with sympathy...

Hello!!  Stopping in with a card for a few challenges: Essentials by Ellen Mix It Up, CAS(E) this Sketch and Color Throwdown.  The Mix It Up challenge this month is to combine Essentials by Ellen products with Avery Elle.  I have some older AE products, but recently was blessed to receive from my sweet friend Greta the "with sympathy" die set from AE.  I decided to combine that die set with the EE Mondo Peony stamp set.  I stamped the peony on watercolor paper with watermark ink, applied white embossing powder and then heat set.  Some simple watercoloring (my favorite technique right now) was done using ZIG markers in two shades of yellow.  Once it was dry I trimmed the flower out.  I die cut the word sympathy was die cut from a medium blue cardstock twice and adhered together and the with from black cardstock three times and adhered together.  I adhered the flower to the white cardstock panel that was die cut with an AE rectangle die and then added the sentiment as you see.  I finished things off with the two black enamel dots.

Hope you have a wonderful day...
Supplies:  Cardstock:  white, black, blue and watercolor paper; Stamps:  Essentials by Ellen; Dies:  Avery Elle; Watercolor medium:  ZIG markers; VersaMark watermark ink; My Mind's Eye enamel dots

happy blooming birthday...

Hey friends!!  Popping in with a quick post today.  Made this sweet little birthday card using some Simon Says Stamp, Avery Elle and A Jillian Vance Design products.  I will be posting this to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (use a lovely color palette) and AAA Card challenge (their 1st birthday celebration).   I also posted this in the Simon Says Stamp flickr challenge (#18).  ETA:  Last minute add to the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge:  use SSS products.

This card turned out pretty much exactly how I envisioned it would!  Don't you love it when that happens??  I do, lol!  The flowers were created using the Simon Says Stamp Scribble Flowers stamp and die set.  The main panel was die cut using the Avery Elle Dotted Elle-ments.  Die cut all the flower pieces, stamped them and then layered.  I finished the card using this sweet little sentiment from the A Jillian Vance Design stamp set Showers of Blessings.   Would you look at those yummy inspiration photos??  Makes me want to head over to our totally awesome local cupcake shop, Hello Cupcake, and pick up some yummy cupcakes!!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by...

 

Supplies:  Cardstock:  Recollections white; Simon Says Stamp Fog; Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp and A Jillian Vance Design; Dies:  Simon Says Stamp and Avery Elle; Inks:  Stampin Up! Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Marina Mist and Coastal Cabana, VersaFine Vintage Sepia, VersaMagic Aloe Vera

 

warm wishes...

Hello friends!  A quick post today... wasn't actually planning on posting, but this card that I made for the current CAS challenge at Splitcoaststampers works for the current Merry Monday challenge (use browns, tans, creams), as well as the current AEI{heart}U challenge (holiday).

I started by die cutting the AE winter wreath from some My Mind's Eye woodgrain patterned paper and then stamping it with the corresponding wreath image using Hero Art's Latte ink.  All the little bits were die cut, stamped and added to the wreath.  I watermark ink and gold embossing powder for the bow.  When I die cut the wreath from the patterned paper I wasn't sure how it would look, but I really like the finished product.  It gives it a bit more of a rustic look I think. 
I die cut the panel using my AE dotted die, added the wreath and the sentiment.  Mounted everything on a dark chocolate card base.   I know the Merry Monday challenge was to use cream, brown and tan so I hope it is okay that I have the little bits of red and green.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI; Stamps and dies:  Avery Elle; Inks:  Hero Arts and Memento

tis the season...

Hello... back with the second card I made during my Friday afternoon crafty session.  This one is for the new AEI{heart}U challenge, a sketch, and the current Festive Fridays.  I have never played along with Festive Fridays, but that beautiful inspiration photo really caught my attention so I just had to give them a try! (ETA... popping this into the August SSS Work It Wednesday, too.)

I recently purchased the new AE Winter Wreath dies from Ellen Hutson.  So happy that AE decided to come out with a set of dies to match the Winter Wreath stamp set... now the possibilities are endless!  Die cut all the pieces and then stamped the wreath in pink and the bow using Delicata Golden Glitz ink. The berries were stamped using Hero Arts silver.  Some silver and gold washi tape (My Mind's Eye) was adhered and then I splattered the card stock piece with the gold and pink inks mixed with water.  I adhered the wreath and then stamped the sentiment.  Finished off with the bow and little berries. 

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps & dies:  Avery Elle; Washi Tape:  My Mind's Eye; Inks:  Stampin Up!, Tsukineko & Hero Arts

love you...

Hello... happy Friday!  I know my boys are happy it is Friday... that means the weekend and that they get to play Xbox games, lol!  Have another card to share.  This one is for the current AEI{heart}U challenge:  CAS and uses the current sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch.

I followed the sketch very, very closely.  I die cut the main panel and all the fishtail banners using the AE Dotted Die set.  The papers I used are from the My Mind's Eye Jubilee "Mint Julip" 6x6 pad.  To soften the pattern on the largest banner I die cut some vellum for an over lay.  After adhering the largest banner I added the twine and the rest of the banners.  That part was a bit fiddly, but I think it turned out okay.  Finished off the card with the sentiment from the AE set "Oh Happy Day" and the little hearts from the AE set "Love Notes".  Everything was mounted on a pale aqua card base.  If you want to see an outstanding take on the sketch, please click over to Petra's blog.  Her card is absolutely AMAZING!!

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white, SU! Pool Party; Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black Luxe, SU! Coastal Cabana, PTI Sweet Blush, Memento Ladybug; Twine:  Hemptique; Stamps and dies:  Avery Elle

for you...

Hello... here with a quick share of a card that I made for three challenges:  ColourQ, Freshly Made Sketches and Avery Elle AEI{heart}U (sequins).  Since this has die cutting on it I will be posting it to the Cutting Edge blog hop, as well.

 

I used (again... but I love the set!!) the AE set Petals & Stems, as well as the matching Petals & Stems dies.  The sentiment is from the AE set Oh Happy Day.  Patterned paper is from a Stampin Up! designer paper pack released a few years ago.  I almost used the AE Dotted Die to cut my main panel, but gave it a little break!  Finished things off with some Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins (6mm & 4mm sizes). 

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Smoky Slate; Stamps & dies:  Avery Elle; Inks:  Stampin Up!; Sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh; Tombow Glue pen

thanks a bunch...

Hello!!  Created a little card to share that I will be posting to several different blogs/challenges.  Loved the current (and last, sadly!) sketch from Seize the Sketch so I made another card.  This one uses the color combo from this month's Reverse Confetti color challenge.  And since it is full of die cutting I'm also posting this to the Pretty Pink Posh Cutting Edge blog hop.

I, again, used my Avery Elle Dotted Dies to cut the main panel.  Save to say that I think that is my new favorite die!!  I then die cut two little tags (yes... those are tags under all the other die cuts, lol!) using the Reverse Confetti Tag Me die set.  The flowers and sparkly bits were die cut using the Reverse Confetti Petals n' Posies Confetti Cuts die set. After stamping all the flowers with the coordinating Petals n' Posies stamp set) I adhered the tags to the main panel and layered everything on top.  Finished by adding a hand cut banner (after all that die cutting I was a bit worn out, lol!) stamped with the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Night of Navy; Stamps:  Reverse Confetti; Dies:  Reverse Confetti and Avery Elle; Ink:  Stampin Up! Real Red & Night of Navy; SU! glittered cardstock; My Mind's Eye wooden dot

java a great day...

Hello!!  Squeezed in some time today to make a card for this week's CASology challenge, as well as the current (and last... boo hoo!) Seize the Sketch challenge.   When I saw this week's cue word I just had to play along.  I'm not a coffee drink (my elixir of choice is a tall soy Chai from Starbucks), but I do happen to have some cute coffee inspired stamps (and dies) from Clearly Whimsy Stamps. 

I happen to still have out my BasicGrey Highline 6x6 pad and some I used some papers from that pad to make my little "to go" coffee cups.  After die cutting all the pieces I adhered them together.  Adding the heart to one cup and the sentiment to the other.  I stamped a little heart up in one corner and then adhered the cups to my cardstock piece that I die cut with my brand spanking new Dotted Dies set from Avery Elle.  I absolutely love the look of this perfectly cut panel!!  Since this is a pretty clean and simple design I'm going to also post this card to the current Addicted to Stamps and More challenge:  CAS.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Clearly Whimsy Stamps Coffee Break; Dies:  Clearly Whimsy Stamps and Avery Elle; Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa & Tangelo; Patterned Paper:  BG Highline

thinking of you...

Hello... have another card to share.  This time for Freshly Made Sketches, Color Throwdown, AEI{heart}U:  diecuts and Less is More:  Anything Goes. (Happy belated birthday, Chrissie!!)  This is my last post for awhile... off on a little vacation with my boys.  We are heading to Birch Bay, Washington for some fun in the sun with my in-laws.  The boys are excited to be spending a whole week hanging out with their cousins!  I'm looking forward to some down time and doing some reading!

Anywhoo... on to my card.  This came together pretty quickly.  Some washi tape, a die cut, some hemp twine, a few enamel dots and I was done.  To add some interest I cut the panel to 3 3/4 x 5" and then rounded one corner.  The corresponding corner of the card base was rounded as well.  The Avery Elle set I used is Petal & Stems, as well as the Petals & Stems die.  I can't seem to stop making projects with that set... absolutely love it!

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps & Dies:  Avery Elle; Inks:  Stampin Up! Rich Razzleberry & Memento Tuxedo Black; Hemp twine:  Hemptique yellow; Enamel Dots:  My Mind's Eye; Washi Tape:  Stampin Up! & Impress

congratulations...

Hello there!   Managed to make a card today... yay!  I know many of you have found yourself at various times in a place where you feel like your creativity has fled to places unknown...never to return!   Well, I have found myself in that place several times over these last few months.   I try to make something, anything, but to no avail.  This past week I have found myself, once again, in that place.  In an effort to combat this vague sense of malaise I decided to make a card and bake cookies, at the same time.  Thankfully both the card and the cookies turned out fine!  In fact my little guy pronounced my cookies "amazing"... I didn't ask him about the card, lol.  You can be the judge!
I used items from the Crate Paper Close Knit line, Avery Elle stamps and dies (Petals & Stems) and the current Sketchbook Saturday layout as my blue print.  I will be linking this up to the current AEI {heart} U challenge:  one word.  And since there is a ton of die cutting I think I will link it up to Virginia's View #5.   Given the state of crafting mind I'm rather pleased with how it turned out.  Maybe I should bake cookies and make cards at the same time on a regular basis!  I would love to hear what you do to get yourself out of a creative funk.  Now... here are the cookies.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Close to My Heart yellow; Stamps:  Avery Elle Petals & Stems; Dies:  My Favorite Things Jumbo Fishtail Flag Stax; Spellbinders plain square & rectangle dies; Avery Elle Petals & Stems dies; Ink:  Memento Ladybug, Tuxedo Black, Pistachio & Cantaloupe, Stampin Up! Ink Pirouette; Patterned paper:  Crate Paper

birds of a feather...

Hey there... wow we are having some absolutely dropdead amazing weather here in Western Washington!!  YAY!!   More often than not our weather is kinda yucky around 4th of July so hoping that this lovely weather lasts until then.  Anywhoo... have a card to share that I made for the current AEI{heart}U challenge to use gold.  I will also be popping this into the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge:  white.

I started with a white cardstock base and adhered two different matte gold washi tapes along one side.  A piece of white cardstock was trimmed to 3 3/4 by 5 1/2 and adhered to the card base.  The piece was then flicked with a mixture of Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink and water.  I die cut the tag using my Reverse Confetti Tag Me die and stamped it with the sentiment (from the AE set Love Notes) using black ink.  The final portion of the sentiment was stamped in the Galaxy Gold, trimmed out and popped up.  Two feather were also stamped in Galaxy Gold, trimmed out and popped up.  I tied some gold/off white baker's twine in a bow, adhered the piece to the card front and then added some flicks of the ink/water mixture to the tag.    Thinking I'm going to also enter this in the CASology challenge as the cue word is "float" and well... my little feathers look like they are floating!

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps Avery Elle Love Notes; Ink:  Brilliance and Memento; Washi Tape:  Stampin Up!; Die:  Reverse Confetti; Baker's Twine:  Stampin Up!

CMCC #25

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

Hey there!!!  We have made it back around to Wednesday and that means time for a brand new color combo over at Colour Me...!  This week we have some fun soft, summery colors to work with:  medium pink, light pink and light aqua (SU! colors:  Strawberry Slush, Pink Piroutte and Pool Party!  All the challenge details can be found at the Colour Me...! blog.

With this card I'm also playing along with the current AEI{heart}U challenge to make your own designer paper.  I pulled out my AE Love Notes set and stamped the globe in all the Colour Me...! colors.   To fill in the gaps I added the little hearts.  The sentiment (also from Love Notes) was stamped in black and trimmed out.  I adhered the little heart tag, the sentiment and rounded two corners to finish things off.

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

Supplies:  Cardstock: PTI white; Stamps:  Avery Elle; Dies:  PTI; Inks:  Stampin Up!, Palette (Belle Rose) and Memento

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 #12... three feathers

Hello friends!!  It is Wednesday and that means time for a brand new color combo over at Colour Me!  So many fun entries for last week's challenge!  I think you will really like this week's soft and subtle combo of light green, light blue and light turquoise.  All the details can be found at the Colour Me...! blog.

Sunday I got a chance to make a stop at my favorite stamping store, Impress Rubber Stamps, and picked up a few things.  One of them was this lovely Impression Obession feather die and well... I was dying (ha!) to use it!  This was a quick card to put together... die cut the feathers from the color challenge colors, adhere to the white cardstock piece, add the sentiment (from the Avery Elle set Love Notes), adhere the hemp twine bow and I was done.  Oh... I rounded one corner, too.

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

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white, Hawaiian Shores & Spring Rain; SU! Pear Pizzazz; Stamps:  Avery Elle; Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Die:  Impression Obsession; Hemp twine:  Close to my Heart

birds of a feather...

Hello friends!!  Back with a card to share.  Hope you like it... it is really outside my comfort zone!  Way out..., lol!!  

 I combined Cure for the Monday Blues with the new CAS(E) this Sketch layout.  I also could pop it into Virginia's first challenge:  Watercoloring since I watercolored on the tag.  And finally I just discovered that it would work for the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge:  Tag It.   This was definitely a "fiddly" card as I spent a long time trying to make sure that the feather looked okay (not sure I succeeded, lol) and figuring out if I should add something to obscure the hole in tag.  Tried this and that and finally settled on some thin black twine tied in a bow.  I think it works or this could just be a complete "hot mess"!  Anyway... tell me what you think.  Stamps are Avery Elle so I will also be popping it into their new challenge:  embellishments.  

I really took a bit of license with the CTS sketch, but hopefully you can still see the basic idea there. I spritzed a piece of watercolor paper with water and then using my So Saffron reinker brushed on the light yellow.  After the piece was dry I die cut the tag using my Reverse Confetti tag die.  The sentiment was stamped using watermark ink, white embossing powder applied and heat set.  The "together" was stamped, trimmed out and added to the tag using foam dimensionals.  After adhering the feather I added the tag, some green sequins, the bow and I was done.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft & rustic white; Strathmore watercolor paper; Stamps:  Avery Elle Love Notes; Die:  Reverse Confetti; Inks:  So Saffron, black, watermark ink; white embossing powder; green sequins; black twine

birthday bouquet...

Hello friends!! Seems like ages since I last posted.  Used to be that I posted almost every day.  Not sure how I did that since now days it seems like I can barely get anything done!   I have actually made things over the last few days but can't post them until later.  However, I did get this little card made today.  I used the current ColourQ combo and the new AEIHeartU challenge - birthdays.   I do not have the graphic for the challenge because I cannot save it to my computer for some reason.

When I saw this week's ColourQ combo I wasn't sure that I was going to play along.  The colors are ones that I would normally use if given the choice.  But I thought I could make them work using the Avery Elle set Thanks a Bunch and I was right.  Especially since I decided to use the Summer Starfruit color as my card base.  The color is a rather garish and awkward color, but as a base I think it works rather well.  The white panel was cut using my PTI Tipped Top die... love being able to cut the angled panel and not have to guess at the right proportions!   And I love the Thanks a Bunch set!  So fun to build your own beautiful bouquet!

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Summer Starfruit; Stamps:  Avery Elle; Inks:  Stampin Up! Always Artichoke, Groovy Guava, So Saffron, Memento Tuxedo Black; Sequins:  Verve Spring Mix