentiment was stamped in black ink.  The white cardstock piece was embossed with the PTI Circles cover plate and everything adhered using varying heights of foam dimensionals.  The card was looking a bit plain so I added some vintage gold sequins that my friend Cindy sent me and that did the trick. 

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  PTI Harvest Berries & Boutique Borders:  Birthday; Inks:  Delicata Golden Glitz; Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin Up! Pear Pizzazz; Dies:  PTI Harvest Berries & Boutique Borders: Birthdays, Circles Cover Plate; Vintage gold sequins

CCC #50... wishing you happiness

 Hello, friends!  Tuesday is here and that means time for a brand new cue word.  Last week everyone did a real "fin"-tastic (hee hee!) with our fishy cue word.   This week's cue word is a little tricky, but feel "free" to take it in any direction you wish!  Yep... that's right our cue word is "free".  All the challenge details can be found here.  This week we have a super talented guest designer joining us... Vicki!!

So... must admit I was a little (no make that a lot) stumped as to what I was going to make using this week's cue word.  Finally I actually came up with several ideas that I was able to incorporate into my card.  First, I used a bird image.  What is more free then a bird flying in the sky?  Second, my sentiment uses the words "happiness" and "wishing".  Happiness is definitely something that is free and the ability to wish is also free.  The color combo I used comes from this week's Dynamic Duo challenge to use two shades of orange.  I used Memento's Tangelo and Stampin Up!'s Really Rust.  The little sequins are also a rusty kind of orange, but you can't really tell in the photo.  I used a favorite layout that creates a nice visual triangle.  

Thanks for stopping by... I cannot wait to see what "free" related ideas all you super talented papercrafters come up with for this challenge!! In the meantime make sure you check out the cards from the rest of the design team: Melissa, Tracey, Jen, Ardyth, Judy, Maureen, and Meghan
and Vicki!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  The Craft's Meow Happy as a Lark & Lard Additions; Inks:  Stampin Up! and Memento; Vintage Sequins

happy birthday to you...

Hello friends!!  Hope you weekend is going well.  Here with a card that I made for this week's LIM challenge.  It is Jen's birthday and so we have been tasked with the challenge of making a birthday card for Jen.   She noted on the LIM blog that if she were to make a birthday card for herself she would use either cats, fish or butterflies... so I decided to make a card using a cat.   I

I pulled out my Penny Black clear set "hello, friend" and used the image of the chubby little cat holding tight to a balloon bouquet.  I stamped him using VersaMark watermark ink, applied black embossing powder and heat set.  The balloon portion of the image was stamped on three different patterned paper from the Penny Black Madison paper pad and then paper pieced on to the main image.  I pulled out some VersaMagic inks and my Tsukineko brush sticks and added a bit of color to the little guy.  Finished off the card with one of the first Penny Black stamps I ever bought... a wood mounted birthday sentiment.  Hope Jen likes this!

Now I have some fun news to share regarding the Penny Black blog.  All next week brand new Penny Black products that are just to "die" for {wink} will be featured!  If you are on Facebook or get the Penny Black newsletter then you know what I'm talking about!  Signing up for the PB newsletter is as easy as pie and gives you lots of benefits.  There is also a sneak peak posted right now on the blog... so make sure you check out the PB blog today and on Monday, June 24th.  You won't be disappointed!!

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft; Stamps:  Penny Black; Ink:  VersaMark watermark; VersaMagic Gingerbread & Jumbo Java; PP:  Penny Black Madison pad; Embossing powder:  Filigree black

hello...

friends!!!   Here with a card that I made for several challenges:  ColourQ, PTI's Make it Monday and Sketchbook Saturday. 

When I saw this week's Make It Monday video I really wanted to try the coloring on vellum technique that Betsy showed.  Got some time last night to stamp and color up my flower and leaves from the PTI set "Friends Til The End" set.  I used SU!'s Calypso Coral and Memento's Ladybug for the flower and Memento's Bamboo Leaves for the leaves.  Unfortunately it is really hard to tell the difference between the Calypso Coral and Ladybug colors once I got then on the vellum... you will just have to trust me that they are different colors, lol!  Anywhoo... this was a tough card to put together given the colors in this week's ColourQ challenge and the fact that I was determined to combine those colors with the MIM challenge.   I'm not totally happy with the way the card turned out, but I think it could have been worse, lol! 

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Tempting Turquoise and Gumball Green; Stamps:  PTI Friends til the End; Dies:  MFT fishtail flag stax dies; Border Punch:  SU! scalloped edge; Ink:  SU! Calypso Coral, Memento Ladybug & Bamboo Leaves; VersaMark Watermark ink; Embossing powder:  Filigree white; vintage turquoise sequins; SU! Calypso Coral dp

you are wonderful...

Hello friends!!  I'm pretty excited because today I get to hang with the super fabulous CAS(E) this Sketch design team!!  Yep... I'm guest designing for CAS(E) this Sketch....how fun is that???  Super duper fun in my book as CAS(E) this Sketch is one of my favorite challenges to participate in!!  Sending out a huge THANKS to Chrissy for asking me to guest design this week!!  So without further ado... here is this week's fabulous sketch and the card I created using the sketch:

 

I went really, really simple with this card.  A few strips of black and white polka dot washi tape, some little resin flowers in a bright shade of green, a sentiment stamped banner and I was done. Probably took me 10 minutes or less to complete... love it when that happens!!  The sentiment is from PTI's Framed Out #12 set and the banner was cut with my beloved MFT fishtail flag dies.  The little resin flowers are from Stampin Up! 

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  PTI; Dies:  My Favorite Things; Washi Tape:  Impress Rubber Stamps; Resin flowers:  Stampin Up!

i really miss you...

Hello friends!  Here with a card that I made for the current Dynamic Duos color challenge:  black and green with a dessert option of a plant theme... I think I have that covered, lol!

For my card I used the Penny Black stamp "kisses in the sun", as well as a sentiment from the Penny Black set "eloquence".  The image was stamped in Pear Pizzazz ink on Rustic White card stock and trimmed to a 4" x 4" square.  The butterfly portion of the image was stamped again on Rustic White using black ink, trimmed out and then painted with Black Diamond stickles.  Once the stickles dried the butterfly was attached to the square panel with a foam dimensional, the sentiment was stamped in black ink and then a dollop of Black Diamond stickles was added to the body.  The entire piece was then matted with black cardstock and adhered to a Pear Pizzazz card base.  A few black sequins.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI Rustic White and black; SU! Pear Pizzazz; Stamps: Penny Black; Ink: SU! Pear Pizzazz & Memento Tuxedo Black; Ranger Black Diamond Stickles; Ellen Hutson black sequins

CCC #49...

Hello friends.... Happy Tuesday!!!  Time for a brand new CASology challenge!!   Wow... there were so many beautiful cards in the gallery last week!  Seems yellow is a color crafters like to use!!  This week our cue word is "fish".   It is going to fun to see what "fishy" ideas everyone comes up with.  All the details can be found here.

Now... I know that a whale isn't technically a fish, it is actually a mammal, but when I was fishing around (hee hee... just had to do that!!) for what I was going to make I remembered that I had a cute little mini set from PTI with the whale in it and I also had a matching die so I decided to go with that idea.  I also decided that I wanted to use some washi tape on my project.  As I was rummaging through my rolls of washi I came across this fun roll with aqua and red hearts... perfect!!  I die cut the whale and then stamped it using SU!'s Pool Party ink.  A strip of washi tape was laid down, the little whale popped up on top and then the sentiment was stamped using red ink.  

Thanks for stopping by... I cannot wait to see what "fish" related ideas all you super talented papercrafters come up with for this challenge!! In the meantime make sure you check out the cards from the rest of the design team: Melissa, Tracey, Jen, Ardyth, Judy, Maureen, and Meghan.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  PTI Whale Wishes; Inks:  Stampin Up! Real Red and Pool Party; Washi tape:  Impress Rubber Stamps

A Jillian Vance Guest Designer!!

{For my Penny Black Stamp Squad post click here or scroll down}

Hello friends!!  I'm super excited today because I'm guest designing over at the A Jillian Vance Design blog!   I have a little project I made using the super cute AJVD set Doodle Birthday.  This set has lots of fun images and was designed by my in real life (and fellow blogger), Lisa Lara!   Lisa has lots of fun sets that she has designed for AJVD so make sure you check them out, as well as all the new stamps and dies that were just released by AJVD!

For my card today I started with a piece of floral paper from the American Crafts Dear Lizzie 5th & Frolic 6x6 pad.   I then stamped the underwear image on different pieces of patterned paper that coordinated with the floral piece and trimmed them out.  The banner sentiment was stamped and trimmed out, as well.  I adhered the banner to the white cardstock piece using foam dimensionals and then attached the underwear so they "hang" from the banner.  I layered my floral paper and the banner piece as shown and then stamped the coordinating sentiment on the floral paper to finish off the card. 

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to A Jillian Vance Design for letting me be a guest designer on their blog today! 

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Patterned Paper:  American Crafts Dear Lizzie 5th & Frolic; Stamps:  A Jillian Vance Design Doodle Birthday; Ink: Memento Pear Tart & Tuxedo Black

life is a journey...

{For my Penny Black Stamp Squad Blog Hop post click here or scroll down}

Hello friends!!   Hope all is well in your part of the world!  Have a little card that I made for a couple of challenges, Less is More:  Hexagons and CAS(E) This Sketch.  I received a slight knuckle rapping from Chrissie for last week's LIM card.  My transgression?  I used paper piecing!  I have to admit I was a bit surprised that she took me to task (in a nice way!) for the paper piecing because it is pretty much flush with the card base and in my estimation does not necessarily constitute a second layer.  But to each his own, lol!!  

For my card today I decided to use my distress ink and a honeycomb background stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs.  I inked up the background with Wild Honey distress ink, laid the cardstock on top and then pressed lightly.  The piece was then trimmed down and the edges distressed a bit.  I punched out the circle, stamped the sentiment (from PTI's YOF: Gladiolus) in black and tied the twine around the piece.  Once that was done I adhered the piece to the card front using foam dimensionals.  The punched out piece was then adhered flush with the card base.  A little bee from a  old Cornish Heritage Farms set was stamped using Scattered Straw distress ink, trimmed out and adhered with a pop dot.  Some Diamond stickles was applied to the wings and I was done.  A very faithful interpretation of the CTS sketch, don't you think? 

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplied:  PTI Rustic White cardstock; Ink:  Ranger Wild Honey and Scattered Straw distress inks; Memento Tuxedo Black; SU! 1 3/4" circle punch; May Arts twine; Diamond Stickles; Stamps:  PTI, ODBD & CHF

Penny Black Stamp Squad Blog Hop!

 

Hello friends!!  Happy Saturday!  Now that all of the members of the Penny Black Stamp Squad have been revealed we are celebrating with the first ever Penny Black Stamp Squad blog hop!! Woo hoo!!! Not only are we hopping, we're giving away stamps, too!!  Leave a comment on each blog, including the Penny Black blog, for a chance to win a selection of Penny Black stamps.   You should have arrived here from the blog of  my uber talented Stamp Squad teamie Penny Ward.  However, if this is your first stop you may want to head over to the Penny Black blog where you can find the complete hop list and start from the beginning. 

For my card today I used the following Penny Black stamps:  eloquence (30-162), blooming garden (30-155) & fleur de lys (40-204).  When I first saw the blooming garden set I knew I wanted to use one of the images along with my distress inks.  I lightly inked up the fleur de lys background stamp with Old Paper distress ink, place the cardstock on top and just lightly pressed the cardstock onto the stamp.  I then inked up the edges with additional Old Paper distress ink and then roughed up the edges a bit with my thumbnail.   The poppy image from blooming garden was stamped on the main piece using Forest Moss distress ink and then again on white cardstock using watermark ink.  Clear embossing powder was applied and the image was heat set.  I then applied Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick distress inks to the flowers.   The flowers and pods were trimmed out and adhered to the main piece using pop dots.  The sentiment was stamped using Tuxedo Black ink and a few sequins were applied to finish off the card.

Thanks for stopping by... don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win some yummy Penny Black stamps!  And now off you go to the Penny Black blog!! 

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Penny Black; Inks:  Ranger Old Paper, Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick distress inks, Memento Tuxedo Black and VersaMark watermark ink; vintage sequins

loving father...

Hello friends!!  The weekend is almost here!   It is the last week of school for both my boys and the last few days have been crazy running from one thing to another!   I haven't had much time to make anything, but got some time this morning to make this little card.   On Sunday I found out that my CASology #47 card (little yellow bike) was picked as a top 3 winner for the Catered Crop Mellow Yellow challenge.   That meant that I had the opportunity to be a guest designer for the new Catered Crop "For the Boys" Quickfire Challenge!!   After I said "yes" to guest designing I then thought "yikes... what am I going to make?"  I don't have a ton of guy stamps.  But I do have this fabulous new set from Verve called Strong Anchor (and the matching dies!)... just the ticket!

The layout for the card is based on the newly re-launched Sketch For You To Try.   SFYTT is now sponsored by Reverse Confetti Stamps.  If you haven't checked out their stamps yet, you really should cuz they are super cute!  Hoping to add more RC stamps to my collection soon!  Anywhoo... I used some papers from the My Mind's Eye Kate & Co. 6x6 pad and several different SU! inks.   The cue little anchors were die cut using my Verve nautical dies and stamped using the coordinating anchor image from Strong Anchor.  I finished off the interior of the card with a die cut flag and the sentiment "You are my strong anchor". 

Thanks for stopping by... and make sure you check out the Catered Crop For the Boys challenge.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Night of Navy; Bazzill light blue; Stamps:  Verve Strong Anchor; Dies:  Verve Nautical Dies, My Favorite Things Fishtail Flag Stax dies; Inks:  SU! Baja Breeze, So Saffron & Night of Navy

CCC #48... miss you in yellow

{For my Penny Black Stamp Squad announcement click here or scrolled down}

Hello friends!!  Its Tuesday and that means time for a brand new CASology challenge!  After I finished my card for last week's challenge "wheel" I checked out what this week's cue word would be I laughed when I saw it was the word yellow!  So... here I am back with another CASology card done in yellow!   All the details can be found here.  This week our guest designer in the very talented Jessi!!

 

For my card this week I decided to combine it with the current sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch.  I resisted the idea to use a feather and instead used a very pretty MFT stamp set called Pretty Poppies.   The inks I used this time are Ranger Distress inks in Squeezed Lemonade and Mowed Grass.  I kinda like the mottled look that distress ink provides when stamping solid images.  I did a little bit of masking on this card, as well.  The ribbon is PTI's Lemon Tart and I like the fact that it isn't exactly the same shade as the Squeezed Lemonade ink.  Things don't always have to be "matchy, matchy" ya know?   The other finishing details are a small tag stamped with the sentiment and attached to the ribbon using a little yellow safety pin.

Thanks for stopping by... I cannot wait to see what "yellow" related ideas all you super talented papercrafters come up with for this challenge!! In the meantime make sure you check out the cards from the rest of the design team: Melissa, Tracey, Jen, Ardyth, Judy, Maureen, and Meghan and our guest designer, Jessi!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  My Favorite Things; Inks:  Range; Ribbon:  PTI; safety pin: unknown

I Have Big News....

 

Hello friends!!  I have big news that I have been sitting on for a long time and now I finally get to "spill the beans" and share it with you!   A few months ago a dream came true for me when I was asked to design for Penny Black stamps as part of their first ever "Stamp Squad"!  Today is my day to be introduced on the Penny Black blog and below is a sneak peak of the card that you can see when you click over to the PB blog.  I have long dreamed of designing for Penny Black and when I was asked I jumped at the chance.  In the coming months I will be sharing lots of projects using fabulous Penny Black stamps!!   And to celebrate this big news I'm having a little giveaway.  Just leave me a comment on this post and I will pick two people who will receive a copy of the Summer 2013 CardMaker magazine, as well as a few other goodies.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in my exciting news!!

take a moment to...

Hello friends!!   Have a card that I made for this week's PTI Make it Monday challenge to make a border using banners.  Not one to pass up a chance to use my beloved MFT fishtail flag stax dies I knew I wanted to play along with this week's MIM and so I combined it with this week's ColourQ challenge.

I decided to cut the card base down to 4" x 5 1/2" and then add the overhanging panel like I did on my CASology card.  The banners were die cut from various Stampin Up! and PTI patterned papers in the ColourQ colors.   I used one of my favorite PTI sets Harvest Berries and stamped the large gingko leave image on the grey cardstock using grey ink for a tone on tone look.  The sentiment was also stamped in grey and I think in hindsight I should have stamped it in black.  Oh well... live and learn!  After stamping the sentiment I arranged the flags, adhered them and the adhered the entire piece to the card base.   Pretty darn simple... but I like it!

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  SU! Basic Grey; PTI white; Patterned Paper:  PTI and Stampin Up!; Stamps:  PTI Harvest Berries; Ink:  Memento London Fog; Dies:  My Favorite Things and Verve

Hope is...

Hello friends... happy Wednesday!  Here with a quick post for a card I made for this week's Dynamic Duo color challenge. 

 

Stamps are from Stampin' Up!... Blooming with Kindness and Papillion Potpourri.  The inks are Stampin Up! Wisteria Wonder and Memento's Rhubarb Stalk (a fairly close match for SU!'s Raspberry Ripple).   I hesitated for such a long time before buying Blooming with Kindness, but now I'm so glad that I finally did.  I just love that gorgeous floral image and the sentiments are so beautiful, too.  If you are a SU! fan and are on the fence about this set I say get off and buy it!!

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Stampin Up!; Inks:  Stampin Up! and Memento

CCC #47... little yellow bike

Hello friends!  Tuesday is upon us and that means a brand new CASology challenge!!   Have you seen the new look the CASology blog is sporting??? Isn't it fabulous???   Okay... enough gushing about our new look I need to talk about the new cue word which is "wheel".    I know there will be a ton of fabulous "wheel" related projects to view in the gallery.   All the deets can be found here.  Our guest designer this week is the super talented, Mary!!

Objects with wheels are in short supply in my stamp collection other than a few cute bike stamps so I pulled out one of those to use for my card today.  The bike stamp is from Hero Arts and the sentiment is from the PTI set Everyday Button Bits.   The current challenge over at Catered Crop is called "Mellow Yellow" and so I decided to go with a monochromatic yellow scheme for my card (and I will be popping this card into the Catered Crop challenge).  I stamped the bike and then over stamped the sentiment using black ink.  A few fishtail flags were die cut from some yellow cardstock  and added to the design.  The card base was cut to be 4" x 5 1/2" and then the piece that I stamped the bike on is the 4 1/4" x  2 1/2".  I like this look for clean and simple card as it adds a bit of interest to a very simple layout. 

Thanks for stopping by... I cannot wait to see what "wheel" related ideas all you super talented papercrafters come up with for this challenge!! In the meantime make sure you check out the cards from the rest of the design team: Melissa, Tracey, Jen, Ardyth, Judy, Maureen, and Meghan
and our guest designer, Mary!

Supplies:  Cardstock: PTI Rustic White; Stamps:  Hero Arts & PTI; Ink:  Memento Dandelion & Tuxedo Black; Dies:  My Favorite Things Fishtail Flag & Fishtail Flag Layer Stax dies

happy birthday...

Hello friends!!  After cold and rainy weather it seems that the sunshine has finally returned... yay!!   So this put me in the mood to make a sunny sort of card for today's LIM challenge.  This week is the color challenge week at LIM and Chrissie and Jen have asked us to make a card using the color of our front door.

My front door isn't exactly white so I used PTI's Rustic Cream cardstock for card, as well as the PTI stamp set Botanical Silhouettes.  I have been doing a bit of quilling lately and recently purchased some quilling dies.  The dies allow me to create the little fringed mums I used on the card.  I used the mums instead of the flower stamps from the set because the mums reminded me of the flowers I have placed in a sconce on my front door.  As Chrissie and Jen requested I have included a (not very good) photo of my front door. 

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock and Stamps:  PTI; Ink:  Memento; Quilling papers and dies:  Quilled Creations