Thanksgiving and Christmas...

Hello!  Popping in with a Thanksgiving card, as well as a Christmas card.  First up is the Thanksgiving card that I will be adding to the following challenges:  CAS(E) this Sketch,  Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.   This card came about because I decided to die cut the fun wishbone die from the Spellbinders small die kit for October out of a piece of fall patterned paper that I had floating around.  Once that was done I had to build my card around it and boy was that hard!  Took me the better part of a day to get the right color combination.  Originally I had a lot of kraft cardstock involved, but things were just not working.  I brought in a green cardstock in the same color as the patterned paper and that seemed to make things work so much better.  One of the background ovals was die cut from an alcohol ink background that I created on some Yupo paper.   To create a little bit more interest in my card I embossed the green cardstock panel with some burlap.  I love the subtle interest that it brings to the card.

Now for my Christmas card.  This one is for the following challenges:  The Paper Players (colors), Time Out (colors) and MFT sketch challenge.   I have played along with an MFT sketch challenge in ages and I was determined to make something with the current super clean and simple sketch.  I almost went with stars (so original, lol!), but decided to pull out the beautiful Simply Snowflakes stamp set and the Layered Snowflakes die-namics dies.  After trimming down a piece of white cardstock per the sketch I stamped the snowflakes from the Simply Snowflakes in SU!'s Smoky Slate ink.   Then I die cut additional snowflakes from Poppy Parade and So Saffron cardstocks and layered them over the stamped snowflakes.   The sentiment from the Snowfall of Blessings stamp set was stamped in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne.   The panel was finished by adding a thin strip of silver glitter cardstock and then adhering to a Smoky Slate cardstock base.  Love the unconventional colors for the snowflakes!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Card 1:  Cardstock:  PTI fine linen; SU! garden green; Yupo; patterned paper:  Dies:  Spellbinders; Inks:  Ranger alcohol inks; Lawn Fawn leaf sequins; twine; burlap

Card 2:  Cardstock:  MFT white, silver glitter; SU! Poppy Parade, So Saffron, Smoky Slate; Stamps and dies:  MFT; Inks:  Stampin Up! and VersaFine CLAIR

two more cards...

Hey there!!  As my post title says I have two more cards to share today.  The first one is for the current Where Creativity Meets C9 and Stamp Ink Paper challenges.  The WCMC9 challenge is to use a sketch and even though it is a pretty simple one I had a hard time coming up with something.  Finally I settled on using to images from the C9 Give Thanks set.  Depending on how you use them they can either be used to create a leaf or an arrow.  I went with leaf.  I stamped the veins in Catherine Pooler Black Jack ink. Despite it's name it is actually a lovely shade of gray.  Then I over stamped the solid image using SU! Lemon Lime Twist and Taken with Teal.  The panel was then die cut down.  I stamped one of the smaller mandalas from the C9 Many Mandalas stamp set using Taken with Teal and then die cut it with the matching die.  The happy birthday sentiment is from the same set and it was stamped in the Lemon Lime Twist and then die cut with an AJVD Polka Dot circle die.  I popped up both on top of the leaves.  The panel was then adhered to a light gray cardstock base.  Clean and simple... my favorite style!

The second card is for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge, as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of floral frenzy.  I will also be posting this in the Simon Says Stamp flickr gallery as the challenge there is to make a spring/Easter card and this card is for Easter.  The large floral image from the SSS Floral Bliss stamp set was stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black on Canson water color paper and then colored with ZIG markers and clean water.  Once I had the coloring done I die cut the large cross from the SSS Crosses die set from the center of the image.  I covered the back of the opening with tape and then inset three more crosses before adhered the colored one on top.  The panel was trimmed down and adhered to a light green cardstock base.  The sentiment was created by using two sentiments from the SSS Rejoice! Stamp set.  I arranged them on vellum, stamped in watermark ink and heat embossed in white.  The sentiment was then die cut with an MFT Fishtail Flag stax die.  I adhered the sentiment using rolled up glue dots that were placed behind the words so they don't show.  Love how this one turned out!!

Hope you have a wonderful day! 

Supplies:  Card 1:  Cardstock:  PTI Fresh Snow linen, SU! Smoky Slate; Stamps and dies:  Concord & 9th; Inks:  Stampin Up! and Catherine Pooler

Card 2:  Cardstock:  SU! Gable Green, Canson watercolor; Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp; Dies:  Simon Says Stamp and MFT; Ink:  VersaFine and VersaMark; Embossing powder:  Hero Arts white; Watercolor medium:  ZIG Real Brush Clean Color markers

penny black brushstroke stamps...

Hello from some what snowy western Washington!!  We have been having snow showers over the last few days, but thankfully most of it hasn't stuck in my area!  My son is a little bummed, but he will get over it, lol!  On Monday morning an email from Penny Black Stamps landed in my inbox.  I opened it to discover that it contained a video on how to stamp with Penny Black's fabulous brushstroke stamps by the amazingly talented Jill Foster.  She constantly leaves me in awe with the magic she works with Penny Black stamps.  I watched the video not once, but twice and then in the afternoon when I had some time created this card using her technique.  My sweet friend, Greta, had gifted me with this beautiful Penny Black brushstroke stamp called effulgent almost a year ago and while I have played around with it a bit I just couldn't see to make it come to life... that is until I watched Jill's video!!  This was my first attempt with the technique and since I didn't get the stamp in the original packaging I didn't realize that some areas should be green, but I really like how it turned out so I made it into a card to share!  I think I will add this to the current Stamp Ink Paper challenge of cardmaker's choice.   To do the layered stamping I used Memento markers Angel Pink and Rose Bud, Ranger distress marker Gathered Twigs and Stampin Up! marker Early Espresso.  You can't tell in the photo, but after I die cut the piece I did some ink blending around the edges using Old Paper distress ink.

I was excited to try the technique again so after I got my kiddo off to school this morning I pulled out another PB brushstroke stamp called Berry Bramble and got to work.  This is another stamp I have had for awhile, but had been unable to come up with something that I like when I tried stamping with it.  With Jill's technique I was finally able to make something I was happy with!!   This time I used Memento markers Rhubarb Stalk and Potter's Clay and Ranger's Gather Twig.  After finishing up the stamping I inked around the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink which doesn't really show up in the photo.  I added the embossed strip of red cardstock to make the berries pop a bit more.   I have a few more Penny Black brushstroke stamps that are going to get inked up using the same technique!!  Penny Black posted another video this morning that was just as fabulous.

Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft, SU! red, Arches Hot Press watercolor paper; Stamps:  Penny Black; Inks:  Memento, Ranger, VersaFine, Stampin Up!; Embossing folder

Precious Remembrance Shop New Release Blog Hop - Day 1

Hello everyone!!!  Today is an exciting day as the Precious Remembrance Shop design team is having a hop to share a new stamp set available in the PRS store and there is a prize up for grabs.   This new set is called Daily Thoughts and if you are a planner girl then this is definitely the set for you!  However, as you can see from my card you can also make really fun cards with it, as well! You should have arrived here via Helen's blog, but if not you can head to the PRS blog for the complete hop list. Kelly will be your next stop.  When I saw the fun old school cassette tape image in the set I thought about how fun it would be to do some watercoloring with it or even paper piecing.  For my card I just kept it simple and stamped the image in kraft colored ink and then trimmed it out.  The word thinking was stamped in light blue ink in the area where you would write the title.  I stamped the remainder of the sentiment in watermark ink on vellum, heat embossed it in white, trimmed it out and then adhered it to the cassette tape.  I finished off my card with a little light blue doily (from the PRS shop), some kraft ribbon wrapped around the cardstock panel and tied with some white baker's twine and the kraft buttons.  Now that I have shared the details of my card here are the details for the giveaway:

Simply leave a comment to the shop’s blog post and each designer’s blog and show us some love!:)

One lucky winner will be chosen randomly.

To keep updated with our projects, join us on our Facebook , Pinterest , Instagram , & YouTube

Giveaway is open until January 24, 2018 Midnight EST.

Winner will be announce on the shop's blog & social media links (Facebook & Instagram) - follow us to get updated

Your next stop on the hop is Kelly and I know that she will have something fabulous to share.  Here is a look at the full stamp set:

Almost done, lol!!  I'm going to be adding this to the Color Throwdown and Stamp Ink Paper galleries since I used the CTD colors and the SIP layout for my card.  Also adding this to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to add a sentiment.

Have a wonderful day and happy hopping!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  kraft, white; Stamps:  Precious Remembrance Shop; Inks:  kraft, light blue, watermark ink; paper doily:  Precious Remembrance Shop; buttons:  kraft; white baker's twine; kraft ribbon; white embossing powder

celebrate!

Hey there!!  Have a card to share for a few challenges:  WCMC9 - use the first set you bought, Stamp Ink Paper - Cake Walk, Less is More - use purples.  Less is More changed their challenge to a twice monthly challenge so I'm hoping that I will get a chance to play along more.  The WCMC9 challenge this month wants us to use the first C9 stamp set we purchased.  The first set I purchased is one that C9 no longer carries... Eat Cake & Celebrate.  I didn't realize that until I had pretty much finished my card, but just because they don't carry it any more doesn't mean I can't use it!!  I stamped the cake in VersaFine Smoky Gray on Bristol cardstock and then colored it with Farber-Castell Art Grip Aquarelle pencils in three shades of purple.  The color on the cake is rather light, but it is definitely purple in real life!  A Derwent gray was used to color the plate.  I used a barely wet paint brush to blend out the color on the cake and the plate.  I did add a touch of yellow for the candles.  The cake was then cut with the matching die.  I stamped the little star cluster and single star on white cardstock, die cut it and matted it with purple cardstock.  Stamped the sentiment in VersaFine Onyx Black and then adhered the card and added it to card base.   Super simple and a little bit retro.

Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  MFT white and purple; Stamps:  Concord & 9th; Dies:  Concord & 9th, AJVD; Inks:  VersaFine Onyx Black, Smoky Gray, SU! Wisteria Wonder, CTMH Purple Pansy; Coloring medium:  Faber-Castell Art Grip Aquarelle color pencils

a galaxy card...

Hey there!!  Hope your new year is going well and you are finding time to craft!  I got sometime the other day and created a card I have been wanting to make for over a month!   The idea was all built around a die I purchased from Simon Says Stamp called Tickle Breeze.  How fun is that name??? Anyway my idea was to create a galaxy background, but not in the way that most galaxy backgrounds are created (or at least not in a way that I have seen!).   All the inks used for the background are distress oxide inks.  I just love their blending ability!  I was trying to create the look of the Milky Way and so wanted my colors to be concentrated in the center of my card.  To get that look I used Q-tips to add the color to the center in a narrow band.   Some of the colors used include Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Wilted Violet and Peacock Feathers.  Once I had the colors laid down I used my foam blending tool and added Broken China and Salty Ocean to the panel making sure to not completely cover up the narrow band of color.  I then finished up with Black Soot.  As I was doing the blending with the blue and black inks I was sure that I had created a disaster, but I love how the finished product turned out.  Once all the blending was done I die cut the Tickle Breeze die twice into the panel and then backed the piece with silver cardstock.  I then splattered on white acrylic paint mixed with water.  The stars and the word you are from the SSS Seeing Stars stamp set and were embossed in silver on vellum and then the rest of the sentiment in silver on black.  I adhered everything and then mounted the panel on a black cardstock base.  I made this for the last Simon Says Stamp Flickr challenge and wasn't going to post it on my blog, but when I saw that the new SIP challenge is to use embossing I decided to post it here.

Have a wonderful day!

Supplies: Cardstock:  PTI white, black and vellum, MFT brushed silver; Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp; Dies:  Simon Says Stamp and AJVD; Inks:  Ranger Distress Oxide inks, VersaMark watermark ink; Embossing powder:  Ranger Silver

another tag and card...

Hey there!!  I have another card and a tag to share.   I have been working on my tags for Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist and so far I have three tags done.  The tag I'm sharing today is for day 2, silver and gold.  I was inspired by Keeway's beautiful tags and created something similar.   I die cut the tags from white cardstock and then blended on some Distress Oxide ink in Salty Ocean.  I used lots of Essentials by Ellen products on these little tags!  I started by die cutting the EE Geo Tree from silver and gold glitter cardstock.  EE Brushstroke Peace was die cut from silver and EE Brushstroke Joy from gold.  Finally the star from the Season of Sparkle die set was die cut from silver and gold glitter paper.  I then layered everything on each tag as you see.  I finished the tags by embossing the sentiments (from Brushstroke Christmas stamp set) on black cardstock in white, trimming them out and adhering to the tags.   A bit of white baker's twine was added to each tag, as well.  I will also be adding the tags to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

The card is for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge, as well as the current SIP challenge Let it Snow and Dies R Us challenge of Christmas carols (mine is Jiggly Bells).   I used more supplies from the Simon Says Stamp limited edition Mint Wishes card kit and some A Jillian Vance Design snowflake dies.  When I saw the SIP challenge I immediately thought of this pretty paper from the kit.  I trimmed it down per the FMS layout and adhered it to the mint cardstock base.  I stamped the little sleigh image from the Yuletide Holiday (also from the Kit) stamp set in Distress Oxide Cracked Pistachio.  I then overstamped the sentiment (from the same stamp set) in VersaFine Smoky Gray and trimmed down the piece.  Snowflakes were die cut from white and vellum cardstocks and adhered together.  I added some loops of silver embroidery floss to the panel and they layered the snowflakes and sentiment on top.

Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:  Tag:  Cardstock:  white, MFT silver and gold glitter; Stamps:  Essentials by Ellen; Dies:  Essentials by Ellen and Our Daily Bread Designs; Ink:  Distress Oxide and VersaMark watermark ink; Embossing powder:  Hero Arts white

• Card:  Cardstock:  Simon Says Stamp, PTI vellum and white; Patterned paper: American Crafts Mint Wishes; Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp; Dies:  A Jillian Vance Design; Inks:  Distress Oxide and VersaFine Smoky Gray; DMC silver embroidery floss

many thanks...

Hey!!  Hope everyone in the US had a wonderful Thanksgiving day!  Popping in with a card for the current Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights challenge, as well as the EE anniversary challenge to use your favorite EE stamp set.  For my card I used my favorite EE stamp set Mondo Hydrangea.   I really love that gorgeous big hydrangea in the set, but for this card I used only the leaf.  When I saw the pin-sights inspiration photo my eye was immediately drawn to the photo of the leaves in various different shades.   To create my variegated leaves I stamped the leaf multiple times on watercolor cardstock using VersaFine Vintage Sepia ink and then began watercoloring them with Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors.  In order to get the variation that I wanted I would color a leaf in one color then move on to the next leaf and so on.  As each leaf dried I would add more color and let it dry again.  It was a bit labor intensive, but I love how each leaf turned out.  Once they were mostly dry I die cut them with the matching die and then shaped the leaves so they would have some depth.   I did a wash of color in teal on a panel of watercolor cardstock and then die cut it once it was dry.  The sentiment is from the EE Fancy Thanks stamp set.  I did a few tests runs to make sure that I got the word many placed as close to the thanks as I could.  Once I had it set I stamped it on the panel with Vintage Sepia and then added the leaves.  To jazz things up a bit I added the twine bow and Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins in 3 sizes.
I think I will also add this to the current SIP challenge of thankful, grateful, blessed.  I'm adding this to the new Time Out challenge to be inspired by words.   See the beautiful quote below.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  SSS fog, Ranger watercolor; Stamps: Essentials by Ellen; Dies:  Essentials by Ellen and AJVD; Ink:  VersaFine; Watercolor medium:  Kuretake Gansai Tambi; Sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh; Recollections twine

fall and winter...

Hey there!!!  I have a couple of cards to share!  I don't remember the last time I was able to make two cards in one afternoon, lol!!   I just haven't had the time or the inclination to make a lot of cards lately, but hopefully that is changing!  First up is a card for the current PTI Make it Monday challenge.  I don't often do the MIM challenges... not sure why... but there it is.   I actually wanted to play along with last week's MIM challenge, but never found the time so when I saw Stephanie Gold's fun technique I just had to give it a try.  Yes... my card is a rather shameless CASE of her gorgeous card, but I just loved her design!!  I changed it up a little bit by using the sketch from the current Stamp Ink Paper challenge.  I die cut and stamped the wreath using the same set Stephanie used (Twig Wreath), but all my bits and pieces also come from that same set.  After wrapping my wreath with twine and layering on all the little pieces I die cut the word bountiful (from the Color Pop Autumn Make It Market mini kit) from kraft cardstock and adhered it to my wreath.  I stamped the word blessings on PTI vellum (the best vellum to heat emboss on), heat embossed in copper, trimmed it down and adhered.   Some PTI bitty dot basics paper in Terra Cotta Tile was trimmed down and adhered to some PTI Rustic White cardstock.  Once everything was dry on the wreath it was adhered to my panel and then the panel was adhered to a kraft cardstock base.   I do really like how this turned out.  Also adding this to the current Dies R Us challenge... anything fall.  So that is the fall part of this post... now on to winter!!

The second one is for the current MFT sketch challenge.  I had one snowflake left that I created when I made the last two cards using the beautiful MFT Snowflake Splendor card kit and when I saw the new MFT sketch I knew I had found my way to use that snowflake!  I die cut my banner from Sno-Cone cardstock and silver glitter paper from the kit using a MFT Jumbo Fishtail Flag Stax die and then layered together.  The sentiment (from Snow Globe Sentiments) was stamped on vellum, embossed in silver and then trimmed down.  I adhered the snowflake to the banner and then added my banner to some MFT Sweet Tooth cardstock die cut with an AJVD die.  That piece was adhered to a Sweet Tooth cardstock base and then I adhered the sentiment strip.  Still have more ideas for ways to use this gorgeous kit... so stay tuned!!

Hope you have a wonderful day...

Supplies:  Card 1:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft, vellum and Rustic White; Patterned paper:  PTI; Stamps and dies:  PTI; Inks:  PTI (Terra Cotta Tile, Summer Sunrise), VersaFine Vintage Sepia, VersaMark watermark; Twine:  Recollections; Embossing powder:  Stampin Up! copper

Supplies:  Card 2:  Cardstock:  MFT Sweet Tooth, Sno-Cone, silver glitter, vellum, PTI vellum; Stamps and dies:  My Favorite Things; VersaMark watermark ink; Embossing powder:  Ranger silver

fall pineapple...

So... when I saw the colors for the current Color Throwdown I knew immediately that I wanted to use Concord & 9th's Pineapple Perfection stamp set for my card.  I love that stamp set!!!  I'm also going to add this to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes and the current SIP challenge to use washi tape.  (Thank you to the team at SIP for picking my card as a winner for the last challenge!!)  I stamped the outline pineapple in VersaFine Onyx Black and then stamped all the filler images using the CTD colors.  I then die cut it with the matching die.  The bits of washi tape were added and then I used a splatter image from the C9 set Brushed Blossom to stamp the purple splatters.  I see where I could have filled in a bit more, but oh well...  Anywhoo... stamped the sentiment in purple ink, as well and then die cut with the banner die that comes in the Pineapple Perfection die set.

Hope you have a wonderful day...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps and dies:  Concord & 9th; Inks:  VersaFine, Close to My Heart and Stampin Up!

being thoughtful...

Hello from windy and rainy Western Washington!!  Our typical autumn weather has arrived with a vengeance!!   So... what do you do when the weather turns bad??? Why make a card or two, of course, lol!!  I got one card made and have a second one underway!  This card is for the current Where Creativity Meet C9 challenge to use the C9 colors (found in their company banner), the current Stamp Ink Paper challenge (tic-tac-toe - I went with leaves, sequins and die cut) and the current Dies R Us challenge of leaves.  I hunted through my ink collection and found three Hero Arts inks that were a good match for the C9 colors and then used them to ink up the leaf border image from the C9 Seasonal Borders stamp set.  The sentiment is from the C9 set Being Classy stamp set.  I inked up the word thoughtful using the same three inks and then die cut it with the matching die.  I laid the word on my stamped panel and then arranged the words being and is classy around it.  I removed the die cut and using my MISTI stamped the words in black ink.  The die cut was adhered along with some sequins in clear and a color similar to those used for ink up the stamps.

Hope you have a wonderful day...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI Fresh Snow linen, SU! dark gray; Stamps and dies:  Concord & 9th; Inks:  Hero Arts; Sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh and Verve

delightful day...

Hello!!!  Wow... the week is almost over!!  I'm popping in with a card for several challenges:  MFT design superstar, MFT sketch challenge, SSS Wednesday challenge and Stamp, Ink, Paper challenge (watercoloring).   I am by no stretch of the imagination a coloring virtuoso, but I wanted to challenge myself to do some watercoloring and the MFT design superstar challenge was just the push I needed.  I got out my MFT Sweet Forest Friends stamps and dies and did some watercoloring.  I had to color the little fox twice because the first one didn't turn out so well, but I'm really pleased with my coloring since I hadn't really done any in quite some time.  After coloring up all my little critters with various ZIG markers I watercolored a panel of watercolor paper with a light blue ZIG and then part of  watercolor panel with two green ZIGs.  When dry both panels were die cut with the MFT Inside Out Stitched Round Rectangle dies.  I popped up the green portion on the blue background and then adhered the tree and the critters using more pop dots.  The sentiment was stamped on a scrap piece of watercolor paper that had been light colored with the same blue ZIG and then die cut with another MFT die.  I added a little bit of white baker's twine to finish things off.