Congratulations...

 Hello everyone!   I'm popping by today to share a card that I made for my niece.  She is currently in her senior year at the United States Naval Academy.  Along with excelling academically she is an amazing golfer and was name team captain of the USNA woman's golf team!  I am so very proud and excited for her.  So, I had to make a card congratulating her on this huge achievement.  I'm about a month late in getting this card to her as she was named team captain in August, but unfortunately I had to order the Waffle Flower golf dies and then find the time to make the card.  I used the current Freshly Made Sketches layout so I will be sending this off to their gallery.   Let's have a look at what I created. 

I diecut all of the pieces from cardstock using the USNA school colors of white, navy and gold.  Then I assembled the golf bag.  I also die cut the golf clubs from gold metallic cardstock and adhered them behind the bag.  The "golf course" was created using the Birch Press Design Wavy Hills die.  The pieces were then adhered to a light blue cardstock base.   I made the golf ball from white and light gray cardstock and the pennant from light gray and the navy blue.  I adhered all the pieces to the card front and finished with the banner sentiment.  Now to finish the inside of the card with a personal note and get it in the mail!

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

Just Us Girls Guest Designer - Week 4 - Anything Goes with Stencils

 Hello!  I'm back to share my final project as a guest designer for JUGs this month.   Once, again, I had a lot of fun guesting with the JUGs team!  They are amazing.  Thanks so much for having me.  This week is stencil week and that means anything goes with stencils.  I had so many ideas for stenciling but had to settle on one.  For my card I used Waffle Flower Crafts Postage Collage Butterfly stencils and the Postage Collage die.  Let's see what I created.

My card for word week with JUGs featured stenciling and so I had alot of inks out on my desk as I decided what colors I would use.  When I made this card, I had spring on my mind and was thinking about the beautiful daffodils that bloom around here.  When I finished this card, I realized that it was actually giving off a fall vibe!    I used Altenew inks for the butterflies and then when I was finished with the ink stenciling I added some Ranger texture paste in transparent matte to the butterflies using the final stencil that adds the bodies and wing details.  I removed the stencil and then poured on Rock Candy glitter.  I do want to note that I did die cut the panel first with the Postage Collage die.  This made lining up the stencils so easy!   I finished with the sentiment that is also from Waffle Flower. 

That's it for me.  I hope you will pull out your stencils and join the fun at JUGs this week.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

JUGS Guest Designer - Die Week - Easter or Spring

Hello everyone!  I'm so excited to be guest designing for Just Us Girls for the month of April!  Thanks so much for the JUGs team for having me.  It is week die week this week with a theme spring and/or Easter.  I went with Easter.  Let's have a look at what I made.

Since Easter is just a few days away I decided to make an Easter card for my pink loving great niece, Mia.  She absolutely loves pink!   You will pretty much always see her wearing something pink.   For the card I pulled out the super cute Bunny Ears die set from Waffle Flower.  This set is no longer available, sadly.  I die cut the majority of the pieces from white cardstock and then the ear fold over piece and the bow from a pink cardstock with little polka dots in it.  I added some Spun Sugar distress oxide ink to the interior piece and then adhered them to the main bunny ears, along with the fold over piece.   There is a little arched piece that covers up the bottom tips of the interior pieces and that was adhered with glue, as well, and then I added the little bow.  I used the Waffle Flower Happy Easter Duo stamp set for the large sentiment that was also stamped in pink ink (don't remember which one).  The sentiment was die cut with the matching die and then layered with two additional die cuts.  I also added two more layers to the bunny ears to give them a bit more substance.   For a little more interest and fun I embossed a white cardstock panel with the Simon Says Stamp Bouncy Bunny embossing folder and added it to a pink cardstock rectangle.  That was adhered to a white card base and then I added the bunny ears and sentiment.  I think Mia will love it!

Well, that is it for me!  I hope you will play along with JUGs this week and actually for the whole entire month of April.  They have a really good line up of challenges!   Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

just for you...

 Hello, hello!  I hope that everyone is doing well.  Spring is here and with the arrival of spring I got the worst cold I have had in about four years!   Knocked me on my butt cold!  This whole week has been a struggle to get anything done, but I did manage to make a card for a few challenges... only took me two days, lol!  I will be sending this card off to Freshly Made Sketches, JUGs (stencil week) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (anything goes).  Let's look at what I created.  

When I saw it was stencil week at JUGs I immediately thought of several Waffle Flower stencil sets that I have but have not used.   One of the sets is called Painted Flower.   I thought it was a fun and unusual looking flower when I purchased the stencil and die combo.    The large center element on the FMS sketch looked perfect to create using two of the flowers.  So, I pulled out some coordinating Altenew Fresh Dye inks and got to work between blowing my nose, lol!  I used additional Waffle Flower products to complete my card:  A preprinted sentiment strip, some patterned paper and A2 frames die set.  Simple, but given my week I think I did pretty good!

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

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.

Friend... thankful for you

 Hello!  Popping in to share a card for a few challenges:  Just Us Girls (die week - leaves), Sunday Stamps (sketch), Color Throwdown (colors) and Die Cut Divas (anything goes).  Let's have a look at what I made.

So happy when I saw the challenge at JUGs was to use leaf dies.  I love leaf dies as they are so versatile.  You can use them any time of the year, but especially during the fall!   Because I wanted to make a card using the Sunday Stamp sketch I knew I needed a smaller scale leaf die and pulled out a favorite from Simon Says Stamp.  I have had them for along time and don't remember the name.  Not sure if they even carry them anymore, either.  I die cut them from white cardstock and then inked them up with the colors from CTD (orange, red and green).  I used some small postage stamp dies from Waffle Flower and die cut kraft cardstock to use to layer on my leaves.   The main panel was die cut with a Pinkfresh Studio postage stamp die.  I almost added little postmark images to the smaller stamps, but got sidetracked at one point and didn't go back to that idea.  Layered the postage die cuts on to the main panel and then added the leaves.  Finished with a sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp set called Cozy Autumn.  

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

by the water...

 Hello, hello!  Popping in with two cards for two challenges and both feature water, sort of, lol!   First up is my card for the Paper Players.   Their challenge is "by the water", thus the title of my blog post.  Here is what I made.

Last week I was able to make a day trip to the Washington coast with my boys and when I saw the challenge at the Paper Players, it had me thinking about my trip and seashells!   A few months ago, I was able to purchase a die set from Waffle Flower that features seashells that fit perfectly inside their postage collage die.   I die cut all the images and then used just three colors of oxide inks to ink up my shells and starfish.  I die cut the postage collage and then inked up each little panel with Salty Ocean and Antique Linen oxide inks and the coordinating stencil to create a sandy beach with water in the background.   The sentiment is also from Waffle Flower and that was stamped in one of the postage openings.   The small "sending" is from a Simon Says Stamp set.  I stamped it and die cut it with small strip die.  Everything was arranged on the panel and then it was added to a kraft cardstock base.  

My next card is for Color Throwdown and uses a die set from the most recent Birch Press Design release.  This one is called Koi Duo.   Here is what I created. 

One of my favorite places is Kubota Garden in the Seattle neighborhood of Rainier Beach.  My mother-in-law was friends with the granddaughters of the creator of the garden, Fujitaro Kubota.  It is so serene and peaceful there.  There are several ponds and all of them have koi swimming around.  It is kind of relaxing watching them moving slowly through the water.  So, that is what I was thinking when I created this card using the CTD colors.   The water element is represented by the grouping of black hexagons.  I used another Birch Press Design die called Honeycomb Cutout.  I used glossy black cardstock to give the hexagons the look of wet tiles.   I wasn't sure how the koi would turn out done in hot pink, peach and green, but I think I was able to create a harmonious look.    Let me know what you think.   Arranged everything on a white panel and finished with the small sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp set. 

Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely 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.

Wildflowers...

 Hello!  Popping in with a card for a couple of challenges:  Color Throwdown and the Flower Challenge.  I think the colors are very spring like.  Let's have a look at what I made.

I have had multiple products from the Waffle Flower Postage Collage line, but haven't really used many of them.  So, when I saw the new CTD colors I decided to remedy that situation and pulled out the Postage Collage Wildflower stencil set and got to work.  Full disclosure I did have to stencil the panel twice because when I was stamping all the little icons I messed up.  That panel didn't go to waste, though.  I simply adhered it behind the second one.   I used Pinkfresh Studio inks in Lemon Whip, Sweet Mustard, Coral Reef and Passion Fruit for the flowers.  The leaves and stems were stenciled using Memento Pistachio ink.  I die cut the panel with the A2 Postage Collage die and then adhered it to a white cardstock base.   The sentiment is from the WF Small Sentiments Bloom stamp set.  

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