Birch Press Design Blog Post #1

 Hello!  Popping in to let you know that I have a post up on the Birch Press Design blog today.  Here is a small peek of what I made. 

Hope you will head over to the BP blog to see what I created.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day. 

Midnight Ride

Hello and Merry Christmas everyone!  Boy, it has been awhile since I last posted, lol!  I made a couple of things and one of them will be shared the day after Christmas, but mostly I have just been doing other things.  The last few years I have tried to make some kind of mixed media/Tim Holtz inspired Christmas decor piece.  The one I had this year is pretty simple in comparison to some I have made, but I really like how it turned out.  Let's have a look.

When I first saw the Forest Background die from Simon Says Stamp I knew I wanted to use it to make a scene with Santa flying across the sky with his reindeer.    Just a few days ago I finally got it finished.  It wasn't hard to make, but as I stated in my intro I just had other things going on.  I had watercolored some watercolor cardstock using Forest Moss distress ink and used that piece for my forest.  I painted a Tim Holtz distress square box with a dark blue pain and splattered the sides with Simon Says Stamp white splatter medium.  I then cut a piece of dark blue cardstock to fit the front of the box, ink blended on Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot distress inks and let it dry.   The background and the die cut treelines were the splattered with the white splatter medium as well.  I adhered the blue background to the box using multi matte medium and the tree lines using varying heights of foam squares to add some depth.  Santa and reindeer (a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die that was a freebie from SSS a few years ago) was die cut from a dark gray cardstock three time, layered and then splattered with white splatter medium as well.  The crescent moon is included in the Santa die set so I die cut that from silver glitter cardstock.  I adhered the moon and Santa with glue.  The finishing touch was the sentiment sign from the Idea-ology Christmas 2024 baseboards and transparencies set.  I attached the sign using texture paste.  I embedded three little ivory balls into the paste, as well.  When the paste was mostly set up I did add a little bit of Snowfall grit paste for an icy look to the sign.  

Going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge of sparkle and shine.  My moon is sparkly.  And to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of add a sentiment.   I'm also going to add this to the Die Cut Diva's December challenge of Christmas/Winter.  Thank you to my bloggy friend, Linda, for mentioning the challenge!

Thanks for stopping by and have a very, very, very Merry Christmas!

December 25th

 Hello!  Posting has been sporadic, again, lol!  Have been making things and will be sharing some of them on Friday so stay tuned!  I did want to try to play along with JUGs before they take a break until January.  The challenge there is anything goes with stenciling.  I'm also playing along with the Paper Players which is a tic tac toe board.  I went with stenciling, Christmas and patterned paper.  Finally I will be adding this to the SSS Wednesday challenge.   In case you didn't know it is now DieCember over at Simon Says Stamp and so the Wednesday challenge is to use dies.   Whew that was a lot, lol!  Let's take a look at what I made.

Going through my stuff (I have too much!) and I found the Waffle Flower Postage Collage Christmas stencil set.   I honestly did not know that I had even purchased it.  Is that bad?   Well, now I know I have it and so I put it to use making today's card.  Since I was pressed for time I used the suggested distress ink color combo on the Waffle Flower website.   Blue wasn't included in the color combo, but I added it in for the sky behind the house and the reindeer.  Once I was done stenciling I also added some light gold embossing paste to the image with the trees.     I die cut the entire panel with the Postage Collage die and then layered it on some dark green plaid patterned paper.  To bring in a little bit more patterend paper I die cut some red with tiny dots using the smallest poinsettia die from an older Waffle Flower die set.   I created my poinsettia and added a drop of Nuvo drops in Limoncello.  Once that was dry I added everything to a card base along with a Memory Box sentiment tab and I was done.

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

autumn blessings

 Hello!  I'm back with one more fall inspired card.  This one is for the current Paper Players challenge (clean and simple with foliage) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (also clean and simple).   Let's take a look at what I made.

During Stamptember SSS released a limited edition holiday/Christmas card kit.  As is the case with all of their kits you can buy products contained in the kit separately.  When I saw the Sparkle Season stamp and die set I had to add it to my collection.  I love leaf stamps!  They are so versatile, and my card proves this point.  The leafy stem was design for Christmas/holiday cards, but as you can see, I gave it an autumnal spin by using lots of beautiful distress inks in fall colors.  Specifically, I used Scattered Straw, Aged Mahagony, Carved Pumpkin, Gathered Twigs and Festive Berries.   To get the colors I wanted on the leaves I did multiple layers of stamping.  Some of the leaves were stamped initially with Scattered Straw and then I added more colors.  A few leaves were stamped with Festive Berries and then more colors added.  I used Ranger tiny foam blenders to add the colors to the leaves to get a nice blend.  It did take a while to stamp, but I think it was so worth it as I absolutely love how it turned out.  Die cut with the matching die and then built the rest of the card.   I embossed white cardstock with a leafy embossing folder and then die cut it down further with a SSS tag die.  The sentiment is from the SSS stamp and die set called Cozy Autumn Hugs.  I stamped it with Gathered Twigs and then die cut with the matching die.  I adhered everything to a white cardstock panel.  I created the bow with three colors of twine and did attach it to the top of the tag but didn't like it so added it to my leafy stem.  I liked that much better. 

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

Every Leaf...

 Hello, hello!  Popping in to share a card that I made for the current JUGs challenge.  This week it is mood board week and it is a beautiful fall themed one!   I have had some lovely fall themed Greetery products on my desk since they arrived in the mail a few weeks ago and I have been wanting to use them.  So thankful for the JUGs fall themed challenge so I could finally get something made, lol. At JUGs design team member Bobby's suggestion I'm going to add this to the gallery at Time Out - Favorite Season.  Let's look at what I created.

Even though we sometimes don't have the best weather during the fall here in the PNW fall is my favorite season.  I love seeing all the pumpkins appearing at farmstands and in the stores and the leaves changing colors.   When the Greetery came out with the Autumn Harvest die set I knew I wanted to add it to my collection.  I mean just look at those pumpkins!  I was finally able to at the end of August.  At the same time I also purchased the Autumn Bliss stamp and die set.   Because they just go together like peanut butter and jelly, lol!

I die cut the wheat stalks from kraft and the pumpkins and gourds from white cardstock.  I inked up the wheat stalks with scattered straw and bundled twigs distress inks.  For the pumpkins and gourds I started with scattered straw as well and then added in carved pumpkin and spiced marmalade for the pumpkins and a little bit of carved pumpkins for the gourds.  I did also add a bit of gathered twigs to the pumpkins for more depth.  I absolutely LOVE how the pumpkins turned out!   I stamped the leaves from the Autumn Bliss set by pouncing scattered straw on to the leaves, stamping and then pouncing on carved pumpkin to some and gathered twigs to others for that layered look.  The leaves were die cut with the matching dies.  I used a Memory Box arched die for the stamped sentiment.   For the sentiment I also started with pouncing scattered straw onto the whole sentiment and stamping.  I then added carved pumpkin down to the word fluttering and stamping.  I finished with some gathered twigs at the top for the variegated look I wanted.  Again, I love how the sentiment turned out.  Now it was time to put the card together.  I used liquid adhesive to adhere everything as I wanted a relatively flat card that I could send in the mail. 

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

Birch Press Design August Post #2

 Hello, hello!  Popping in to let you know that I have a post up on the Birch Press Design blog today.  Here is a little peek of what I created:

Hope you will head over to the blog to check out the full project.  Does it remind you of anything?

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

Just Us Girls - Challenge #776 - Anything Goes with Stencils

 Hello, hello!  I'm back for my final turn as a guest designer for Just Us Girls.  Boy has it been a fun month for sure!  As my blog post title says it is anything goes with stencils.   Let's have a look at what I made using stencils.

Last fall I purchased the beautiful Waffle Flower Sunflower Cluster die and the matching stencils.  I have been wanting to use the two products ever since then.  JUGs provided me with the perfect opportunity.  As you can see, my sunflowers are not yellow, but coral.  I thought since it is spring I would go for more of a gerbera daisy look than a sunflower.  I used distress inks in Saltwater Taffy and Abandoned Coral for the main body of the flower, Scattered Straw for the centers and Mowed Lawn for the leaves.  Stenciling the die cut piece was so easy once I realized I had the die cut upside down, lol!   I die cut several additional clusters from thin cardstock and adhered them to the back of the main piece to give it a bit more substance and dimension.   I found a piece of gingham patterned paper in a similar coral color and die cut it for the background.  I used the Happy Mother's Day sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Timeless Blossoms stamp set so I will have another Mother's Day card in my stash.  I finished with the twine bow and sentiment in the center of the cluster.  Going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

Well, that is it for me.  A huge thanks to Vicki and the JUGs design team for having me as a guest designer this month!   You are the best!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

autumn blessings

 Hello!  Popping in with a card for the current Color Throwdown challenge.   For this card I combined a newly released Simon Says Stamp die set with a very old (but favorite) Simon Says Stamp stamp set.  Let's have a look.

As I have said before I love pumpkins and when I saw this super cute Autumn Arrangement die set from Simon Says Stamp I had to get it (didn't hurt that it was reasonably priced, too!).   To get the colors that I wanted I used distress inks in Rusty Hinge, Aged Mahogany and Forest Moss.  I inkblended each color onto white cardstock and then die cut the pieces.  Because this is a smaller die set I was able to use up pretty much all of the inkblended cardstock and get enough pieces for my arrangment.  I used the Memory Box pierced arched die set for the background layers, stamping the sentiment (from the very old SSS stamp set by the same name) on the smaller arch with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.  I then arranged all my pieces.  I layered the small arch onto the larger one and tucked the left-over leaves in the corner.  I finished by adding all the flowers and a tiny drop of Morning Dew Nuvo drops to each flower center.  I adhered the panels to my kraft cardstock base and I was done.  This also works for the Card Concept so I'm going to add it to their gallery.   My card would probably fall into the clean, but somewhat layered category, lol!

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

spooky manor...

 Hello everyone!  Happy day before Halloween!  I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, but I just couldn't resist creating a somewhat spooky scene with the new Birch Press Design Littletown Spooky Manor and Wavy Hillside dies.  Today would have been my day to post on the Birch Press Design blog, but the blog is still down so I'm posting here.  Let's have a look at my card.

Lots of inkblending going on with this card!  I started by die cutting the Wavy Hillside die from dark green Memory Box cardstock and then inking up the edges with Forest Moss distress ink.   For the sky and the moon I used more distress inks.  Scattered Straw for the moon and Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord and Scorched Timber.   With all the inkblending done I let everything dry.

The pieces of the Spooky Manor and trees were die cut from purple and black Memory Box glitter cardstock.   Yellow glitter cardstock was just for the light in the windows.  I saved the arched fall out pieces from the window to create a little graveyard scene up on the hill.  So fun I could use the pieces for that! 

I layered the hillside pieces on to the background using two heights of foam squares and liquid adhesive.  At this point I decided to add splatters of foundry wax in Gilded to the sky.  So I used masking paper to cover up the bottom and splattered away.  I then heat set it with my heat tool.  Now it was time to add the "tombstones", trees and spooky manor.  I finished with a computer generated sentiment that I die cut with a banner die and inked up with ink from the blending brushes. 

I really like how it turned out.  I will be adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

Simon Says Stamp Cheering for You Release!

(Please see my Birch Press Design post here.)

 Hello, again!  I'm popping in to share a couple of cards that I made using products from the Simon Says Stamp Cheering for You release that is now available over at Simon Says Stamp.  Let have a look at card number one.

Simon Says Stamp was so kind and sent me the super cute Halloween Friends stamp set. (You can also get the Halloween Friends dies and the Halloween Friends bundle.) They also sent me a package of clear acrylic card bases.  I combined the two to make this card.  I stamped all the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then did simple Copic coloring of the images.  I just love that cute little pumpkin!  I trimmed out all the pieces and set them aside.  I used the Simon Says Stamp Ticking background stamp to create the background.  I inked it up with Spiced Marmalade distress ink and stamped it on white cardstock.  I then die cut the panel with the Simon Says Stamp A2 Nesting Frames die and adhered the images with foam squares.  I used liquid adhesive to adhere the image panel to the front of the clear card base.  I then die cut 3 additional panels of white cardstock.  I added one behind the top panel, one inside the card and then one to the back.  Before adding the inside card panel I did stamp it with a sentiment.   Simple, but cute, I think!

For this card I found a very old piece of Halloween patterned paper that I had already die cut with a rectangle die.  As you can see it has the faint image of 31 on the paper and I thought that was the perfect place to add these two little cuties from the stamp set.  I stamped them on white cardstock with Tuxedo Black ink and then colored them simply with Copic markers.  I trimmed all the images out.  The little trick or treat bag is a separate image and I was able to trim out the interior so I could hang it on the arm of my little Frankenstein!  I just had to use that cute little pumpkin, again!  I finished with a sentiment stamped on SSS Fog cardstock to coordinate with the Fog cardstock base.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the new Cheering for You release!  

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!

Birch Press Design Post

 Hello!  Hope your week is going well.  I have a post up on the Birch Press Design blog today and here is a little peek.

I went outside my comfort zone with this card.  I hope you will head over to the Birch Press Design blog to check it out.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!.

simply flowers...

 Hello!  Hope your weekend is going well.  I have two cards to share today for several different challenges.  Both cards are pretty clean and simple.  Let's take a look at what I made.

This card is heading off to the Just Us Girls challenge to use lavendar, peach and gray.   Those are definitely not colors that I would put together, but that is what a challenge is all about... challenging yourself to do something outside your comfort zone!  I did direct to paper inking to get the colors that I wanted.  For the lavendar color I used Milled Lavendar distress ink, for the peach I used Pinkfresh Studio Peach Fuzz and for the gray I used Weathered Wood distress ink.  The wreath was created using PaperTrey Ink's Into the Blooms wreath die set.  For the background I used the A plate of the Birch Press Design Grace layering die set to emboss the white cardstock.  I then layered on the wreath and all the elements.  I finished with one the Memory Box/Open Studio sentiment tabs.  I will also be posting this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to make a feminine card.

This card is for the Color Hues challenge to use lilac and lime green.  Now, I used Shaded Lilac distress ink for this flower, but to my eye the color looks more like lavendar and the Milled Lavendar on the first card looks more like lilac.  What do you think?  Anywho, I used a Simon Says Stamp floral die called Sunrise Stem and the same direct to cardstock inking that I did on the first card.   The layout for the card comes from the current Sunday Stamps challenge and I used one of my favorite die sets the Memory Box Curved Capped Pinpoint layers die set for the panels.  I layered those on a light gray cardstock base along with the white banner.  The sentiment is another Memory Box/Open Studio sentiment tab. 

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

a spring flower?

 Hey there!  Popping in to share a card that I made for two challenges:  Paper Players and JUGs.  The JUGs challenge is a mood board challenge and it closes in just a few hours so I'm cutting it close for that one.  The Paper Players challenge is a clean and simple challenge to use spring flowers.   Take a look.

The JUGs mood board features soft muted colors and pictures of a flower, friends, coffee and a scene of the ocean.   I went with the flower and the ocean scene to create my card.  I tried to pull out a color from the color palette, but it turned out to be a little too dark.   I'm trying to use up different products that I have in order to free up space on my desk.  To that end I have been using my Tonic Studios Aqua Flow pens to watercolor things.  I used several for my flower that I die cut from watercolor cardstock, including a color called Cameo Pink.  Had I not used such concentrated color it might have been more muted, but I still like it.   The flower die is from Simon Says Stamp.  For the ocean I used a very old Hero Arts sea scape stencil to create the waves using Salty Ocean distress ink.  I then pulled out my distress grit paste and added some swipes of the paste to create "foam".   I made a boo-boo at the bottom of my panel so I created some "sand" by tearing a strip of kraft card stock and then adhering it to the panel.  I finished with a sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp set called Brushed Flowers.  The set has matching dies for some of the sentiments which comes in handy!

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

Easter Bird...

  Hello!  Hope all is well in your part of the world.  I have a card to share today for several challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, Time Out, JUGs and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  JUGs and Time Out are doing a collaboration and the theme is "birds of a feather".   I recently received an order from Simon Says Stamp that included the sweet little bird die set called Sitting Sparrow from Memory Box.  Perfect timing, right? Here is what I made.

I used a MFT brickwall stencil and some grit paste that I tinted with Hickory Smoke distress ink re-inker for the background.  The little bird is sitting on the Memory Box Magnolia Leaf Branch that I die cut from watercolor cardstock and then colored with distress ink re-inkers in Brushed Corduroy and Bundled Sage.  I tried to do the same thing with the bird not once, but twice and both times it was an abysmal failure.  So, I went back to my tried and true technique of inkblending with my Waffle Flower 0+ blending brushes and distress oxide inks.  This time success!  Once the grit paste had dried (with a little help from my heat gun!) I assembled the card.   Since I wanted the card to be an Easter card I finished with the Happy Easter sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Bunny Love stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

bunny kisses...

 Hey there!  Popping in with a card for Color Throwdown and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  I used a new Simon Says Stamp and die set called Bunny Kisses to create a little scene.  Take a look.

The CTD colors this week are peach, sage and cream.  I focused more on the peach and sage colors, although I do think my peach is more of a pinky peach than an orangy peach.  I used Pinkfresh Studio Coral Berry to stamp the larger (momma) bunny and then Stampin Up! Flirty Flamingo to stamp the inside of the ear, nose and cheek.  The smaller bunny was stamped using Bundled Sage distress ink and the inside of the ear was stamped with PTI's Ocean Tides.  Originally I had the nose and cheek for the smaller bunny stamped in the Ocean Tides, but I changed it to Coral Berry.  I think it looks better.  I used an MFT cloud stencil to add the background clouds using a warm grey ink and then an MFT grass line stencil to stencil in the grass using Bundled Sage.  I used a very light hand with both colors.  The little hearts were also stamped in Coral Berry.  I added little pom poms to the bunnies' tales for a little bit of fun.  The sentiment was stamped, die cut and adhered with thin foam squares.   Simple, but cute I think.  This will be going to one of my great nieces for Easter.

mixed media tag...

 Hello and happy March!  Can you believe it is already March?  Where is the time going?!  Spring isn't quite here, yet, but I'm definitely in a spring-like mood!   With that in mind, I decided to play along with the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge of fur or feathers.  And I will add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  The amazing Emma William, who is on SSS Monday challenge design team, created a beautiful tag featuring a bird.  Her tag is a bit more moodier than mine, but I was 100% inspired by her tag.  Take a look at what I made.

I started off my tag by spritzing a #8 distress heavy stock tag with a combination of Speckled Egg, Salvaged Patina and Antique Linen distress spray stains and Frozen Fog distress mica spray.  I dried the tag in between the layers of color.  Once the tag was dry I uses a Simon Says Stamp pine bough stencil and some grit paste to add more texture to the background.  I also added some crackle paste.  Once both pastes were dry I scribbled some distress crayons in ground espresso and crushed olive onto an acrylic block, spritzed on some water, mixed the colors and then dabbed them onto the pastes with my finger.  I then adhered my tag to a #8 Etcetera thickboard tag.  Once that was dry I rubbed more of the ground espresso/crushed olive mix around the edge of the tag.   

For the bird I used my favorite Backyard Wren die set from Memory Box.  The twiggy wreath, feathers blossom stem and budding stems are from the Greetery.   For the wreath I sprized heavy stock with walnut stain and Crooked Broomstick distress mica spray.  I spritzed on water to move the colors around.  Once the panels were dry I die cut them with the wreath die and two dies that cut twiggy branches for layering on the wreath.  There is a wreath stamp that coordinates with the wreath base and I used that to stamp on some Scorched Timber distress ink.  Once that was dry I adhered on the branches.  The other pieces were inked with distress oxide inks in Speckled Egg, Pumice Store, Vintage Photo, Spun Sugar and Bundled Sage.   I assembled everything, let them dry and then adhered them to the tag as you see.  I finished off the tag with some chunky twine and a small key that I tried to grunge up with some grit paste and ground espresso distress crayon.  A small pin was used to attach the key to the twine.    I'm super pleased with how my tag turned out.

red magnolia...

 Hello and happy Friday!  I'm back to share a card that I made for Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.   The color combo at CTD is red, kraft and white.  I challenged myself to use the colors in a sort of unconventional way and I really like the outcome.  Take a look. 

I just love the Magnolia  Blooming Bud die from Memory Box and as I was casting about for ideas as to how to use the CTD colors I thought it would be interesting and a little unconventional to color my magnolia blossom red and the leaves kraft color.  I die cut all the pieces from white cardstock and then used Waffle Flowers 1+ blender brushes to add the colors to the pieces.  I used Lumberjack Plaid for the magnolia blossom and Tea Dye for the leaves.  I did use Gathered Twigs for the stem to provide a little contrast to the leaves.   I used Memory Box white woodgrain cardstock for the main panel and the oval.  Memory Box kraft woodgrain cardstock was a very close match to my ink blended leaves so I used that for the stripe element.   To make the stripe stand out more I ran a line of glue along each side and then added the red twine as it closely matched the ink blended magnolia.   I finished with a little sentiment from the Memory Box/Simon Says Stamp Stamptember collaboration set called Kind Flowers.   I added dimension to the flower and leaves by popping up certain parts with different thicknesses of foam squares.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

little bird...

 Hello!  Hope you are warm where you live.   It is just a little too cold here in Western Washington (although not as cold as Iowa!) for me.  We have temperatures in the mid-teens right now.  Thankfully it is supposed to start warming back up in the next day or so.  I guess we are being punished for our crazy warm December, lol!  Anyway, to keep warm I made a card for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge and it works for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of cute critters.  I think my little bird is super cute!

I did some direct to paper inking to create the colors I wanted for the little twigs my bird is perched on.  The twigs die set is the Budding Twigs Contour Layers from Birch Press Design and the bird is called Perched Reed Bird from Memory Box (I don't think it is still available from MB, though).  It is one of my favorite dies!  I used a grey/brown ink from Hero Arts for the branch portion of each twig and then Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry distress inks for the other layers.  I used my Waffle Flower Shader 0+ blending brushes to add the red and brown inks to my little bird.  I used Pinkfresh Studio inks for the bird.   I layed out where I wanted the twigs per the FMS layout and then added a little bit of blue/gray ink to the background.  This time I used a very old MFT ink that I have.    I adhered one twig to my panel then laid the rest of the twigs on the panel to get sentiment placement.  I stamped the happy sentiment directly on the panel.  The rest of the twigs and bird were added.  I finished with the stamped and die cut sentiment.  The sentiment comes from a Simon Says Stamp set called Garden Fresh.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

tiny trees...

 Hello friends!  I'm popping in to share a card that I made for the current Color Hues challenge of red and gold.  Classic Christmas colors and so I made a Christmas card!   I used a Waffle Flower Crafts stencil called Duo-tone Christmas Tree and the 0+ blender brushes.  

The stencil is unique in that you stencil a set of trees and then shift the stencil over to the open area and stencil a second set of trees to fill up your card front.  For my card I used Lumberjack Plaid distress ink to stencil the trees and then added some Aged Mahogany to the bottom of each tree.  I then moved the stencil over and added the second set of trees using Ranger Lunar paster in Slippery When Wet (a bright gold).  I removed the stencil, cleaned it off and let the panel dry.  Once dry I die cut it with a Memory Box arched rectangle die.   The large Merry Christmas is also from Waffle Flower and that was stamped using Lumberjack Plaid and then Aged Mahogany pounced on in certain areas of the stamp and then layered on the Lumberjack Plaid.  Gives it a bit of an ombre look.  I die cut dark red cardstock with a rectangle die, adhered it to my white cardstock base and then adhered the arched panel.  The sentiment was added along with tiny gold stars to the little red trees. 

If you are on Instagram I'm having a giveaway of a sample set of Waffle Flower's new blender brushes over there.  The giveaway is sponsored by Waffle Flower.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!