two cards...

 Hello!  Hope you had a good week.  We have had a crazy hot one, again, but things are supposed to cool down a bit in the next few days.   As my blog title indicates I have two cards to share.  The first one is for Freshly Made Sketches.  I'm also going to add this one to the Flower Challenge as I used several die cuts on the card as well as flowers!

In July I was the winner of a $50 gift certificate from Pinkfresh Studios.  This allowed me to get a few products I have had my eye on for awhile now.  I was able to get the Daisy Wreath foil plate and matching stencils.   I foiled the wreath using Skybright foil from Spellbinders and my Glimmer machine.   I then colored in the wreath using the stencils and Pinkfresh Studio inks.  I die cut the wreath with the matching die.  The background rectangle was die cut with the Pinkfresh Studio Essentials Stitched Scalloped die.  I kept all the pieces of the rectangle together by taping up the back and then adhered the piece to a light gray cardstock base.  I adhered the wreath and the sentiments that I embossed in white on vellum to the card.  The sentiments are from another Pinkfresh stamp set.  I finished off the card with Sky Blue jewels from Pinkfresh.

The second card is for Color Throwdown and the August Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge.  The theme there is wedding.  I don't often make wedding cards, but I thought the colors from CTD combined with the RC Big Flower cover plate die would make a nice wedding card.  The sentiments are from the RC Mod Floral Stack stamp set.  I die cut the Big Flower die from white, mint, gray and pink cardstock.  Because I wanted to do an inset inlaid technique I stacked all the die cut panels together with the white one on top.  I then inlaid the large pink petals in all the flowers and then alternated using the mint and gray pieces to complete the flowers.  I added some mint and gray sequins and the sentiments that I embossed in white on vellum.  Again, a little hard to see in the photo, but looks pretty in real life. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

wishing you

 Hey there!  Hope you had a great week.  We are having  AWESOME weather here in the Pacific Northwest!  Sunny and warm temps!  Absolutely love it!   Of course, the lovely weather is scheduled to be gone in the next week... replaced by rain!  But I will take this beautiful weather while I can.  Even though the weather is lovely I really can't go anywhere because... child has school at home.   So I spent part of my day making a card for Color Throwdown, Freshly Made Sketches, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge and the April  Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge.   That challenge is mom, dads and grads.  I have a niece who is graduating in June and going to Texas A&M Corpus Christi on a full golf scholarship in the fall (so very proud of her!), but I don't have any RC stamps that fit the grad or dad theme so I went with mom.  I used the pretty Tulips stamp set from RC and colored it with Copic markers in the CTD colors.  The layout based on the FMS sketch, of course.   The SSS Wednesday challenge is clean and simple and while this isn't super simple it is still pretty clean and simple with all the white on white.  All the dies except for the circle die are from Reverse Confetti.   Sketches like the FMS one are a bit tough for me, but I think I pulled this one off! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

He is Risen...

 Hello!  Still trying to make some Easter cards and here is another one I got done.  This is for the Revese Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge, as well as the Card Concept and a new to me challenge called Day of the Month Card Club.  I found this challenge through my good friend, Greta!  Both the Card Concept and Day of the Month Card Club challenges feature butterflies.  I pulled out the RC Stained Glass Butterfly stamp and die set and did some Copic coloring using colors from the Card Concept inspiration photo.   The buttefly and the leaves were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink before coloring.  I used the mid sized RC Lacy Scallop rectangle die to cut white cardstock that I stamped with the sentiment from the RC Easter Blessings stamp set.  I then arranged the butterfly and leaves on the panel.  I die cut some purple cardstock with the largest Lacy Scallop rectangle die and adhered that to a white cardstock base.   The sentiment panel was then adhered to that.  I thought about adding some sequins, but obviously didn't in the end.  My card would fall into the clean and layered category at the Card Concept. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

happy hellos...

 Hey there!  Well... we survived our yearly two days of snow here in the Pacific Northwest!   The snow is pretty, but I really don't like driving it in.  Since I didn't go anywhere except the store because of the snow I had some time to spend making a couple of cards.  Both feature the word hello.  First up is a card for the Inspired By challenge.   It is a lovely inspiration photo of a pink pitcher full of what look to me like tiny purple flowers and greenery.  It was so pretty I just had to play along.   I thought I had an image in my stash that was similar, but I don't so I used some images from the Reverse Confetti Tall Blooms to create my little bundle of flowers.  I stamped the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored simply with Copic markers.   I then die cut all the images with the matching die.  I die cut the Reverse Confetti cover panel from pink cardstock and then several times from thin white cardstock.  Everything was adhered together and then attached to a white cardstock card base.  I arranged my floral images on the panel and then added the sentiment from the Tall Blooms set that I stamped with VersaFine Clair Nocturne in and die cut using a banner die from Reverse Confetti.  I finished off the card with some little pearls from Trinity Stamps.   I will also add this to the Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge for February. 

The second card was made just for fun and I used the sweet little stamp set called Happy Mail from Honey Bee Stamps.  I stamped the image on watercolor paper and did simple watercoloring with the Altenew 12 pan watercolor set.  Once everything was dry I die cut it with the matching die.  Before I watercolored the envelope that the flowers are coming out of I had colored a patch of the cardstock to determine if I liked the color I had mixed up.  I used that little patch to die cut the tag from and stamp the hello sentiment from Happy Mail on it.  The tag was a little freebie from Trinity Stamps!  I embossed the kraft panel with a swiss dot embossing folder and then adhered the envelope image to the panel.  I finished off the card with some little jewels that I had also purchased from Trinity Stamps.   I'm really loving the pearls and jewels I bought from them and can't wait to buy more!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

a couple cards...

 Hey there!  Hope you are well and are ready for Christmas.   As usual I'm really not ready for Christmas, but that's okay.  Have a couple of cards to share.  First up is a card for Freshly Made Sketches and the Reverse Confetti stock your stash challenge.  The challenge this month is thank you cards.  I was still feeling in a aqua/red mood so I used those colors along with the Reverse Confetti Thank You stamp and die set, as well as the Sketched Florals stamp and die set.  I created a wreath of sorts on the main panel of the FMS sketch from two of the images from the Sketched Floral stamp set.   I stamped the large Thank You from the Thank You stamp set in aqua ink and then die cut it with the matching die.  The shadow layer was die cut from red cardstock.  I cut additional thank yous from white cardstock to layer behind the stamped one and then adhered them to the shadow layer.  I nestled the thank you into the main panel and adhered that to the card front.  

The second card is for the current Inspired By challenge.  I went with the idea of the clock and some of the colors from the balloons with a little silver thrown in there.   The clock was created using a die from PaperTrey Ink.   There were other products that went along with this particular die, but I only bought the clock face.  I die cut it from some really pretty silver marblized paper from Spellbinders.  The paper is pretty thin so I die cut a second clock face from white cardstock and adhered it to give the clock more stability.   The numbers were die cut from some light purple patterned paper that is also from Spellbinders (both papers came in a card kit from them called Sparkling Holiday).  When you die cut the clock face many of the pieces come out like the little circles.  I saved some of the pieces to place back inside the clock face.  I adhered the clock to a panel of white cardstock and then pieced back in the circles popping them up with foam dots.  I then added the numbers to the circles.   The sentiment is from the Happy New Year stamp set from A Jillian Vance Design.  I had only one opportunity to get it stamped and thankfully it worked!  I finished off the card with little bits of silver striped and silver glitter washi tape and some silver fashion embellishments from Spellbinders.   Must say thank you to the team at Inspired by for picking my snowman thank you card as the honorable mention for the Melted Snowman challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!  Here's to hoping that 2021 is alot better than 2020!  Have a wonderful day!

more leaves!

 Hello everyone!  Popping in with a couple of cards that feature... yes... leaves, lol!  I recently got my Spellbinders small die kit for October and I just had to make something with it.  I went with the colors from Color Throwdown and I will be adding it to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of layering.  I did a lot of layering with this one!  I die cut the main layer pieces from black cardstock and all the little leaves from kraft and a cranberry red cardstock.  I then layered on all the little leaves.  That was quite the task!  I then linked up all the pieces on a cream colored cardstock panel.  The sentiment is from a Spellbinders Glimmer plate set and I foiled it in red on to kraft cardstock.  The sentiment has a matching die so I used that to trim it out and popped it up in the center.   I added the panel to a kraft cardstock base to finish things off.  

 This next cards also features leaves and I will be sending it off to CAS(E) this Sketch (thanks for the Honorable Mention!), the Card Concept and the Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge.  Whenever I can (which isn't often!) I tried to pick up something from Reverse Confetti when they have a new release.  I was able to get the new In All Things stamp and die set so I used that for my card.  I stamped the wreath using VersaFine Acorn ink and then watercolored very simply using the Altenew 12 pan watercolor set.  Once I had enough layers of color and it was dry I die cut it with the matching die. For the vertical element in the CTS layout I used dark green and gold twine.  I created a little bow for the wreath out of the same twine and attached it at the top.  I stamped the sentiment from the RC Fall Foliage set (I only used part of the sentiment) in Acorn ink and then adhered the wreath using foam dimensionals.   I guess my card would fall into a clean and layered category for the Card Concept.  I pulled different colors from the inspiration photo.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

reverse confetti cards...

Hello!  Hope you are doing well and getting lots of crafty time in!  I'm popping in today with a couple of cards that I made using mostly products from Reverse Confetti.  First up is a card for the RC Stock Your Stash challenge, the Paper Players challenge and Fab Friday challenge.  When I finished the card the other day I wasn't too sure about it, but it is kind of growing on me.  Let me know what you think!  The RC Stock Your Stash challenge is to make a birthday card.  I have had this RC candles die for way too long and I have NEVER used it! Until now, lol!  I combined the die with the Rounded Stitched Window die and cut both from white cardstock.  I then cut thin strips of  white, pink and green glitter paper to fit behind the candles.  I die cut an additional frame with the Rounded Stitched Window die from woodgrain cardstock and then adhered that over the top.   The Snow Stars cover panel was die cut from Pool Party cardstock and adhered to a white cardstock base with foam dimensionals.  I adhered the candles piece and then added the sentiment from the RC Tulips stamp set that I stamped in black ink on a strip of cardstock.

The second card is for the Inspired by Challenge.  The inspiration photo was so intriguing and fun that I just had to play along with the challenge.   I used RC stamps and dies along with a rectangle die from A Jillian Advance Design.  The stamp set I used is called Tall Blooms and I used two images from the set that work well together.  I stamped an image that has flowers on it three times with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored with Copic markers using pinks, purples and greens.  The leafy images were also stamped in Tuxedo Black and then colored with green Copic markers.  Die cut all the images and then arranged them on a panel of white cardstock die cut with the AJVD die.  I used another RC die to cut the little piece that my flowers are hanging from and cut it from some patterned paper with a woodgrain pattern on it.   Because of the die I used I was able to use the other end to adhere to the back of the first one to get it a little more strength.  That piece was adhere over the top of my flowers with foam tape and then I added a little twine bow.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

with love...

Hello!  I'm popping in with a clean and simple card for the following challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, Color Throwdown and Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash. I just love the Throwdown colors this week, as well as the fun clean and simple sketch from FMS! The Stock Your Stash challenge is to make a card for a mom, dad or grad.  Most of my Reverse Confetti stamps and dies lean more toward mom-type cards so that is what I made.  I used the following stamp sets and dies:  Wreaths Confetti Cuts, Butterfly Blossoms and Mod Floral Stack.  I stamped the little flower cluster from Butterfly Blossoms in Memento Tuxedo Black, colored very simply with two yellow Copics and two dark blue Copics and then die cut with the matching die.   I die cut the small wreath from the Wreaths die set from kraft cardstock twice and adhered them together.  I then die cut a piece of white cardstock with a rectangle die, wrapped it with bright green twine and tied a bow.  The wreath and flower cluster were then nestled in next to the bow.  I used some thinly cut foam tape to adhere the wreath and glue to adhere the flower cluster.   The sentiment (from Mod Floral Stack) was stamped using VersaFine Clair Nocturne and then the panel was adhered to a white cardstock base with foam tape.  I finished by adding a second little bow to the first one and applying Nuvo Crystal Drops in Morning Dew to the center of all the flowers and the little bow.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a lovely day!

tulips and feathers!

Hey there!  Well... it is Friday... I think!  Like a lot of people I seem to be losing track of days.  I was out and about for a little bit and kept thinking that it was Saturday!  Anyway... I have a couple of cards to share and one features tulips and the other featuring feathers.  First up is the tulip card.  As I think I mentioned before I love tulips and when I saw the Reverse Confetti Tulip stamp set I had to have it.  I don't have the matching dies, yet, but hopefully will get them soon.  I used the main tulip image to stamp my own background and the colored all the tulips in the current colors from Color Throwdown.  I had actually started the card on Tuesday night before I knew what the colors would be and was going to color all of them pink, but thankfully it got too dark for me to color and so I was able to make the switch to coloring them pink, yellow and orange and then all the stems green, of course with my Copic markers.  After all that tulip coloring I needed some real tulips so when I had to make a trip to our local store I picked up some tulips that they had on special.  I got five bunches (five stems in each bunch) for $10.00!  Once the coloring was done I trimmed the panel down to fit a card front and because this is going to be a mother's day card for my mom I heat embossed the word mom in white on vellum, wrapped that around my panel and then added the second sentiment that I heat embossed in white on black cardstock.   I only trimmed the long sides of the panel so I added little strips of black cardstock to my card base to make the colors pop a little more.   This will be going to CTD, as well as the Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge (I went with mom).

The second card is for Freshly Made Sketches and the minute I saw it I knew I wanted to use a fun little stamp set that I recently got from Altenew.  As many of you know Altenew has several subscription programs and one of them is called Mini Delights.  I decided to subscribe and got the first stamp and die set which happens to feature a feather.   I started the card by inking up the center of my white cardstock panel with a chevron stencil from Altenew using Altenew Industrial Diamond ink.  I then stamped the feature twice using black ink (VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne) and then used the small image in the set to stamp the tip of the feather with the Industrial Diamond ink, as well.  The panel was die cut and then I arranged and adhered the feathers.  The sentiment is from the Altenew Leaf Canopy stamp set and was stamped using Industrial Diamond, as well.  This card is doing to someone who will probably be super surprised to receive it!  I can't wait to find out his reaction!

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe and have a wonderful Easter weekend!

hello, beautiful...

Hello!  Hope you are having a great week!  I'm popping in with a card for my two favorite challenges:  Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches.  I will also be posting this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge and the Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge.  The colors from CTD are pretty bold and for the most part I went a bit softer with them.   This happened because I used watercolor pencils to color the Reverse Confetti Butterfly Wreath and they tend to produce a soft color value.  The wreath was stamped in VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist.  After I finished coloring the wreath I die cut it with the matching die.  I used the RC Snow Star cover plate for the front of my card.  I was going to remove the little diamonds in the stars, but decided to keep them in place so I put a bit of washi tape behind each star and then added some additional cardstock to make the panel a little sturdier.   I adhered the panel to a white cardstock base with foam tape.  The wreath was adhered with more foam tape and then I cut thin strips of gray, bright green and white cardstock.  I stamped the sentiment in Morning Mist on the white strip and then adhered all of them per the sketch.   I finished off the card by adding lots of sparkly sequins that depending on the light look purple or fushia.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

thank you...

Hello!  Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.  I did!  Can't believe we are in the final few days of 2019 and heading into a brand new decade!  Where did the time go?  I have a thank you card that I made for a couple of challenges:  Reverse Confetti stock your stash and Fab Friday.  Love the simple layout of the Fab Friday sketch and thought it was perfect to use with the Reverse Confetti Best Days and Thank You stamp sets.  I don't have the die that matches the Best Days stamp set (yet... I just ordered it!) so I decided to just heat emboss the bouquet on smooth Bristol cardstock and do some simple watercoloring with my ZIG markers.  Once it was done and dry I die cut it with a rectangle die from A Jillian Vance Designs.  The large thank you sentiment was stamp with watermark ink and heat embossed on vellum.  I then die cut it with the matching die.  The background is a cover die from Reverse Confetti called Snow Stars.  I die cut that from off white cardstock and adhered it to a bright yellow cardstock base with foam dimensionals.  I them adhered the image panel with more foam dimenstionals.  The vellum sentiment was adhered using rolled up glue dots that I placed behind the embossed letters.   Can't wait to get the matching Best Days dies so I can create some more with the pretty set!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!