blog break. . . .

For the next couple of months, life will be very busy for me.  I have decided to take a break from posting and challenges, at least for now, but maybe permanently.  When I am able, I hope to visit your blogs and make an occasional comment.  I also want to continue participating in Deborah's monthly card chain challenge.  This isn't really a challenge, but I really enjoy sending and receiving cards from others.

Thanks for all of your sweet comments and the great encouragement you have given me over the past (almost) five years of blogging here.  Till we "meet" again - I bid you adieu.  :-)

today. . . .

I am a guest designer on the Stamplorations blog. Last month I was the winner of the March challenge and Shery graciously asked me to be a GD this month.  The May challenge is to use stamps and leaves. 

Here is the card I made:

I decided to use Stamplorations "Artplorations" leaf  prints stencil for the leaves of my card.  After sponging through the stencil with MFT's spearmint ink, I die cut the panel using MFT's stitched rectangle die.  The Stamplorations sentiment was stamped with MFT's blueberry bliss dye ink as were the Stamplorations trendy butterflies.   They were then fussy cut and adhered to the panel.  The Mama Elephant scalloped panel was cut from MFT's blueberry bliss cardstock and the card base is MFT's spearmint cardstock.  I brushed the butterflies with the wink of Stella clear glitter pen and added some blue and green glitter dots.

Stamplorations stamps and stencils are one of the most affordable and on trend products around these days!  Check out their awesome blog and website for lots of fun and inspiration!! 

Sending this to:

Simon Says Stamp:  anything goes.

Hope your day is a good one.

my April CCC card. . . .

was sent to Chris in Texas:

This Floral Fusion Cover-up Die-namics from My Favorite Things is one of my all time favorite dies.  It was placed over a panel of Ken Oliver floral paper which is absolutely gorgeous.  The Hello die is from SSS and was enhanced with some clear wink of Stella.  For some reason, I decided not to add sequins to this card and was happy with it this way.

The monthly card chain challenge is hosted by Deborah Nolan.  If you would like to sign up for the May card exchange, here is the link to Deborah's blog.

Have a wonderful day!

blowing bubbles. . . .

is something one of my grandsons and I used to do each time he came to visit.  We would sit on the porch and he loved watching the bubbles as they floated away and burst.  The background for this card was made using a bottle of bubbles from the dollar store, food coloring and a bit of sugar:

This is a technique I learned many years ago and had forgotten about, but it sure does make an interesting background, doesn't it?  The stamps are from these Stamplorations stamp sets:  Bold Sentiments and Live Love Laugh.  The stitched rectangle is from MFT and the card base is MFT's spearmint cardstock.  I also brushed wink of Stella clear glitter over the background, but it doesn't show up here.  :(

Playing in these challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More:  clean and simple.
Word Art Wednesday:  anything goes.
Stamplorations:  anything goes ongoing challenge.

My down time has been extremely limited this week and will be the same next week.  Please forgive me for not visiting and commenting on your blogs; I will try to do better as time allows.  I truly appreciate each one who visits my blog and makes a comment.
Thank you so much!

Have a wonderful weekend.

orange. . . .

is not a color I use very often.  I don't buy orange clothing or decorate my home with it.  But, I do enjoy orange flowers:

Tim's  flower garden stamps are gorgeous.  I used my go to for coloring again, Prismacolor pencils.  The stitched squares are from MFT.  I added a bit of interest behind the flowers by sponging spiced marmalade distress inks through Simon Says Stamp's tiny dot stencil and then added some gold Stickles here and there.  The happy die is from MFT and the birthday sentiment is Hero Arts.

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp:  birthday.
Seize the Birthday:  anything goes.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

birthday cards. . . .

are something we always need to have on hand to send to friends and family, aren't they?  Here is another one I made recently:

The Memory Box butterfly die is one I have had for awhile and never used.  The doily was sent to me by a friend and the little flowers with gems in them were purchased at Hobby Lobby in Parker CO.  (never used them either).  I made the watercolor background for some ATC's and had a panel left over, so I used MFT's stitched rectangle die to cut it out.  The butterfly was brushed with some clear wink of Stella.

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp:  anything goes.
Seize the Birthday:   anything goes with no toppings.
Sweet Sunday Sketch:  sketch #261.

NBUS:  never before used schtuff.

Don't we all have stuff we had to have and have never used??  I am slowly trying to use things that I have received as gifts or that I have been lucky enough to win since the holidays.  There is just not enough time in the day to do all that I want to do. 

Have a good day and a great weekend!!  <3

clean and simple. . . .

for today's card:

The sentiment is Penny Black, the poppies are Hero Arts and the stitched square dies are MFT.  Red Memento marker with MFT's glitter glaze over it.

Challenges:
Less is More:  Case a DT card:

Time Out Challenge:  black and white with a splash of one color.
Addicted to Stamps and More:  anything goes.

Enjoy your day!

stampers anonymous. . . .

has always been one of my favorite companies.  I just received the new Tim Holtz flower garden collection last week and it is absolutely beautiful!

I used Prismacolor pencils to color the cone flower.  The stitched rectangle die and the happy die are from MFT.  The scalloped layer was cut from MFT's plum cardstock and the die is from Mama Elephant.  I added some of MFT's glitter glaze to the top of the flower - it is beautiful in real life.  Kinda' like putting glossy accents over the wink of Stella, only much prettier in my opinion.  The 4mm sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh.

The stamp, the happy die, the cardstock and the glitter glaze are all new to me and have never been used, so I am linking this up to Darnell's 4th NBUS challenge.

Other challenges:

Casology:  blossom.

RetroSketches:  Sketch #157.

See you soon!

no stamping. . . .

was used for this card that I made for a friend's birthday:

Didn't want to put the sentiment on the outside, so it is stamped on the inside along with my handwritten birthday wishes.  First, I did a bit of watercolor to create the background and spritzed it with Ranger's  heirloom gold spray.  The stitched square die is from MFT. Stickles gold glitter was added to the flower centers.  The flower die is from SSS, as is the thin frame die.  I love the definition it gives to the overall design.  Again, I used MFT's ripe raspberry cardstock. You will probably get sick of seeing this cardstock because I really like it. 

Challenges:

The Card Concept (I am going with clean and layered):  inspired by the pink and white cupcakes.

Simon Says Stamp:  inspired by the pink and white hat.

Thank you for your sweet comments; they are very encouraging to this old lady!!

friendship. . . .

is always one of the themes Deborah Nolan has for her monthly card chain challenge. And, it is usually the one I use for the card I make to send:

This month, my card went out to Shawna in Michigan. The sentiment is a woodblock stamp from Stampendous that I purchased in 1999. :*)  First I used second generation stamping to stamp the forget me not from MFT and overstamped the sentiment with Versafine onyx black ink.  The stitched rectangle is from MFT, as is the ripe raspberry cardstock, which is SO yummy.

If you would like to join in the fun of exchanging cards with others, hop over to Deborah's blog to sign up for April.

Sending this over to Addicted to Stamps and More for their anything goes challenge.

Happy Wednesday to you!

one layer cards. . . .

are not my forte.  And, I don't do cute very well either.  But, I wanted to play in a couple of challenges so I tried combining the two:

I used Simon's You Are Pawsome set and Stamplorations Trendy Butterflies set for this card. The dog was colored with Prismacolor pencils.  I sponged some distress inks for the background and added a hand-drawn border.  I am not so sure this is CAS enough for the challenge, but the powers that be can be the judge.  :*)

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Flickr group:  one layer card.
Less is More:  clean and simple with an animal.
Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge:  animals.

Have a wonderful day.

stenciled birthday card two. . . .

for a friend's upcoming birthday:

I just received my Stamplorations club kit yesterday and wanted to use one of the stencils included in it for this card.  I sponged pink ink through the Confetti Circles stencil and then moved the stencil a bit to sponge the green ink through again.  After die cutting a stitched oval from MFT, I stamped the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp and then popped the Memory Box butterfly above it.  The black opal gems are from Hero Arts. 

Playing in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge:  things that fly.
Stamplorations:  flash stencil linky party.
Stamplorations:  March stamps and stencil challenge.

Have a wonderful weekend!

stenciled blue birthday card. . . .

for several challenges:

Hero Arts cornflower blue ink was sponged through the Tim Holtz lace stencil for the topper of this card.  The scalloped border is from PTI and the sentiment is from Winnie & Walter.  Blue gems from Recollections.

Sending this to Simon Says Stamp B is for. . . ., Seize the Birthday (toppings: make the sentiment the focal point) and Stamplorations for their flash stencil linky party. 

 

Hope your day is wonderful!

edit:  also sending this to Stamplorations March challenge:  stamps and stencils. 

special lady/girly. . . .

is the challenge at Simon Says Stamp challenge this week.  I made a birthday card for one of my daughters:

Penny Black's flower stamps are just so pretty.  I colored this one with Prismacolor pencils.  The sentiment is from Penny Black also.  The stitched rectangle die is MFT and the scalloped die is from Mama Elephant.  The patterned paper is from Crafty Individuals.  4 mm sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

Also sending this to Seize the Birthday anything goes challenge (without the toppings).

Hope your day is wonderful!

my first shaker card. . . .

in about 15 years!

I remember doing lots of them at the time and haven't been inspired to do any currently.  However, I needed a congratulations card for a friend and this just kinda' happened.  :*)  Sorry for the poor photo; I was in a hurry to get it in the envelope.  The peekaboo circle is from MFT and the sentiment is from Wplus9.  I used tiny seed beads and vintage sequins I had on hand.  The patterned paper is from an old 6 x 6 pad from MME. 

Sending this to Word Art Wednesday's anything goes challenge.

Have a good weekend.

tulips. . . .

will soon be blooming (hopefully) in our flower gardens. 

I need several birthday cards this month.  This stamp is from Stamplorations and was colored with Prismacolor pencils.  The tiny butterflies are from Memory Box.  The stitched rectangle die and scalloped panel are from MFT.  The sentiment is on the inside.  A few 4mm sequins from Pretty Pink Posh were added.

Sending this to Simon Says Stamp for their anything goes challenge, Seize the Birthday (without the toppings) anything goes, and Stamplorations ongoing anything goes challenge.

Hope your day is wonderful!

my card. . . .

for the February card chain challenge:

I recently acquired a few Penny Black Stamps and had fun making this card for Marga in Spain.  I forgot to take a photo of it before sending it out, so Marga graciously did so and sent it to Deborah for her reveal.  Here is the link to the February reveal on Deborah's blog.

Color pencils were used for coloring and the embossing folder is by Anna Griffin for Cuttlebug.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp and the circle dies are from MFT.

Things have been very busy around here despite the cold and snow, so I have not had time to do much stamping.  I have a few cards in the works; hope to finish them today or tomorrow.

Thanks for your visit!

stamps and hearts. . . .

is the February Challenge at Stamplorations:

All of the stamps used for my card are from Stamplorations.  The circle die is from MFT and the border die is from Pretty Pink Posh.  The hearts are from Memory Box.  Stamplorations also has a bi-weekly sketch challenge and an ongoing anything goes challenge.  I will send my card over to those challenges, too.   

One last challenge:  

The Artistic Stamper where the theme is  love and rubber stamps must be used. 

Have a good day and stay warm!!

a bit of sparkle. . . .

for the Simon Says Stamp Flickr group challenge #12:

I used Simon's big Hello die, cut from DCWV glitter paper.  And, stamps from Simon's Whimsical Flowers stamp set.  The background stamp is from Impression Obsession and was stamped with Simon's Audrey blue inkpad. Some big black sequins from JoAnn's were added and I placed a tiny dot of platinum Stickles in the centers of them and a couple of the stamped dots.

Thanks for visiting!

a female version. . . .

of my previous "bird crazy" card:

I just can't stop playing with these adorable birds!  This time I used my Derwent Inktense pencils to watercolor the bird on Tim's watercolor paper.  The sentiment is from Winnie & Walter and the heart is a Memory Box die. The patterned paper is from the same Basic Grey 6 x 6 pad I used for the other bird card.  I added wink of Stella to the bird and heart to glam her up a bit.

Playing in the following challenges:

Simon Say Stamp:  red and pink challenge.

Casology:  love.

Addicted to Stamps:  anything goes.

Adding one more challenge:

The Paper Players:  CAS with a bird.  Thanks, Judy!!

It has been snowing all day here and the temps will be dropping below zero tonight!  May have to make more bird cards to keep me occupied.  :*)

Have a great weekend!!

XOXO. . . .

for a few challenges:

I absolutely LOVE the "bird crazy" stamps from Tim Holtz and had to have them as soon as I could get them.  This crazy guy is here to wish all of you a very Happy Valentine's Day.  I stamped the image on Tim's watercolor paper and colored it with Peerless watercolors.  The sentiment is from Simon's lunch notes stamp set.  The patterned paper is from an old Basic Grey 6 x 6 pad.

Playing along in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp:  all creatures big and small.

Addicted to Stamps:  anything goes.

CAS(E) This Sketch: 

My card is a very loose interpretation of this sketch; I just switched the image to the right instead of the left!

Thanks for visiting!

a clean and simple card. . . .

using Penny Black stamps.  I used watercolors for this image, which I am not very proficient with.  Need more practice, I guess.  The splatters were done with Dylusions spray ink and the sequins are from Michaels.

Playing in a few challenges today:

Penny Black & more: use anything but a digi. 

All Sorts Challenge:  flower power. 
Seize the Birthday:  anything goes.

Simon Says Stamp:  anything goes.  oops - missed this one!
Penny Black Simplicity: clean and simple.

Enjoy your day!

THINK PINK. . . .

is the prompt for the Mixed Media Monthly challenge for February.

I decided to play along with a Valentine:

For this card, I used lots of different media. The background panel was created by brayering pink acrylic paint on cardstock and adding cream acrylic paint through the SSS tiny dot stencil.  A flourish stamp from Stamplorations was stamped randomly along the edges with gathered twigs distress ink.  I pressed a Delicata gold inkpad against an acrylic block, spritzed with water and then flicked it with a brush to create splatters on the background.  The edges were sponged with the distress ink.

The heart was cut from an old book page with a Spellbinders die and then sprayed with a pink Smooch spritz.  I colored Ranger's texture paste with picked raspberry distress ink and pressed it, roughly, through a Tim Holtz hearts stencil.  When dry, I brushed more watered down Delicata gold ink over the hearts, which kinda' made them look less pink.  The XO sentiment is from Hero Arts and was stamped with the same brown distress ink.  German glass glitter was glued around the edge of the heart.

After adhering all of the layers, I flicked brown ink over the whole card.  It is difficult to see the shimmer of the gold ink here, but it is very pretty IRL.

Sending this over to Simon Says Stamp for their anything goes challenge, and to Stamplorations who also has an ongoing anything goes challenge.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

a valentine card. . . .

using the current MFT sketch challenge:

My card:

I used patterned papers that were sent to me in a giveaway; don't know what company they are from.  The dies used were from MFT:  a STAX stitched rectangle for the floral panel and the scalloped frame die and the stitched border from Blueprints #1 were used for the bottom border trim and the flagged sentiment strip.  The heart is an old EK Success punch.  I used a Pilot gold pen to edge the layers and added platinum Stickles to the centers of the gold sequins that were purchased at Walmart.  Sentiment is from Winnie & Walter Big, Bold and Happy set.

Also playing in the SSS Wednesday anything goes challenge.

Have a wonderful day!

guest designer. . . .

for Stamplorations!!  Visit their blog to see my card.  Here's a sneak peek:

While there, check out the other cards being shared today by the Stamplorations team!

my card for. . . .

the January card chain challenge hosted by Deborah Nolan:

Deborah has been coordinating this card exchange for a long time and it is so much fun.  I decided to go with a winter/friendship theme for my card which was sent to Gail in Norway.  I used patterned paper and a sentiment from the SSS January card kit.  I also used dies from MFT and Simon.  The embossed snowflake design on the white layer is from a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  Snowflake dies are from Impression Obsession.  A bit of diamond Stickles added to the snowflakes and patterned paper provided some extra bling.

Check out Deborah's blog for information on how to sign up for the February exchange.

Thanks for your visit.  Your comments are SO appreciated!

LOVE. . . .

is the theme for the current Simon Says Stamp Flickr challenge:

Here is my card:

I used Simon's large heart doily die, a sentiment from Hero Arts and some patterned papers that were sent to me in a giveaway package.  The sequins added a bit of sparkle. 

Also sending this to Simon's Wednesday anything goes challenge.

Once again, I've been neglecting my cardmaking and blog.  Hope to make a few cards to enter in some more challenges in the next few days.  Looks like snow again tomorrow, so I won't be going anywhere.  :*)

Hope you have a good weekend.