make a wish...

Hey there!!  Friday here in my part of the world and it looks like it will be a nice day, too... YAY!  Last night a large portion of the area where I live lost power for about 2 hours.  It was rather interesting because my boys had to figure out how to entertain themselves WITHOUT something electronic involved!  And they did... I spotted my little guy outside rolling round.. yes just rolling around... in the grass and having a great time!  Have to admit that I was having a bit of a tough time, but I sat down and did some good old book reading!   Anywhoo... I do have a card to share, lol!  Made it for this week's Make It Monday challenge and ColourQ.  Since I used a die cut on it I will be popping it into this week's Less is More challenge (haven't played with them in I think a year!!).  The layout is based on the current CAS(E) this Sketch challenge.

I used PTI Polka Dot Parade #12.  It is the only Polka Dot Parade set I own, but now I'm thinking that maybe I should pick up a few more.  I stamped the candles using the ColourQ colors and then used the corresponding die to deboss around three of the candles.  Thought about doing all of them, but decided to just be lazy and do only three, lol!  Finished things off by stamping the word "WISH" on a die cut fishtail banner, tied on the baker's twine in matching colors and then added the "Make a" portion.   The debossing is kinda hard to see so I have included a detail shot that hopefully shows it up better.

Thanks for stopping by... can't believe this, but as of this post I have only one more post to go and I will have posted 1,000 times!!  That is crazy, lol!!

Supplies:   Cardstock: PTI white; Stamps:  PTI; Dies:  PTI & MFT; Inks:  Hero Arts, Stampin Up! and Memento; Baker's twine:  the Twinery

CMCC #22... oh, hello!

Hey there!!  Wednesday is here and so is a brand new color combo over at Colour Me...!  This week we have a fallish combo of green, rust, yellow and light brown.  All the details can be found over at the Colour Me...! blog.  Sadly, this is also our last week with the wildly talented LeAnne.  It has been so fun having her guesting with us this month!  Popping this into the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge:  Anything Goes.

 

 

Those of you who have the brand new Stampin Up! catalog may recognize this layout.  I purloined it (love that word "purloined"!) from the new catalog... with a couple of little changes.  I was quite taken with that card and the fact that it used another of my favorite SU! sets, Everything Eleanor.   For me these colors were a bit tricky to put together, but I think I can up with something rather pleasing in the end.  When confronted with a "tricky" color combo I spend time thinking about how I would arrange the colors and I give alot of thought to what supplies I will be using.  Sometimes I use cardstock because I think it works best and other times I use all inks... just depends.  The inks are from Stampin Up!, Close to My Heart and VersaFine.  The doily is from Wilton. 

Thanks for stopping by...please check out the projects created by my fellow teamies Tara, Hayley, Sam, Katie, Brenda and May guest designer, LeAnne!

Supplies:  Cardstock:   PTI cream, Close to My Heart Autumn Terracotta, SU! Baked Brown Sugar; Stamps:  Stampin Up! Everything Eleanor; Inks:  Close to My Heart Sunflower, Autumn Terracotta, Stampin Up! Wild Wasabi; VersaFine Vintage Sepia; Sequins:  Ellen Hutson; Wilton doily

PTI May Blog Hop... for the record

Hey there!!  Happy Memorial Day to everyone here in the US... hope you are enjoying the long weekend!!  It is May 25th and that means time for the PTI blog hop.  This month we were challenged to use aqua and melon on our project.  I have the aqua for sure, but had to figure out if I had an ink color that fit the "melon" category.  Thankfully I found that my SU! Groovy Guava ink is a perfect melon color.

It is safe to say that I love PTI's Feather Finery set.  Not sure what it is about feathers, but right now they have captured my attention and my heart, lol!  I used the medium sized feather and stamped it in SU!'s Coastal Cabana and Groovy Guava.  I then smooshed some of both colors on to my craft mat, added lots of water and then splattered away.  The sentiment is from the PTI set Cutting Garden.   I added the gold baker's twine and a strip of melon colored cardstock to the side of the piece.  Some aqua patterned paper was adhere to the card base and the main panel attached.   The layout is based on the current Sketchbook Saturday sketch.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stampin Up! Crisp Canteloupe; Inks:  SU! Coastal Cabana & Groovy Gauva, Memento Tuxedo Black; Stamps:  Feather Finery & Cutting Garden; Bakers twine:  SU! gold; Patterned paper:  Stampin Up!

you mean the world to me...

Hey there!  Had a very productive day yesterday and got three cards made... YAY!  That hasn't happened in a long time!   Sharing one of the cards that I made that works for several challenges:  Color Throwdown, CAS(E) this Sketch and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge:  vacation/travel.

 

The layout from CTS was the perfect vehicle for an idea that I have had for a long time.  I just love the Travel 2 set from Clearly Whimsy Stamps.  It is full of fun travel/vacation images and sentiments.  I used various circular images from a couple other Clearly Whimsy stamps (In the Garden and In the Garden Additions) along with the world image from Travel 2 to create my dots.  I love that clear stamps give you the ability to turn them over and use the flat side to create different looks.  After stamping all the circles and the world in the various Color Throwdown colors I added the sentiment and some clear sequins.  Two corners were rounded and the piece was mounted on the card base.  Again, a super simple card, but I really like how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock: PTI white; Stamps:  Clearly Whimsy Stamps; Inks:  Stampin Up! and Memento; Sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh

 

hello...

Hey there... our sunny weather came back... YAY!!!  Have a shaker card to share with you.  I didn't set out to make a shaker card, but once I got started on my card making one just seemed the way to go.  This card is for the following challenges:  AEI{heart}U challenge:  botanicals, Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge: botanicals and ColourQ.

 

Since two of the challenges have to do with flowers I decided to pull out my never been used before Memory Box window die and create a little flower filled window scene.  I die cut some flowers and the leafy branches and stamped them with the various ColourQ colors.  A piece of clear cardstock was trimmed to fit the back of the window and attached along with many tiny squares of foam dimensionals.  Once that was done I layered the leafy branches and the flowers on the window.  I then added sequins in colors that are fairly close to the ColourQ colors and sealed up the back.  The sentiment was stamped and the piece was run through my Big Shot in the dotted swiss embossing folder and then adhere to my card base.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Avery Elle; Dies:  Avery Elle & Memory Box; Inks:  Stampin Up! and Memento; Sequins:  Lawn Fawn and Ellen Hutson

CMCC #21... your kindness

Hey there!!  Wednesday is here, again, and that means time for a brand new color challenge over at Colour Me...!  Tons of fabulousness in the gallery for last's weeks color combo.  This week we have three colors to work with:  dark brown, dark pink and soft blue.  All the details about the challenge can be found on the Colour Me...! blog.  Can't wait to see what you come up with this beautiful color combo!

 

For my card I employed one of my favorite techniques... collage stamping.  When I have a color combo that has several strong colors combined with a less assertive color collage stamping is a perfect way for me to create something that is pleasing to look at.  I pulled out three older Stampin Up! sets that I love:  Bliss, Artistic Etchings & French Foliage.  I started by stamping the soft blue using a beautiful damask image from Bliss and then layering on the other elements using the dark brown and dark pink.  Normally I would have stopped there, but I decided I wanted to balance things out a bit more by stamping a small collage of images in the opposite corner.  The sentiment is from the SU! set Blooming with Kindness. 

Thanks for stopping by...please check out the projects created by my fellow teamies Tara, Hayley, Sam, Katie, Brenda and May guest designer, LeAnne!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Stampin Up!; Inks:  Stampin Up! Soft Sky, Early Espresso & Primrose Petal

thinking about you...

Hey there!!  Our lovely weather has changed to rain... yuck!  Oh well... I'm sure the nice weather will be back soon.  Have a card to share that I made for a couple of challenges:  Time Out (inspired by words:  time flies, love lasts) and Addicted to CAS (off the edge).

I must be honest and tell you that this card actually started out as a one layer card for the Hero Arts scramble that happened on Saturday (May 17th) over at the Hero Arts flickr group.  When I originally made the card I used the backside to do some experimenting with different images and the stencil.  I posted my original one layer card, but knew I couldn't leave it that way and that I would have to "fix" my little problem.  So, I cut the card in two, threw away the back half and trimmed down the front to fit a new A2 card base.  I added some additional stamping to the front and the enamel dots.  All the stamps are from the Hero Arts set All the Time and the stencil is from Memory Box.  I used Ranger Squeezed Lemonade distress ink for the stenciling and Ranger Faded Jeans to stamp the clock images.  The sentiment was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Hero Arts; Inks:  Ranger and Memento; Enamel dots:  My Mind's Eye

rain or shine...

Hey there!!  Have a card to share that I made using the Viva la Verve May sketch #1 and the VLV color combo of aqua, yellow and grey.  The card also fits the Verve Diva Inspiration challenge to put the focus on a sentiment.   I'm also going to pop this into the current CASology challenge:  Splash.  

 

The splats are from the MFT set Abstract and reminded me of splashes of water.  They were stamped using grey and aqua colored inks.  The sentiment is from the Verve set Rain or Shine.  Some yellow and grey washi tape was used to adhere the piece to the white cardstock background piece and then everything was mounted on a yellow card base.   Added a few clear sequins for a little bit of sparkle.

 Thanks for stopping by... I hope you will take the time to leave me a comment!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white and lemon tart; Stamps:  Verve & My Favorite Things; Inks:  Stampin Up! & VersaFine; Sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh 4mm clear; Washi tape

some colorful cards...

Hello, hello!!   We have been having some absolutely GORGEOUS weather here in the Puget Sound area!  Just a taste of hopefully what is to come this summer!  Have a couple of cards to share that I made for several challenges.   One card uses a technique that Julie Ebersole demonstrated on day four of the Online Card Class Watercolor for Card Makers.

 

First up is my card for ColourQ and the current Make It Monday challenge.  I used one of the large words from the PTI Wet Paint set and two circular designs from the PTI Bits & Buttons set.   Following Heather's instructions I stamped the word in VersaMark, applied the clear embossing powder and heat set it.   Then I stamped away using the brown, turquoise and aqua colors.  Once I finished stamping those colors I stamped a few circles using Delicata Golden Glitz ink and then carefully wiped the ink of the sentiment.  I added a few sequins in turquoise, aqua and clear before mounting the card on the turquoise card base.

The second card was made using the Julie Ebersole watercolor technique from the Online Card Class and the colors from the current Color Throwdown challenge, lime and bright pink.  For my card I used Ranger Distress inks in Picked Raspberry and Peeled Paint.  Both colors were applied to my craft mat and spritzed with water.  The dots were stamped using a clean pencil eraser.  Because I was only stamping with two colors I didn't put down as many dots as I might have.  After the dots were stamped I die cut the piece with a TE butterfly and then added the silver sequins.  Mounted everything on a white cardstock base.  I'm also popping this one into the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge:  die crazy since I used a die to cut my butterfly.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock: PTI white; SU! Tempting Turquoise & Pool Party; Stamps:  PTI; Ink:  Stampin Up!, Delicata & VersaMark; Embossing Powder Ranger UltraFine clear; Sequins:  Lawn Fawn & Pretty Pink Posh
Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Prescious Remembrance Shop New Day; Ink:  Ranger and Memento; Die:  Taylored Expressions; Sequins:  Lawn Fawn

CMCC #20...miss you

Hello, hello!!  Here we are back around to Wednesday and a brand new color combo at Colour Me...!  This week we are working with two colors:  Midnight Muse (dark blue) and Crushed Curry (darkish yellow).  I will admit right here that I am NOT a fan of Crushed Curry, but in small amounts I have fun using it.  All the details for the challenge can be found on the Colour Me...! blog.

For my card today I did very little stamping and a lot of die cutting.  I had purchased the SU! Hexagon Hive Thinlits die several months ago, but had not yet used it... until today's card.  My card is pretty straight forward.  I die cut some white cardstock with the Hexagon Hive die and then punched out all the white pieces.  A second one was cut from Crushed Curry and then random hexagons from that cutting were inlaid back into the white die cut.  Once I had all the pieces I wanted inlaid I stamped the sentiment (from a PTI Fillable Frames set) and then adhered the piece to my Midnight Muse card base.  A few additional Crushed Curry pieces were added using thicker dimensional foam and I was done.

Thanks for stopping by...please check out the projects created by my fellow teamies Tara, Hayley, Sam, Katie, Brenda and May guest designer, LeAnne!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Crushed Curry & Midnight Muse; Stamps: PTI; Die:  SU! Hexagon Hive thinlits

some online card class... cards

Hello, hello... have a few more cards that I made using a few of the techniques that I have been learning in the Online Card Class Watercolor for Card Makers.   The first card uses a technique that I learned from Shari Carroll on day five of class.

Her technique involves watercoloring on an embossed background.  This month I am guesting designing for the Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge and I decided to use this technique for my card for this week's challenge:  Red, Yellow and Olive Green.  I stamped the background (from Penny Black) in VersaMark, applied white embossing and heat set.  I then colored different portions of the background using Ranger Distress markers in Crushed Olive, Squeezed Lemonade & Barn Door and water. I created the little button embellishment by die cutting olive green and yellow cardstock using my PTI Button Stack dies.  I adhered them together and they applied Glossy Accents to make it look more like a button.  Once dry I added some red baker's twine to the "button" and adhered it to my sentiment banner.

 

The second card I made using a technique that Jennifer McGuire taught on day six of class.  She used a shimmer mist as her water to add subtle shimmer to her image.  I stamped the image from the Stampin Up! set So Very Grateful on watercolor paper using VersaMark, applied white embossing powder and heat set.  I then colored the image with Ranger Distress marker and some Perfect Pearls mist that I poured into a small cup.  The shimmer is hard to see, but it is very pretty in real life.  The image was die cut using some Stampin Up! labels dies.  The sentiment (stamped in Barn Door) is also from the So Very Grateful set.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Old Olive; Ranger Distress Watercolor paper; Stamps:  Stampin Up! & Precious Remembrance Shop; Ink:  Ranger Distress Makers:  Barn Door, Squeezed Lemonade, Crushed Olive, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint, Dried Marigold, Scattered Straw & Wild Honey; Dies:  Stampin Up!/Sizzix; My Favorite Things, PTI; Baker's Twine:  The Twinery

i really miss you...

Hello, hello... stopping by with a card for this week's CASology challenge (earned an honorable mention for last week's challenge!  made me smile... thanks, Joyce!).  I used one of the techniques from Online Card Class - Watercolor for Card Makers - day four.  It is a technique taught by Shari Carroll.

I used some Penny Black stamps (irises and eloquence) and Tim Holtz distress markers.  I only have 5 distress markers and so I wasn't able to get much depth of color, but I do like how it turned out.  After I finished all my stamping I added three little metal brad up in the one corner.  Given the neutral colors I used I think this would work well for a guy or a gal.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  SU! Crumb Cake; Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor paper; Inks:  Distress Ink markers:  bundled sage, wild honey, dried marigold; VersaFine Onyx Black; brads;  unknown

you make my heart... soar!

Hello, hello!!  Back around to the end of the week.  Have a little card to share for a couple of challenges:  Poppy Sketches and Paper Crafting Challenge: 1 embellishment. 

 

When I saw the Poppy Sketches layout I didn't think I would be making anything... it is very much outside my comfort zone, but then I thought about my much loved Feather Finery set and an idea was born!   I stamped the feathers in kraft colored ink and then added the little spots using dark green and purple inks.  Every time I have used this stamp set that is how I have stamped the feathers and honestly... i love it!  Added the sentiment, the strips of patterned paper along the side and was ready to call it good.  Then I saw Kimberly (she is on the design team!) had posted a card for Paper Crafting Challenge: 1 embellishment and so I decided to add the little heart.  I stamped the outer heart using the purple ink and then dyed a wood veneer heart using the dark green ink.

Thanks for stopping by...  hoping to get some projects made using some of the techniques I have been learning in the OCC Watercolor for Card Makers classes.

Supplies:  Cardstock: PTI white; SU! kraft; Patterned Paper:  PTI & SU!; Ink:  SU! Crumb Cake & Gumball Green; Memento Grape Jelly & Tuxedo Black; Dies:  PTI feather dies; Studio Calico wood veneer heart

sharin' some cards..

Hello, hello!!  Hope your week is going well.  Have you been taking the Online Card Class Watercolor for Card Makers class?  I have... it has been lots of fun.  I have made a few cards and hope to make several more.  The cards I have today have nothing to do with watercoloring.  One is for the current Reverse Confetti sketch challenge and the other is for several different challenges.

My first card is for the RC challenge and uses the RC set Class Act, as well as the matching dies.  I made this one for my little guy's teacher.  I used some BasicGrey Clippings papers as I think they work well for a teacher card.  I gave it to her yesterday along with her favorite Starbucks drink.  I hope she liked it!



The second card is for the following challengers:  ColourQ, Seize the Sketch and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Flowers.  This card uses the super sweet Clearly Whimsy Stamps sets In the Garden and In the Garden Additions, as well as the cute little picket fence and grass dies.  I die cut the fence from some patterned paper (I think My Mind's Eye, but I'm not sure) and then adhered it upside down to my cardstock.  After that I stamped my little flower scene I die cut the grass from Pear Pizzazz cardstock and adhered that.  I added the sentiment on a little hand cut banner and finished things off with two little embellishments.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white & kraft, SU! Crumb Cake & Pink Pirouette; Stamps:  Reverse Confetti & Clearly Whimsy Stamps; Inks:  Stampin Up! & Memento; Patterned Paper:  BasicGrey; Dies:  Reverse Confetti & Whimsy Stamps; Enamel Dots:  My Mind's Eye & Prima

CMCC #19... best friends forever

Hello, hello!!  Wednesday is here and you know what that means... time for a brand new challenge over at Colour Me and since it is the beginning of a new month we have a brand new guest designer, LeAnne!!  LeAnne is super talented so make sure you check out her blog.  This week we are working with one color, Cherry Cobbler (dark red).  I love Cherry Cobbler... it is hands down my most favorite red EVER!  All the details for the challenge can be found at the Colour Me...! blog.

I have been playing with feathers, again.  This time PTI's Feather Finery set (I finally purchased it a month ago... what took me so long???).  I inked up the large feather ink with Cherry Cobbler, stamped it off and then stamped it on my cardstock.  The I added the little dots image using Cherry Cobbler at full strength.  After I stamped the sentiment and mounted the piece on my card base I thought it was rather plain so I fiddled around with a few ideas and finally settled on the washi tape and little buttons.

Thanks for stopping by...please check out the projects created by my fellow teamies Tara, Hayley, Sam, Katie, Brenda and May guest designer, LeAnne!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  PTI; Inks:  Stampin Up! & Memento; Washi tape:  Stampin Up; Buttons:  PTI

a shaker hello...

Popping in with a card that I made this afternoon.  I must say that this card took me far too long to make and has pretty much helped me decide that shaker cards are not really for me!    Maybe I will give shakers another chance, but not right away! 

 

The layout for my card is based on the current MFT Wednesday sketch and when I saw it I thought it would be perfect for a shaker card.  I used the color combo from the current ColourQ.   Things started out pretty good, but I ran into trouble when I tried to die cut the acetate sheet to get my window.  The acetate is pretty think and I lost count of how many times I ran it through the die cutting machine before I gave up and cut the last uncut side with my paper trimmer!   The next problem arose when I realized the foam dimensionals I was using to create my box weren't quit thick enough.  I almost gave up at that point... but I soldiered on and got some sequins inside and the whole thing closed up.  Given all the struggles I had it is no wonder the overall card is pretty plain.  Oh well... I tried!  Stamps are from the MFT set Sweet Roses.  Dies are Spellbinders and MFT.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Old Olive; Stamps:  MFT; Inks:  Stampin Up! Calypso Coral, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Pumpkin Pie; Memento Tuxedo Black; Dies:  Spellbinders plain squares; MFT Fishtail Flag Stax and Sweet Roses dies; Sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh (clear); vintage gold sequins
 

sending you pots of love...

Hello, hello everyone!!  Popping in with a little card that I made using some of the newly released Clearly Whimsy Stamps, In the Garden Additions.   The layout for my card is based on this week's Sketch Saturday layout.  Sketch Saturday is being sponsored this week by Whimsy Stamps.  You can find out all the details regarding the challenge on the Sketch Saturday blog.  I hope you will check it out you could win a $15.00 gift certificate to Whimsy Stamps!

My card uses some yummy My Mind's Eye Cut & Paste Adorbs patterned paper and the sweet little pot and sunflower images from In the Garden Additions.  I just love the sentiment... isn't it cute??   Love the Sketch Saturday layout, too... you can go super simple (like I did) or you could really layer it up.  I hope you will take the time to check out the challenge! Here is the sketch:

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock: PTI white; PP:  My Mind's Eye; Stamps:  Clearly Whimsy Stamps; Ink:  Memento Pear Tart & Tuxedo Black; SU! Melon Mambo

you light up...

Hello, hello!!!  We have been having some beautiful weather in my neighborhood, but apparently it isn't going to last into the weekend...sigh!  Oh well... I have a bright and sunny little card to share with you today.  I made this for the current CASology challenge:  Electric.  The layout is based on the current sketch from Unscripted Sketches.  Also going to pop this into the current Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge:  not so mellow yellow.

When I saw the cue word: electric I was a little bummed.  I don't own any of those cute stamp sets that have little light bulbs in them or any kind of set that would lend itself to the challenge.  But then I remembered that I had just ordered a fun little set from Stampin Up! that would fit the bill and it was going to arrive on my doorstep just in time... YAY!   Once the set arrived I inked it up and got to work.  Because the scale of the light bulb is rather small I decided to make a tag/card (my sweet friend Martha is the master of tag/cards! Go check out her blog, you won't be disappointed!).  I stamped the bulb portion in yellow ink and trimmed it out.  The entire image was stamped in silver, trimmed out and the top portion attached.   Finished off the tag/card with some bright yellow patterned paper, a bit of washi tape and the sentiment.    I have included another photo that shows it really is a tag/card and not just a tag.



 

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Patterned paper:  Stampin Up!; Washi Tape:  Impress Rubber Stamps; Stamps:  SU! Crazy Mixed Up Love; Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black & Dandelion; Hero Arts Silver; Ribbon:  PTI yellow; Twine:  Close to my Heart black; Dies:  Penny Black tag die; MFT fishtail flag stax die