oh... hello friend

Hey!  Over the weekend I made a card using the new dies I got from Stampin Up!  I must admit that I was a little dismayed with some of the dies in the set.  When I used the large die that you seen behind the flowers I saw that it just cuts out the little diamond bits as you see can see in this card I made and posted a few days ago.  A few days later I realized that I could actually trim the piece out to create a different look.  So for several days I had this piece floating around and over the weekend I decided to make something with it.  I had some cardstock left over from making the card I mentioned above so I used that to make the flowers with two other dies from the set.   There was another die that puzzled me, as well.  It is the little leafy one that you see embossed into the cardstock.  When I went to use it I thought it would die cut this cute little leafy bit, but when I was done saw that it only embosses!  Initially I was disappointed, but then I used it to make my card and now I actually think it is kind of clever.  Anyway, here is my card.  The sentiment is from the stamp set that coordinates with the dies and was embossed on vellum.  I'm going to post it to CAS(E) this Sketch since the layout is based on their sketch, as well as CAS on Sunday.  This is pretty clean and simple and it does have flowers on it.

 Have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white, Harvest Gold, Vellum, SU! Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Bazzill dark brown; Stamps:  Stampin Up!; Dies:  Stampin Up!; Ink:  VersaMark watermark ink; Embossing powder:  Hero Arts; 

two cards to share...

Hello!!   As my blog title says... I have two cards to share today.   First up is a card for a couple of challenges:  Color Throwdown and CAS(E) this Sketch.  I recently got a new stamp and die bundle from Stampin Up! and have been wanting to use them.   I thought the CTS was perfect way to give them some love!  The die set comes with this really cool die that you see behind the two leafy stems.  I centered the die on my white cardstock and then die cut the piece.  Some red cardstock was die cut with the same die.  covered the back side of the white panel with washi tape and then inserted all the little red pieces.  The leaves were stamped in blue and yellow and then adhered to the panel.  The sentiment is from the AJVD Happy Birthday stamp set and was heat embossed in white on black cardstock.  The sentiment was trimmed down and adhered along with a little white twine blow.  Mounted the panel on a light gray card base and I was done.

Second card is for the current PTI MIM challenge of combining stenciling and masking.  I usually take a look at the MIM challenges and often think that I will play along, but most of the time don't ever get anything done.  But I had some time today and decided to give the technique a try.  Early this year I finally was able to buy the PTI set Deck the Halls and thought I would use it for the challenge.  I created my rectangle stencil using the middle die from the Double Up die set and obviously the wreath using the wreath die from Deck the Halls.  The panel was inked with Ranger Distress Oxide ink in Fired Brick and then splattered with water.  I stamped the wreath using olive and artichoke colored inks and the sentiment in black.  I then die cut the panel down with the largest die in the Double Up die set.  The bow was die cut and then stamped with a ruby red ink and then adhered with a little piece of foam dimensional.  The panel was then adhered to a kraft cardstock base.  I'm going to add this to the Merry Monday summer link up.   They had a previous challenge to use a wreath on your card.

Have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  white, kraft, light gray; Stamps:  Stampin Up!, AJVD and PTI; Dies:  Stampin Up! and PTI; Inks:  Ranger Distress Oxide; VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Ruby Red, Memento Blue Danube and Dandelion; SU! white baker's twine; Hero Arts white embossing powder

otterly great birthday... take 2

Hello!!  The weekend is upon us and I have a card to share.  Last week I made a card using the super cute MFT Otterly Love You stamp set.  I made the card for last week's MFT sketch challenge, but for some reason did not get it posted in the gallery... grrr!!  So When I saw this week's sketch I thought I would make another shaker card using the same set.  I used a different otter image, but I did use the same sentiment as I'm still in birthday card making mode, lol!  I also used a few other images from the set, but kind of covered them up with the shaker mix that I used.  I will also be posting this to the current MFT color challenge as I used those colors, again, for my card.  I have been practicing my watercoloring in an effort to get better at it.  I decided to give Bristol cardstock another try and had much better results with it.   I will also add this to the current Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge to use red, white and/or blue since I have used all three colors on my card.

Have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  MFT blue, SU! red, Ranger woodgrain; Stamps:  My Favorite Things; Dies:  Spellbinders and My Favorite Things; Inks:  VersaMark watermark ink; Embossing powder:  Filigree black; Watercolor Medium:  ZIG Clean Color markers; Shaker Mix:  Lucy's Little Things Mermaid

happy 4th of july... blogging on the ajvd blog today!

Wishing everyone in the US a very happy and safe 4th of July!!  I know that I usually have an AJVD post on Wednesday, but I swapped with Ardyth so that I could post one more patriotic card.  Here is a little peek:

Hope you will head over to the blog for a look! 

whole lot of lovely...

Hey... happy day before 4th of July!!  Got a card made for the current Essentials by Ellen pin-sights challenge.  The inspiration photos are gorgeous, but given that it is now summer and there is stuff to do I wasn't certain I would get anything made.  Thankfully I was able to get some time over the weekend to get something make.  I had an idea as to what I wanted to make and the end result is close to what I was thinking.   As I spied some gold accents in the photos I decided to emboss the Mondo Hydrangea in gold and then watercolor it using dark pink and orange.   Once everything was dry I added in a really light wash of blue.  Because I liked the entire panel I decided not to trim it down, but adhered the entire piece to my card base.  I stamped the sentiment from the EE Lovely stamp set on vellum and heat set in gold.  The sentiment was then die cut with an MFT Fishtail Flag Stax die.  I die cut a couple more flags from vellum, layered them together and adhered to the panel.  Finished with some variegated hemp twine and little dots of Nuvo Jewel Drops in Limoncello.  Super please with how this turned out!  Since there is still time I'm adding this to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.

Have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  SU! Crumb Cake, Ranger watercolor paper; Stamps:  Essentials by Ellen; Ink:  VersaMark watermark ink; Embossing powder:  Ranger Gold; Watercolor medium:  Kuretake Gansai Tambi and ZIG clean color; Variegated hemp twine; Nuvo Jewel Drops

otterly great birthday...

Hello!!!  Have a little birthday card to share that I made using the super cute MFT stamp set Otterly Love You.  I have wanted that set for ages and when MFT had a sale recently I finally made it mine!!  I followed the current MFT sketch for my layout so I will be posting it there and at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  I have started watercoloring again and it has been a bit of a struggle.  I have come to the conclusion that I'm just overthinking things and need to just relax!  Anyway after several attempts I got a little otter I was happy with.  Since the sketch is pretty simple I decided to make a shaker card.  Once that was put together and adhered to the card front I had to figure out how to attach the sentiment.  I stamped the sentiment on vellum with watermark ink and the heat embossed with white embossing powder.  The sentiment was then die cut with an MFT Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax die.   After trying just laying the banner on top of the otter I decided to cut around the otter's lower arm so that it would look like he was hold the banner.  I slipped the banner under the arm and adhered it with Multi Matte Medium and then adhered the whole thing to the shaker element.  Plain and simple, but rather cute I think!

Have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white, SSS Fog and Sea Glass; Stamps:  My Favorite Things; Dies:  Spellbinders; Ink:  VersaFine Smoky Gray; Watercolor medium:  ZIG Clean Color markers; Shaker mix:  Lucy's Little Things Mermaid Mix