clean and simple cards...

 Hello!  Popping in with a couple of clean and simple cards.  First up is a card for Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches.   When I saw the CTD colors I immediately thought I would make a more masculine card and this card was scheduled to be sent to my sister-in-law's husband.  Then my mom called and asked me if I would make a card for her for my son who is turning 15 on Monday!  (How did that happen?).  Since I had this card almost completed I told her I would give it to her to give to Gabriel.   I used the Altenew Trigonometry stamp and die set.  I used the dies and the happy birthday sentiment.  I die cut the triangles from aqua, blue and gray cardstock and then figured out the arrangement based on the FMS layout.  The triangles I didn't use I simply stacked behind the ones I did to give them a little more dimension.  I die cut white cardstock with the largest Spellbinders Essential rectangle die and then the center of that panel with a smaller one.  I adhered the frame that was created  flush to the card base with tape adhesive and then popped up the smaller panel with foam tape.  I added the triangles and the sentiment that I stamped in VersaFine Clair Twilight ink and die cut with a banner die.    I hope Gabriel likes it!   I'm going to add this to the As You See It challenge to create a masculine card. 

This next card is for the MFT sketch and color challenges.  I haven't played along with either of those challenges in ages and when I saw the fun sketch I just had to get a card done!   Despite the fact that this card is pretty simple it was not simple to make.  It took me four times to get the butterfly right!  Then I had trouble with the element that I would layer behind the butterfly as well as the to banners.  Finally got things figured out and the card put together!   I generally don't do this, but I actually had all the elements (except the pearls) adhered to the card before I stamped the sentiment.  Thankfully the sentiment stamped well!   I finished with my favorite pearls... Rainbow Fish from Trinity Stamps!   There are pearls in the mix that matched perfectly with the blue and green colors in the MFT color challenge!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

sending you sunshine

Hello!  It is a brand new week and I have a card to share!  I did some more coloring with my Copic markers over the weekend and the end result was the card I'm sharing today and another card that will be on the AJVD blog on Wednesday.   This card is for the Paper Players challenge (a lovely color combo... my yellow is a little brighter than So Saffron) and the MFT sketch challenge.  Haven't played along with the Paper Players in ages.  Not because I haven't wanted to play along, but mostly because life just gets in the way, lol!  Anyway, I recently got the MFT Floral Fantasy stamp and die set and just had to color it up.  It helped that the shape of the floral image was perfect for the sketch.  After I finished doing my coloring I die cut it with an AJVD rectangle die and adhered it to a white cardstock base.  I didn't use any foam tape as I want this to be very flat so I don't have to put extra postage on it when I mail it out!  I stamped the sentiment using an MFT sentiment set, die cut with a slanted sentiment strip die (by MFT, but no longer available) and then die cut a second one from gray.  They were adhered together and then attached to my card with foam tape.  I finished with a few sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

Thanks for stopping by today, stay safe and have a lovely day!

sending hugs...

Hello!  A quick post today to share a card that I made for the MFT sketch and color challenges.  I used a MFT border die set that I have had for ages and never really used.  I do not know what it is called because it is no longer available from MFT, but it sure is cute!  I die cut my panel using the largest Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle die from watercolor paper and then added a light wash of pink watercolor (Kuretake Gansai Tambi).  I dried the panel with my heat tool and then set it aside.  I die cut the hearts from dark red cardstock and adhered them to the watercolor panel.  The sentiment was stamped on a medium gray cardstock with watermark ink and then heat embossed in white.  I die cut it with another MFT die that is no longer available in the MFT store, but I believe was called Slanted Sentiment Strips.  The sentiment is from Pink Fresh Studios.  I adhered the sentiment strip after trimming it down and then finished with some sparkling clear confetti.   As you can see my interpretation of the sketch was pretty literal, lol! (I am affiliated with several companies listed on my side bar.  The majority of items I use I purchased from those affiliates.  Should you decide to purchase through my link I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.)  ETA:  At my sweet bloggy friend Anita's (Anita is also on the Time Out design team) suggestion I'm going to add this to the Time Out challenge.  Thanks so much for reminding that this card would work for the challenge, Anita!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!  

another floral card...

Hello!  Popping in with another floral card.  This time for the current My Favorite Things sketch challenge, as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  I pulled out my MFT Painted Petal stamp set to help me create this one.  I must admit that it took me way to much time to come up with a color combo that I liked.  I ended up going with blue flowers and used a set of Altenew  inks in shades that coordinate with each other.   The leaves were stamped with a green Altenew ink.  After die cutting the stamped flowers I cut a strip of white cardstock and then stamped it with the sentiment from the MFT Flowers in Bloom stamp set in VersaFine Onyx Black ink.  I then embossed the lines across the strip using my Scor-Buddy scoring tool.   I adhered the strip using foam dimensionals and then arranged all the flowers based on the sketch.  I finished the card by adding lots of Pretty Pink Posh jewels in a pretty shade of pastel blue using my new Glue Sponge.  I think I will also post this card to the Flower Challenge as my blues are fairly light and pastel in color.   Decided to add this to the current Time Out challenge as I am using flowers.   (Compensated affiliate links listed below where possible.)

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  (Compensated affiliate links used where possible.)

Stamps:  My Favorite Things
Dies:  My Favorite Things
Inks:  Altenew blue, Altenew green, VersaFine
Cardstock:  PaperTrey Ink
Adhesive:  Glue Sponge, Scrapbook Adhesive by 3L, Stampin Up! foam dimensionals

cards to share...

Hello!  Popping in with a couple of cards that I made for a few challenges.   That seems to be the way I'm blogging lately... so much easier to get it done in one post!   First up is a card for the Altenew May inspiration challenge, as well as Freshly Made Sketches.   Love this week's FMS layout.  In fact I used it to make a card that I can't share just yet.   When I saw the layout I thought it would be perfect for the Altenew inspiration challenge.  As the main colors in the inspiration photo are light gray, medium gray and green I decided to go with a light gray cardstock card base and then added the medium gray in with the little banner elements and the green with the small leaf cluster from the Altenew Leaf Canopy stamp set.  I stamped it in VersaFine Onyx Black on smooth Bristol cardstock and then colored it with one ZIG marker in medium green.  When it was dry I die cut it with the matching die.  I adhered the banners with repositionable adhesive so I could make sure I got the sentiment stamped relatively straight.  Once that was done I adhered them with permanent adhesive.  Added the leaf cluster with foam dimensionals and then added the enamel dots for a pop of the pinky-purple color found in the flower in the inspiration photo.  Pretty happy with how the card turned out.

The second card is quite a departure for me.  I made this one for the MFT sketch challenge, as well as the MFT color challenge.  I recently purchased the MFT Fresh Cut Flowers stamp set and wanted to have a go at coloring it.   So... I decided to make things a little hard for myself and use the colors from the MFT color challenge!   I decided to color the flowers using a dark blue ZIG combined with a teal ZIG with the teal only appearing on the tips of the flowers.   It is hard to see the teal color on the smaller flowers, but it is there.  I also went very unconventional with the leaves and used a combo of the orange and kraft colors for them (used ZIGs in orange and tan).  The image was stamped on smooth Bristol cardstock using VersaFine Onyx Black ink.  Took me a long time to color the image and while the colors are not what you would see on a flower and I have lots more practicing to do I'm pretty pleased with how everything turned out overall.  I die cut the image using a fishtail flag stax die that is no longer carried by MFT.   The banners were then adhered to a kraft cardstock base using foam dimensionals and the interior piece with regular adhesive.  The sentiment is from the MFT Sweet Forest Friends stamp set that I heat embossed in white on black cardstock.  Kind of dramatic don't you think?   Going to add this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  SSS fog, PTI Weathervane, Strathmore smooth bristol; Stamps:  Altenew; Dies:  Altenew, My Favorite Things; Ink:  VersaFine; Watercolor medium:  ZIG Clean Color markers; My Mind's Eye enamel dots

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft, Strathmore smooth Bristol; Stamps:  My Favorite Things; Dies:  My Favorite Things; Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black, VersaMark; Hero Arts white embossing powder

floral cards...

Hello!  Seems like ages since I last posted anything.   I have been busy making things just haven't had the time to sit and do a post until now.   First up is a set of cards that I made using the colors from Color Throwdown and the layout from Freshly Made Sketches.  I will be posting this card to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, as well.    Originally I was only going to make one card, but I ended up not really like the card with two flowers on it so I decided to make two cards.  The flowers are leaves were created using the Spellbinders April small die kit.  I cannot say enough good things about these die kits.  They are packed with dies and only cost $12.50 per month (shipping included!).    This month's kit is all about layering flowers and leaves.  I started my card by scribbling orange, yellow and two different shades of green ZIG markers on watercolor paper and then blending out the color with clean water.  Once the paper was dry I die cut all the flowers and leaves.  Because originally I thought I was going to use both flowers on the card I had all the yellow pieces layered together and the same for the orange, but I didn't really like that look so I alternated each flower between the two colors.   The leaves were also done in the alternating shades of green.  As I laid out the flowers and leaves I realized that have everything on one card didn't look right so I decided to create two cards.   I cut strips of navy blue cardstock that I had embossed with a Stampin Up! embossing folder.   The sentiment is from a Spellbinder's stamp set that I received in December of 2018 as a thank you for being a club member.   I arranged the flower and leaves where I wanted them, placed the stamp where I wanted it, removed the flower and leaves and then stamped the sentiment.  Layered up all the elements and then adhered the panel to a neutral card base.

The second card is for the MFT sketch challenge and color challenge.  I recently purchased the MFT Painted Petals stamp and set set and had been wanting to use that for something.  The two MFT challenges were the perfect chance.  I stamped all the flowers using just one color of ink for each flower using the multiple stamping technique to get a darker version of the main color for the lined image portion of the flower.  The leaves were actually stamped with two different colors of green ink.   Quite sometime ago I discovered that I had purchased a brick wall style cover die that I think is from MFT.  I hope I'm not the only one who buys something and then totally forgets that they even purchased it!  It was been sitting out ever since I found it waiting to be used!  So I decided to use it to emboss my white cardstock panel as a background for the flowers.   After embossing the cardstock I die cut the panel with the largest AJVD stitched dot rectangle die.   The flowers were arranged and then I heat embossed a sentiment from the MFT Springtime Blooms on vellum with white embossing powder and die cut it with an MFT Slanted Sentiments Strip die.

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  PTI white and indigo, Canson watercolor, SU Sahara Sand; Stamps:  Spellbinders; Dies:  Spellbinders; Embossing folder:  Stampin Up!; Ink:  VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne; Watercolor Medium:  ZIG Clean Color markers

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white, vellum; Simon Says Stamp fog; Stamps:  My Favorite Things; Dies:  My Favorite Things and AJVD; Inks:  Catherine Pooler, Stampin Up!, VersaMark; Embossing Powder:  Hero Arts

flowers and balloons...

Hello!  The weekend is upon us.  Hope you have some fun plans.  My youngest is going to be marching and trying to play the trombone in a parade tomorrow (the Jr. Daffodil parade) so that should be fun to watch!  I have a couple of cards to share... one with flowers and one with balloons.  First up the flowers card.  I have always loved primroses and one of my dad's favorite songs was one called Primrose Lane and so when I saw the Altenew Delicate Primroses stamp set I knew I had to get it.  Finally did about a week ago and so I used that along with the colors from the Altenew April inspiration challenge and the layout from Freshly Made Sketches to create my card.  I stamped two primroses using three shades of pink for one and three shades of yellow for the other.  They were then die cut with their matching die.  I found some cardstock in a similar blue to the color combo and cut a strip of that.  I layered that with a piece of black cardstock that I die cut with a scalloped edge die and trimmed down.  The strip was adhered and then I arranged the flowers so that I could determine where to stamp the sentiment (from the Altenew Dotted Flowers set).  I stamped the sentiment with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne.  Some leaves were die cut from white cardstock using the Altenew Fantasy Florals die set and then I layered up the flowers and the leaves on the card front.  Since I did not use patterned paper on this I'm going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, as well.

For the second card I used the color combo for the current MFT color challenge, as well as the MFT sketch challenge.  I laid the sketch on it's side and used balloons for the banner elements from the sketch.  I inked up white cardstock with MFT's Blue Breeze and Cornflower inks and the die cut them using the MFT heart balloon die.  The little balloon strings were die cut from vellum.  I inked up white cardstock with Catherine Pooler Bellini and then die cut the final balloon.  The MFT celebrate word die was cut from white cardstock three times and stacked together.  I cut a strip of gray gingham paper (from a now retired MFT 6x6 pad) and adhered that to the bottom of my card base along with the balloon strings.  I then adhered the balloons and the word.  Super, super simple desing.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  PTI white and black, Reverse Confetti medium blue; Stamps and dies:  Altenew; Inks:  Stampin Up! Catherine Pooler, Memento, VersaFine Clair, MFT

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Patterned paper:  My Favorite Things; Dies:  My Favorite Things; Ink:  My Favorite Things and Catherine Pooler

a clean and simple card...

Hello and happy April!  It is already April?!  Where has the time gone?   I have a clean and simple card to share today that I will be posting to the MFT color challenge, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (anything goes) and the Paper Players (tic-tac-toe... I went with diecuts, embossing and florals).   I  also entered this in the MFT sketch challenge, but I did that last night using Instagram as I knew I wouldn't be able to get it posted before the link closed.   I used an older MFT floral set called Plentiful Petals (I think it was actually part of a card kit) for the flowers and a sentiment from the MFT Amazing stamp set.  You can just see the embossing peeking out from behind the flowers.  I used one of those embossing folders that is only about 1 1/2 inches wide to emboss the strip on a panel that I die cut with an AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle die.  I then layered the flowers on top and added the sentiment using VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink.   I adhered the panel to a light gray cardstock base.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  Recollections white, SSS fog; Stamps:  My Favorite Things; Dies:  My Favorite Things and AJVD; Inks:  My Favorite Things, Catherine Pooler, VersaFine CLAIR

bunnies... and a flower!

Hello!  I'm back with more bunnies and a flower!  The first card has the bunnies on it and is for the MFT sketch challenge.  Just like the other bunnies from the Bubble Over with Joy stamp set these were colored with distress markers and die cut with their matching dies.  Per the sketch I used the smallest die in the Inside Out Stitched Rounded rectangles die set to die cut my rectangles from Tim Holtz distress woodgrain cardstock.   A piece of white cardstock was die cut with the largest AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle die and then all the little rectangles were adhered to it.  I then positioned all the bunnies to make sure I had the right about of room for my sentiment that I stamped on white cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and then die cut with a die from the MFT Slanted Sentiments Strips die set.  That was adhered and then I added the little bubbles that I colored with a Broken China distress  marker and then covered with Glossy Accents for some shine.  I adhered the panel to a kraft cardstock base.  I was a little worried that the cards would look too plain, but in the end I think it turned out perfect!

The second card features the flower and is for the Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge to make a spring or Easter themed card.  This one is spring themed.  I used the sketch from Sunday Stamps so I will be adding it to their gallery.  My friend Greta often plays along with the challenges at Retro Rubber and this month she is a guest designer!  I have never played along, but since Greta is the guest designer I'm adding this card to their challenge to use stripes.  The Reverse Confetti set I'm using is just over a year old so it makes the cut for their challenge.  I stamped the flower and the leafy images from the RC Tall Blooms set on smooth bristol and colored the images with ZIG clean color makers and a bit of water.  Once dry they were die cut with the matching dies.  I die cut the RC Tall Stripe Panel Confetti Cut from Tim Holtz distress woodgrain cardstock and adhered it to some dark pink cardstock that I die cut with the AJVD stitched dot rectangle die.  The flowers were then adhered to the tall stripe panel.  I die cut the RC Confetti Cut hello die from black cardstock three time, adhered them together and then adhered to the panel.   The panel was adhered to my card base and then I added the dark pink twine bow to finish things off.

Thanks for stopping by... have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock: PTI white, Ranger distress woodgrain; Strathmore smooth bristol; Stamps:  MFT; Dies:  MFT, AJVD; Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black, VersaFine CLAIR; Watercolor medium:  Ranger distress ink markers

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white and black, Ranger distress woodgrain, SSS dark pink, Strathmore smooth bristol; Stamps:  Reverse Confetti; Dies:  Reverse Confetti and AJVD; Watercolor medium:  ZIG clean color markers; Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black; Dark pink hemp twine

bunnies... and carrots!

Hello!  I'm stopping in with a couple of cards that feature bunnies and carrots!  First up is the card featuring the bunnies.   For the last few years we had tons of bunnies in the neighborhood, but as spring approaches there have been no bunnies.  I'm so sad.  Unfortunately I think they have fallen victim to the cayotes and eagles.   With the lack of real bunnies I decided to color up some super cute MFT bunnies and use a couple on a card for this week's MFT sketch challenge, as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to create a scene.  I stamped the bunnies on Bristol cardstock with VersaFine ink and then colored with distress markers.   Once they were all dry I die cut them with the matching dies.  I built my little scene by die cutting a circle using an AJVD polka dot backdrop die and then blending on Lucky Clover and Broken China distress oxide inks.  I stamped the sentiment on white cardstock and die cut with a MFT fishtail flag stax die.  I stamped a balloon string on my card base and then adhered my "balloon" and all the little pieces of my scene and the sentiment strip.  Love how it turned out.

The second card features the carrots and is for Freshly Made Sketches and the Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge to make an Easter or spring themed card.  When Reverse Confetti released the fun Triangle Trees stamp set Jen, the owner of RC, made a super cute card using one of the tree images as carrots.  My card is a bit of a case of that card.  To make the tops of the carrots I used the stick part of the tree from the RC Branch Out Confetti Cuts set.  I simply trimmed off the bottom part of the tree.  I used two different colors of green cardstock, but they are super close in color.  I stamped the polka dot tree and then trimmed them out because I currently don't have the triangle die.  I think when I bought the set the die was sold out.   I then adhered the tops to the carrots.   For the long strip element in the sketch I used the Polka Panel Confetti Cut that I cut down further using the die a second time.   What I did is pretty easy, but a little complicated to explain.  I then backed that with some of the green cardstock I used to die cut the carrot tops.  I adhered everything to a die cut piece of white cardstock and then added the little sentiment and the twine bow to the center carrot.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  PTI white, Strathmore Smooth Bristol; Stamps:  MFT, Simon Says Stamp; Inks:  VersaFine; Dies:  MFT, AJVD; Watercolor medium:  Ranger distress markers

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white, SU! Pumpkin Pie, SSS Green, MFT Green; Stamps:  Reverse Confetti; Dies:  Reverse Confetti, AJVD; Ink:  SU! Pumpkin Pie, VersaFine CLAIR; Black hemp twine