thinking of you...

 Hey there!  Can't believe it is the last day of April!  Where is the time going?!  Popping in with a card for Color Throwdown and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  I recently had the opportunity to buy some new products from Concord & 9th.   One of the things I was able to buy was the Thinking of You bundle.  I pulled that out and did some simple watercoloring with my ZIG markers.  I die cut the frame from Bristol smooth cardstock and then stamped the floral image on the frame using VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink.  I let it dry for a little bit before coloring the images using the colors from CTD.  I die cut the frame several more times from scrap cardstock and stacked everything.  I then adhered the frame directly to my white cardstock base.   I used light gray cardstock to die cut the thinking of you sentiment so that it wouldn't detract from the color images.  I made addition cuts of that die and stacked everything, as well.  I finished off the card with little gems from Trinity Stamps.  They really sparkle in the light!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

a shamrock and a peony...

 Hello!  Hope your week is off to a good start!  We have had a little bit of snow here in my corner of the Pacific Northwest.  The weather report actually calls for rain, but it is cold enough that the rain is coming down as snow!  Won't be sticking around, tho... thankfully!  I have two more cards to share.  I have been in a crafting mood lately and finally participated in a couple of challenges that I always want to take on, but mostly never seem to get the chance to do.  First up is a card for the current Inspired By challenge.   I have a couple of rainbow dies from MFT and used one that is sort of wonky to create my rainbow.  I die cut green glitter cardstock and gold mirror cardstock then alternated the two for my rainbow.  I die cut scrap white cardstock three more times with the die and adhered those to my top pieces to create a nice sturdy rainbow.   I die cut three small hearts using the AJVD Stitched Dot Hearts die set from green glitter cardstock to create my shamrock and the stem from the gold mirror cardstock.  I adhered the rainbow  to a panel of white cardstock and then added the shamrock.  I couldn't find one sentiment in my large collection of stamps that had anything to do with luck!  So I ended up using this lovely verse that is part of a sympathy stamp set from AJVD.  Originally I stamped it in green directly on my panel under the rainbow, but it wasn't straight!  I didn't like the look of the green so I when I restamped it on my banner I used watermark ink and embossed it in gold.  I like that much better!  Also sending this off to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to use green.

This next card is for the MFT sketch challenge.  I always want to play along with that challenge because I love a good sketch, but never seem to find the time.  I did this weekend... yay!    I pulled out the MFT Peony Perfection stamp as it is perfect fot the sketch and I had never used it!   I love floral images, but get a little intimidated by how complex they can be.  I never know if I'm putting the shadow in the right place, but I decided that I just needed to get over that and color things how I think they should be and so I did!  I used my ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers for the coloring as well as a couple of Polychromos color pencils.  I stamped the image using VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink on smooth bristol cardstock and started coloring.  Once the coloring was done I trimmed out the flower.  That was a trick, but I got it done!  I used the MFT Rectangle Extraordinaire to create the element across the card.  I blended on distress oxide in Tumbled Glass.  Going heavy on the top and fading down to the bottom.  I then die cut the panel with a rectangle die.  I adhered the flower in the center and then stamped the sentiment (from Simon Says Stamp) in Tumbled Glass distress oxide underneath.  I also discovered that apparently I do not own any stamps that actually say Happy Easter!  So funny!  Anywhoo.... I finished off the card with lots of sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Cards for MFT...

 Hey there!  I'm popping in with a couple of cards that I made for some MFT challenges.  Their annual card design superstar contest is going on.  I decided to challenge myself and enter the coloring virtuoso contest, as well as the clean and simple challenge.  First up is the card for the coloring challenge.  I have a lot of MFT's beautiful floral stamp sets and I used the Rose Garden set to make my card.    I stamped the image on smooth bristol cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne and then colored with ZIG markers.  Because this is a coloring challenge I challenged myself to color the images using two very different colors.  I started by coloring the flowers using a pink ZIG and once that layer was dry I added in light yellow.  I pretty pleased with my coloring on this image.  I die cut a piece of white cardstock with a label die from MFT (I think it is no longer available) and then trimmed down the two pieces even further to widen the center.  I had inked up a piece of bristol with Speckled Egg distress oxide ink, die cut it with a mini scalloped rectangle die from MFT adhered it to the center of my card base and then trimmed down the sides.  I adhered the other pieces with foam tape and then added the rose image to the center.  The sentiment is from another MFT set and was embossed with white on vellum and die cut with an MFT fishtail banner die.  A larger fishtail banner was die cut, layered with the first one and adhered to the card front. 

The second card is for the clean and simple challenge for the Card Design Superstar.    For this card I used the super cute Stacey Yacula Sending Sweet Celebration Wishes.  This card is going to my sister-in-law who has a couple of turtles.  I stamped the little guy  and a cupcake on smooth bristol and colored with ZIGs just like I did with the first card.  After coloring everything I die cut the images with the matching dies.  I used another small rectangle die from MFT to cut the little piece behind the turtle and the cupcake.  I cut a strip of black and white striped patterned paper and adhered that on one side of my cardstock base.  I trimmed down a panel of white cardstock and adhered that to the front with foam tape.  I then created a messy loop of black thread, adhered the rectangle on top and then added the turtle and cupcake.   The sentiment from the same set was stamped on a fishtail banner with Nocturne ink, trimmed down to fit the design and adhered.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!   I just have to say that I really dislike the new blogger!   I don't know why they had to fix it when it wasn't broken!  

Pinkfresh Studios and MFT...

Hey there!  Popping in with two cards.  The first one is for this month's Pinkfresh Studio challenge to use florals.   I recently got the Pinkfresh Studio/Altenew colloboration stamp and die set called Celebrate today from Scrapbook.com.  At the time I purchased the set they were offering a special Pinkfresh Studio/Scrapbook.com thank you die set for free with purchase!  So I also used that on my card.  I stamped the beautiful floral image on smooth bristol cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist ink and then watercolored it very simply with ZIG markers using colors from the challenge color palette.   Once I was done I die cut the image with the matching die and then adhered it to a white cardstock base.  The thank you was die cut from white glitter cardstock (although it is hard to tell in the photo) and from scrap white cardstock several more times.  Everything was stacked and then I adhered the sentiment on the floral image.  Very simple, but I love how it turned out!

As you can probably guess from my blog post title the second card is for a MFT challenge (or 3, lol!).  I haven't often played along with the week long challenges that MFT host each summer.  This year it is called Summer School.  Alot of the challenges were up my alley and so I decided to make a card for two of them.  Day 1:  Visual Triangle and Day 5:  White space.   I will also be posting this to the MFT color challenge and was going to add it to the sketch challenge, but realized that my layout did not really follow the sketch challenge layout!  Anyway, that is still three challenges!   I used the super cute MFT Meant to Bee stamp and die set for my card.  I colored the bee hive and little bees with ZIG markers and then added a little more depth with my Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils.  The images were stamped with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.  I die cut everything with the matching dies.  To create my branch I used the little tree from a no longer available MFT set called Sweet Forest Friends.  I colored that with a brown ZIG and a brown Polychromos.   I adhered the bee hive and the little bees.  The sentiment was stamped in the bottom corner and I added Nuvo Glitter drops in clear to the bees wings.    Lots of white (well... in this case cream!) space on this card, as well as the little bees created one visual triangle.  Being that the bee hive is actually triangular in shape that makes a second one.   Going to try to make one more card before the Summer School challenges close... fingers crossed I get my homework done in time, lol!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

a wedding card...

My niece is supposed to get married on September 5th.  Plans have been changing rapidly so I talked to my mother-in-law (my niece's grandmother) about what was happening.  She told me that they are going to have a small wedding with just immediate family and then another small gathering for those who couldn't attend the wedding.   Since they are moving forward I made their wedding card today.  I wanted to enter the card in the Paper Players challenge to make a wedding or anniversary card so I had to get it done.  I used the layout from CAS(E) this Sketch so I will be posting it there, as well.   I used a Stampin Up! set called Forever Blossoms.  I actually bought this stamp set with this particular niece in mind.   I stamped the large blossom branch on smooth bristol with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink and then colored very simply with a light pink ZIG marker and a light green ZIG marker.  The sentiment was also stamped with the Acorn ink.  I then die cut the piece with the largest AJVD plain rectangle die and adhered it to a kraft cardstock base with foam tape.  I may add some sequins, but I really like the simplicity of the design.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

flowers...

Hello and happy Monday!  I'm popping in with a couple of cards that I have shared on Instagram.  One card is for the MFT sketch challenge and I was just going to use Instagram to enter the challenge, but decided to post it on my blog since I still have a little bit of time before the challenge closes.  The second card was just something I colored up last week and turned into a card.   With the card for the MFT sketch challenge I used one of the images from the MFT Magnolia Blossom stamp set.  I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored the flowers with two Copic markers (R81 and R83).  The stems were colored with one (YG67) and the center of the main flower with just one color, as well (Y02).  I had originally started coloring the image with different colors, but it was too bright.  I really took my time with the coloring and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.   I fussy cut the image once it was done and then finished up the rest of the card per the sketch.  I have a medallion die from MFT that I used for the background.  I don't know what it is called and I don't think it is available any more, but it is sure is pretty.  This is my first time using it.  I stamped the sentiment (from a retired MFT stamp set called Spring Blossoms) on vellum with watermark ink and heat embossed with Ebony embossing powder from WOW!

With the second image I used my ZIG markers.  I love the Mondo line of stamps from Ellen Hutson and one of my favorites in the Mondo Gerbera Daisy.  I used that one and stamped it on smooth bristol cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.   This is another one that I spent along time on the coloring.  Once I was done with the ZIG coloring I added a little bit of depth with a brown Polychromos color pencil.  The image was die cut with the matching die.   To make the card I kept it simple and just added a little strip of yellow cardstock that I embossed and a simple sentiment that I stamped with the same Acorn ink.  I think coloring with my ZIGs is my favorite way to color. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

golden sakura...

Hello!  Got some crafty time in and made a card for the two challenges that I pretty much always combine:  Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches!    The FMS sketch is a square one and generally I don't like to make square cards (not sure why), but I decided to go with the square on the finished card.  I stamped the Essentials by Ellen Mondo Sakura on smooth bristol with VersaMark watermark ink and then embossed using WOW embossing powder in Metallic Gold Rich Pale and then colored with ZIG markers.  I used Pink Flamingo and Orange to create my peachy color.   And then finished with little touches green.  I will admit that I had to start over because I added little touches of color to the stamens and then die cut the image.  The little bit of color wasn't dry and it smeared on to the image.   Another live and learn, lol!  With the second image I didn't add the color to the stamens until after I had done the die cutting!  I created a background piece by scribbling two shades of blue ZIGs (Blue Hazel and Persian Blue) on some bristol cardstock and then blended it out with water.  After it had dried I die cut it with a Spellbinders classic square die.  The piece was adhered to an off white cardstock base and then I added the flower image.  Finished off the card by stamping the sentiment with VersaMark on vellum and heat embossing with the same embossing powder used for the image.  Sometimes simple is the best.  With my floral image I think this will also work for the current Inspired By challenge so I shall post it there, as well.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

guesting at color throwdown!

Hey there!  Super excited to be guesting at one of my very favorite challenges:  Color Throwdown!  I love me a good color challenge and CTD has been the top color challenge out there for 601 challenges!   For my card today I used a lovely image from the Pinkfresh Studio Hanging Florals stamp set.  I decided that I wanted to use the image to create a wreath.  I stamped the image on smooth bristol cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR ink twice and let them dry.   After I had colored each image and cut one out with the matching die I realized that I should have die cut my pieces first and then stamped them.  I ended up ruining one of the colored images and had to start over.  Live and learn, right?   The images were colored with my ZIG markers and Polychromos color pencils.  I trimmed off the ends of the image that I did not need and then arranged the pieces on my die cut panel.   I used a sentiment from the Pinkfresh Studio Believe in Yourself stamp set and heat embossed it in black on vellum.  The vellum was trimmed into a strip and wrapped around the panel.   I'm also going to add this to the July Pinkfresh Studio inspiration challenge.  The challenge this month is summer and I think my brightly colored wreath just says summer!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Simon Says Stamp Crafty Hugs Release!

Hey everyone!Says Stamp new release called Crafty Hugs is live in the SSS store.  There are tons of fun new items and I already have my eye on a couple of them, lol!   Just click here to be taken directly to this new release (This is not an affiliate link.)   As with past Simon Says Stamp releas tes I have been fortunate to receive a new product to create with.  Simon Says Stamp generously provided me with the stamp set called Work of the Heart.  This set is jam packed full of medicalhemed images and also has a matching die set.  I made three cards and decided to focus more on the small images that come with the set.  The first card was created with the little clipboard image and the sentiments 'your kindness is off the charts' and 'thank you'.  I started by determining how many clipboards I wanted in each row and found that three worked perfectly.  I then stamped three rows of clipboards with Memento Tuxed  Simon o black ink and colored them very simply with Copic markers.  I then die cut the panel with a rectangle die.  The sentiment was stamped on vellum using VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I spent a lot of time trying to get the larger sentiment centered and thought I had the smaller sentiment centered, as well, but after I did the embossing I realized that it wasn't quite centered.   Just one of those things that happens, right?  

The second card is my favorite.  There is a cute little sentiment that says 'thanks for patching me up' and it goes perfectly with the little teddy bear that has it's arm in a sling and a bandage on it's head.  I stamped the teddy in VersaFine Clair Acorn ink on smooth Bristol cardstock and then colored him with ZIG markers.  Again, the coloring was very simple.  I trimmed him out once he was dry.  I used the Thanks die that came in a previous Simon Says Stamp monthly kit that I had purchased.  I don't remember what month.  I had made something using the die and other supplies from the kit.  I thought I had put the die back in the box with all the other supplies, but when I went to get it out it was gone!  For several months I looked for it in vain and then one day last week I picked up a couple of SSS stamp set and there it was!  It came in a little plastic bag and I think that it got struck to the stamp sets!  Anyway... I die cut it from the Bristol cardstock and then colored it in an ombre fashion with the same brown markers I used to color the bear.  I die cut a few additional thanks from scrap paper and stacked them all together.  I centered the thanks on a white cardstock panel and then stamped the secondary sentiment underneath.  The bear was adhered on top of the thanks using foam dimensionals.  I'm going to add this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.

The final card was created base off of the sentiment 'caring is a work of the heart' and the stethoscope image from the set that has a heart in it.  Using some scrap paper I determined how I was going to stamp the stethoscope and what little add in images I would use.  I decided on one of the little hearts and the little cross image with a heart in the center.  I placed my cardstock panel in my stamping tool, positioned the stethoscope, stamped it with VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink and then turned it so that the opposite corner could be stamped in the same way.  I then repositioned the stethoscope and stamped the remaining corners in the same way.  I used a small acrylic block to stamp the hearts and crosses  I colored everything with color pencils.  The stethoscopes were colored with a dark pink Polychromos pencil because I discovered that you can get a stethoscope in just about any color you want... including dark pink!   After everything was colored I added Glossy Accents to the hearts and crosses.  I let everything dry and then figured out how I was going to stamp the sentiment.  I finally settled on using the heart from the Deco Heart die set.  I stamped the sentiment in black ink on red cardstock, die cut it and adhered it to the panel with foam dimensionals.

I had a lot of fun working with this stamp set.  I hope you enjoy my cards and thanks for stopping by!

Simon Says Stamp Sunny Days Ahead Release!

Hey everyone!  I'm popping in to share a couple of cards that I made with a brand new background stamp called Tulip Background that is part of the new Simon Says Stamp Sunny Days Ahead release! You can find all the new products here.   To make my cards I decided to stamp the full background on some smooth Bristol cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and then color with ZIG Clean Color Real Brush makers in pink, purple, yellow and green, of course, for the stems and leaves.   Once all the coloring was done (and it took a long time, lol!) I let the piece dry and then trimmed it into two pieces.  Each piece was trimmed further to fit an A2 size card front.  On the first card I decided to die cut the Rainboot Planter die from Simon Says Stamp and color it in with ZIGs using the same colors I used for the background.  I adhered a strip of silver cardstock to the panel and then adhered it to my cardstock base.  The boots were adhered along with a sentiment from the SSS stamp set Hello Darling.   I finished with some Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins.  I'm going to add this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of flower power.

My second card is similar to the first just put the panel on the other side of the card, added a strip of black cardstock.  I stamped the sentiment (from the SSS Stronger Together stamp set) on additional black cardstock with VersaMark watermark ink, applied white embossing powder and heat set.  The sentiment was trimmed down and adhered to the card front with foam tape.  Super, super simple.
Thanks for stopping by.  Simon Says Stamp is open for business so you can shop the new release.  Just remember... their ship times are a little bit longer than usual.  Happy shopping!

flowers and bunnies...

Well... even though I have lots of time on my hands (just like everyone, lol!) I have been having a hard time getting things made.  Finally in the last couple of days I got several cards made including the two I'm sharing today.  First up is a card for Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.  I got my Spellbinders March small die kit recently.  I made a card with it that I'm not sharing at this time so I decided to use the kit to make this card for FMS and CTD.   I decided to just have the color in the bunnies and kept everything else white or light gray.  Aren't those little bunnies so cute?  Cutting them in pink and purple kind of reminded me of Peeps.   The set comes with the fun little sentiment "what's up?" so I decided to use that as well and have a totally die cut card.  The light gray rectangle was die cut using a classic Spellbinders rectangle die.  After assembling my bunnies and the carrot I adhered then to my rectangle using foam tape for one of the bunnies and the carrot and then adhering the other bunny with glue.  After adhering the sentiment I popped up the panel on the white cardstock base.

After creating with cute bunnies I decided to pull out my ZIGs and do a little coloring.  I stamped the MFT Flowers in Bloom in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne and then colored the flowers using one yellow marker and one bright blue marker.  Once I was finished coloring with my ZIGs I added some shading and details with Polychromos color pencils.   The image was die cut with the matching die and then I die cut the celebrate sentiment from dark pink cardstock three times and adhered them together.  I popped up the flowers on a white panel that I die cut with a AJVD rectangle die and then adhered the celebrate over the top per the sketch.  I then stamped the sentiment on vellum with VersaMark watermark ink, applied white embossing powder and then heat set it.  The strip was trimmed out, wrapped around the panel and adhered on the back.  I then adhered the panel to a white cardstock base.   This card is going to the following challenges:  MFT color challenge, MFT sketch challenge and MFT birthday project challenge.  I will also be posting this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and please stay safe!

fancy thanks...

Did some more coloring.  This time for the Altenew Inspiration challenge.  The colors are so pretty, but ones that I was struggling to put together.  I'm determined that this year I will stretch myself and make things with color combos that I find challenging.   After giving several different ideas some serious thought and realizing that I was running out of time I decided to try an idea with the sweet Starry Flowers stamp and die set.  I stamped the images on smooth Bristol with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink and then colored the flowers using a combination of orange and red ZIGs for the petals and then purple for the center of the flowers.  The stems and leaves were colored with a dark green ZIG.  Once the images were dry I die cut with the matching dies.  The layout is from Freshly Made Sketches and I did think about making my card a square I ended up going with my usual A2 size card.  I die cut a circle from off white cardstock and then adhered that with foam dimensionals to a card base made from the same cardstock.   I added three score lines to the card base, but I don't you really see them.  I then adhered the flower stems to the circle.  The Altenew Fancy Thanks die was cut three times from dark green cardstock, stacked and then adhered to the card front.  Going to include this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, as well.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

whole lot of lovely...

A really quick post of a card that I finished up today.  I started coloring it a few days ago, got that part done and then had to wait for the matching die to arrive by FedEx.  That came today and this afternoon I got the card made.  I stamped the image in VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink and then colored with ZIG markers.  Once the coloring was done deepened some of the shadows with a dark brown Polychromos color pencil.    The layout for my card is base loosely on the sketch from Fab Friday.  I used a MFT fishtail flag stax die for the banner and the MFT Mini Scallop Stitched rectangle die, along with an AJVD stitched dot rectangle.  I layered everything on a light gray cardstock base.  The sentiment is from an order MFT stamp set that I stamped and then trimmed into the sections.  I did have them originally arranged on the floral image pursuant to the sketch, but didn't like how that looked and placed them where they are now.   Super pleased with my coloring even if it did give me a horrendous stiff neck!  Going to also post this to the Inspired By challenge.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

bunny... love...

Hey there!  Popping in with a couple of cards.  The first one is for the current MFT sketch challenge, as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  The SSS challenge is about pets and while I don't have a bunny for a pet when I was younger our family had several different rabbits.  So it was a no brainer for me to pull out the MFT/Stacey Yacula Sending Sweet Celebration Wishes to color up the cute little bunny from the set.  I stamped the image on smooth Bristol cardstock with VersaFine Acorn ink and then colored it with ZIG markers.   Once the image was dry I die cut the bunny with the matching die.   I found a piece of patterned paper (from MFT) that I liked cut it to fit the card front and then die cut an oval using an MFT oval die set that they don't have any more.  I adhered the patterned paper piece with foam tape.  I then decided to stamp the banner from the set twice with VersaFine Morning Mist and colored with the same blue ZIG I used to color the bunny's hat and the cupcake holder.  The were die cut and then adhered to the card front.   The bunny was then adhered inside the oval using a double layer of foam tape.  I finished with the sentiment that I stamped in Morning Mist and die cut with an MFT fishtail flag die.  ETA:  Just realized that this card would work perfectly for the current Fusion challenge.  The sketch is even similar to the MFT sketch and my goodness... isn't that little critter in the photo just too darn cute!?

The second card is for Color Throwdown.  Normally I combine Color Throwdown with Freshly Made Sketches, but this time I was using the dies from the January Spellbinders small die kit of the month and as you can see it is a pretty large die.  It just didn't work with the sketch.  I die cut everything from pink, green and navy cardstock and then adhered thing.   Since the word love really takes center stage and I wanted the word you to be part of the card I first experimented with stamping the word you, but there wasn't really a good spot to place the stamped word.  So I pulled out December small die kit of the month and die cut the word you from navy cardstock and adhered it to the card in a spot the totally worked.   This card will be in the mail soon and on it's way to my little niece in California.  I hope she likes it!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!  If you are interested in finding out more about the Spellbinders monthly small die kit  you can find out more by clicking here.