Make It Monday #225 - Die Cut Shaped Boxes

Hello friends.  Ashley has a wonderful tutorial on this weeks Make It Monday challenge, and shows us how to turn any of our die cut shapes into fun party favor boxes.  I chose to use the Enclosed: Leaf die to make mine, and although I think it turned out really cute, I wish I would have thought it through a bit more and chose something with a flat bottom.  Take a look:

Before cutting out the back piece of my leaf, I sponged using Distress Inks (Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, & Peeled Paint), and then embossed the leaf veins in gold.  My sequins in the shaker part are from the Shakers + Sprinkles kit, and the little leaf tag was die cut from the Quilted: Autumn set. 

And because I had the Quilted: Autumn set out, why not make a card?!

LOVE this set!!  Used leftover paper that I had sponged for my favor box for the quilt pieces and cut the frame from kraft cardstock.  The sentiment and the die cuts are also from Quilted: Autumn.

Make sure you check out Ashley's video and cute, cute favor boxes right HERE. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Tag You're It! Challenge #31

Hello friends.  Haven't played with the Tag You're It! Challenge in quite a while, but this weeks tag by Jeanne Jachna was just too beautiful not to play along with!  The orange and gold in Jeanne's tag was what inspired me, and this is what I came up with:

My tag was die cut with a Casual Fridays die and then "smooshed" with some Scattered Straw Distress Ink and then speckled with some Pumpkin Pie ink.  I had some scraps of cs left over from a card where I had used Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, & Peeled Paint Distress Inks blended together, and used that to die cut the Maple and Oak leaves (Quilted: Autumn - PTI).  I edged the leaves and the tag in gold and also the "Sew" part of the sentiment.  A few sequins and some ribbon & twine finished off my tag.

Here is Jeanne's beautiful tag:

 
Hard not to be inspired by that!!  If you'd like to play along, you can check out all the info and see all the great inspiration right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Quilted: Autumn

Hello friends.  Sharing a set of notecards I had made almost a month ago now and forgotten to post...a sign of waaaaay too much new stuff lately, and I don't want everything I own to become  NBUS!! :0)  But anyway, Quilted: Autumn is a newer stamp set from PTI (August release) in their quilting line of stamps (Quilted: Spring and Quilted: Summer) with a lovely leaf motif that is perfect for the Fall season.  Take a look:

Don't all the little pieces of the leaf look like coordinated material?  The stamp set actually comes with all the little different stamp patterned pieces so you can make it look just like material...love it!  I went for more muted colors, even though Fall is full of bright colors (maybe I'll have to do another set with the bright reds, oranges, & yellows!!).  I used Early Espresso cardstock for the frame of the leaf, and then Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, Melon Berry, Classic Kraft, Fine Linen, & Soft Suede inks for all the little stamped pieces.  I used the Keep It Simple series for my sentiments with Blueberry Sky and Melon Berry inks on a white banner, and then used an older Cuttlebug Fall embossing folder on kraft cardstock that I sponged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink to make the words pop out a bit more for the background layer.

Here's a photo of the set of 4 cards:

They are all the same except for the sentiments, and will make for a nice little birthday gift for one of my quilting friends this next month.

Thank you so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Papertrey Ink's September 2015 Blog Hop

Hello friends.  Well it's the 25th, and you know what that means in my world, right?  Yep, Papertrey Ink's monthly blog hop!!  Beautiful Fall inspiration photo this month of a chalkboard and wreath with Fall leaves, and since I take things pretty literally, this is what I came up with:

Of course I HAD to use Heather's new Twig Wreath stamp set, along with Autumn Adornments for my sentiment, and the little wheat stamp from the Quilted: Autumn set.  Rather than using typical black for the chalkboard background of my card, I used a dark brown cardstock, and my flowers were all done with an old (maybe 15 years??) chalk set and then fussy cut.  A kraft card base and a little bit of twine finished off this card.

Here's the inspiration photo we had to work with this month:

You can check out all the fun and hop along over on Nichole's blog right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Merry Monday #172 - Watercolouring

Hello friends.  Playing along with the challenge over at Merry Monday's today, where we are being asked to use watercoloring on our Christmas cards.  I love to watercolor with my Aqua Painter and ink pads, and pulled out an oldie but a goodie from SU! - Beautiful Season.  Take a look:

I used Old Olive, Real Red, Baked Brown Sugar, Smoky Slate, & Tip Top Taupe inks and a couple Copics for the beak and feet, and then masked the image and used a Heidi Swapp background stamp and Smoky Slate ink to add a little bit to my background.  I used some Real Red cardstock strips that I embossed with the holly ef I still had laying out from a couple weeks ago, and then added a couple of very thin strips of silver mirror cardstock.  Some black and white bakers twine and a tag (Stitched Circle Tags - Lawn Fawn) stamped with a sentiment from PTI's Christmas Blessings finished off my card.  And I even remembered to finish the inside too!! :0)

  
Check out all the beautiful inspiration and even play along...you can find all the info you need right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Birgit & Marcia's CAS Challenge

Hello friends.  My friend Birgit and I are onto our 3rd challenge today, and this month we've decided to do CAS.  Now if you've followed me for any length of time, you know CAS is not really my thing.  It's not that I don't like it, because I really admire stampers who can do it!  I think it's all the "white" that intimidates me...I always feel like I need to add bling, or bows, or background stamps, or more layers, or something.  ANYTHING!!  But anyway, I tried.  And they're all ok.  Not great...but not bad either.  I think they still NEED something. :0)  But I held myself back and let them just be. 

The first two cards are using Clearly Besotted's Autumn Flowers and the baby wipe technique (adding reinkers to folded babywipes to create your own ink pads) with Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Real Red, & Soft Suede inks.  My 3rd card uses Penny Black's Pumpkin Patch stamp, where I used my little PTI ink cubes to add color to the stamp (Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Canyon Clay, & Simply Chartreuse), and then spritzed with water before stamping onto the cardstock.  The sentiment is from PTI's Twig Wreath stamp set. (Can you tell I'm totally into the FAll mode here?!!)  My last card is just like yesterdays card for PTI's MIM challenge, but without all the background.  (Vintage Linens, Fancy Tea Cup die, & Think Big Favorites: #22)

So there you have it...my idea of CAS! :0)  Make sure you head on over to BIRGIT'S blog and check out what she did for our little challenge...I know she'll have something that really WOWS you! :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!! :0)   

MIM#224 Two-Toned Stamped Sentiments

Hello friends.  Danielle Flanders has a great video this week for the Make It Monday challenge!  I love black and white cards and Danielle's cards are absolutely fabulous for this two-toned sentiment challenge!  I don't have the striped cover plate that Danielle used (and was too lazy to do all the work involved with the manual way to create the striped pieces!!), so I improvised with my Chevron Cover Plate die.  Take a look:

I know, I know, my sentiment looks like it's been tipping the bottle a bit with all those crazy zig zag lines from the Chevron cover plate, but I think my daughter that's away at college will love it, so it's all good!!  I didn't have any flowing and scripty lettered sentiments from PTI, so I used the hello stamp from Hand Lettered Hello by WPlus9.  I've been working on a CAS challenge with my friend Birgit for tomorrow, so I had lots of flowers (Vintage Linens) and tea cups (Fancy Tea Cup die) laying around, so decided to add them to my card.  Doesn't the tea cup remind you of that blue Delft china that used to be so popular?  I used Cobalt Blue Brushos on water color paper before die cutting the tea cup, and then brushed the edges in Versamark and gold embossing powder.  The back piece of the tea cup die was also cut out of some gold cardstock to give the cup that sort of timeless vintage pattern.  The flowers were embossed in white and then water colored with watered down Orange Zest, Hibiscus Burst, & Lemon Tart inks. 

You can check out Danielle's beautiful cards and great video right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!! :0)

SOA - REALLY Bright Card

Hello friends.  Thought I would wake you up with a REALLY bright card this morning!  Take a look:

How's that for an eye opener?!!!  I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to stamper CATHERINE POOLER, but I have to say that I just love her bubbly personality and fun, FUN stamping style!  This card has never been my stamping style, but I think Catherine is rubbing off on me!  I ordered one of her first SOA (Stamp of Approval) kits, and other than ink, pretty much everything was included in this kit to make lots and LOTS of fun cards.  There were lots of stamps and dies in this kit, but what I just fell in love with was the stencil by winnie & walter.  I used 4 different distress inks (Tumbled Glass, Twisted Citron, Spiced Marmalade, & Picked Raspberry) and a blending tool over the stencil to create this vibrant and eye catching background.  The flowers and doodles were part of the In Bloom: Eva's Favorite Flowers stamp set by winnie & walter, and the love ya die cut is by CAS-UaL FriDaYS.  The sequins were also included in the kit, and the string was tied around the kit when it came and I decided it fit perfectly with my card!  Fun, fun kit and I know I'll get lots of use from it!

I'll leave ya with a fun little project that I CASE'd from LAURIE WILLISON. 

Isn't this such a cute idea?!!!  Mason jars are really popular right now for decorating, and if I'm not careful, I'm not going to have any jars left for canning!  Laurie explains beautifully how to make this particular jar, but it's basically just using a sticker sheet and cutting out a die cut and sticking to a clean jar, and then painting it.  Laurie used white chalkboard paint for hers, but I already had white acrylic paint, so I just used that.  When it was dry, I carefully removed the sticker, and then filled with coffee beans and a tea light.  And it not only looks cute, it smells wonderful when burning!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Create Along With Us - September 2015

Hello friends.  Papertrey Ink has started a new challenge during release week where we are to choose a card by one of the designers and be inspired to create our own card.  Easier than it sounds when there is SO much to be inspired by!!  One of the cards that really caught my eye during this weeks release was by Melissa Phillips and a card she did using the Petite Places: Nativity.  Obviously not having that set (yet!), I had to improvise, and used the same basic layout as Melissa's but did mine in a Halloween theme.  Take a look:

I used Petite Places: Spook Manor stamp set all along the bottom of my card...for such small stamps, there sure is a LOT of detail packed into this tiny stamp set!!  Just above the this I stamped repeatedly using the "trick or treat" from the Keep it Simple: Halloween stamp set in Smoky Slate ink, and then placed a banner stamped in black over the lighter gray.  I used a piece of black dotted DSP for the top half, and added the ghosts from Haunted Borders between the DSP and trick or treat words.  I added a sheer white ribbon with an orange button and bakers twine to finish off the top half.  Here is Melissa's Christmas card:

Isn't it beautiful?!!!  I can't wait till my order comes and I can make my own card like this!!  I just love all the detail Melissa puts into her cards!!

If you'd like to play along with this challenge, you can find all the information right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!! :0)

Merry Monday #171 - Sentiment in the Spotlight

Hello friends.  The challenge this week at Merry Monday is to make your sentiment the spotlight on your card.  Well, that couldn't have been better timing for me as I just got a new stamp from Penny Black called Heavenly Love.  Take a look:

This single stamp basically does all the work for you, so this was an easy card to make!  I used my SU! markers (Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Real Red & Cherry Cobbler) directly to the stamp, misted very lightly with water, and then stamped on my white layer.  I layered with another piece of Cherry Cobbler cs and then layered that to a white card base.  A couple rhinestones and a few white sequins finished this quick and easy card. 

You can find all the information to play along, and also check out all the beautiful inspiration right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!! :0)

Fall or Halloween???

Hello friends.  I have another "two-fer" for you today, using PTI's Scene It: Hallows Eve dies.  Because I wanted to get more use out of these dies than just Halloween, I had to think a little bit outside the box, and came up with this cute Fall card:

I only used the top 2 pieces of the die and cut them out each twice, using Old Olive and Soft Suede cardstock.  Instead of using the moon piece of the die, I used a Lil Inker's Stitched Circle Die and used an ink blending tool, Tumbled Glass Distress ink, and a cloud template to make my sky.  The leaves and flowers are from the Polka Dot Parade #6 stamp and die set (PTI).  A little hard to tell in the first photo, but I Wink of Stella'd the leaves quite heavily, so IRL this card has a lot of sparkle. :0)  My sentiment is from Melissa Phillip's Choose Joy stamp set.

For my next card, I used the die as it was intended...for a Halloween card!

 
This time I did use the moon piece of the die and colored it with Scattered Straw and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks.  I added the haunted house from Petite Places: Spook Manor and stamped it in Smoky Slate and Wisteria Wonder inks, and then colored in the windows with some of the Spiced Marmalade ink to look like the reflection of the moon showing through.  I also stamped a few of the bats from the stamp set and added my sentiment from Halloween Treats and Sweets (PTI).  A few black sequins and some bakers twine finished off my card.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Definitely Dahlia

Hello friends.  Playing with a new (to me) stamp and actually have 2 cards to share with you.  (as Darnell would call it: a two-fer!!)  I love BIG stamps that cover most of your card front, so when I saw the Definitely Dahlia (SU!) in the new catalog last June, I knew I had to have it!  But then it sat there as I just wasn't sure what to do with it.  Most of the samples I had seen done with it were all monochromatic, and while pretty, I felt like I was totally copying everyone.  Then it hit me yesterday what to do with it!  Take a look:

 

  

Didn't that turn out SO cool looking?!  I used some of my small PTI ink cubes and added the ink directly to the stamp starting in the center and working my way out.  I used Scarlet Jewel, Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, and Summer Sunrise inks, and then lightly misted the stamp with water before stamping on to my cardstock.  Absolutely LOVE all those colors together.  I added a simple large sentiment (Think Big Favorites: # 22 - PTI) and layered it with a card base and layer of Scarlet Jewel cardstock.  Quick and simple card!

Couldn't stop at just one though, so decided to try some bluish green colors next, and this one came out much more muted, but I still like it. 

Didn't this one turn out neat too?!  I used Tropical Teal, Ocean Tides, Hawaiian Shores, and Aqua Mist inks for this one.  Finished this one by turning it vertical and trimming off a bit on the right side and adding a strip of light gray striped DSP.  The sentiment is from WPlus9's Hand Lettered Hello.  Also added a few white sequins to add a bit of dazzle! :0)

 Playing along for the first time with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog, where they're asking for you to use a rubber or clear stamp on your card (this stamp is definitely red rubber!).  A couple days left if you'd like to play along, and you can find all the info right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Ink Layering

Hello friends.  Last week Jennifer McGuire had an amazing video on Ink Layering that I finally had a chance to try out yesterday.  I love to learn new technique's, but I'm not always so good at following directions!  Well, maybe it's not the following directions part so much as trying to be clever and add a little something extra in...sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't!!  My first try didn't work!!

When you look at this card, it's not a bad card, but it doesn't show the ink layering that Jennifer taught in her video.  Why??  Because I tried adding in an extra element...the background script.  My second try came out much better:

Can you see the leaves in the background now?  I definitely stamped the leaves in white on the first card too, but because of the script, and also the lighter color stripes I think, you couldn't see them.  Leaving off the script background, and using brighter and bolder colors made the leaves pop out!  I used the leaf stamp from PTI's Songbirds stamp set, and stamped them with Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink.  I used one of the stripes from my NBUS Plaid Builder (PTI) and stamped over the white leaves with Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, and Rich Razzleberry inks.

I'd like to insert here a very BIG THANK YOU to Darnell for having her NBUS challenges!!  Without you Darnell, my pile of unused rubber would be growing out of control.  I still have enough that I could probably fill one of your whole challenges all by myself, but I don't want to be greedy and take over.  Just PLEASE keep having these challenges so I can get to some of this stuff!! :0)  Like the Plaid Builders set that I HAD to have...can't even remember how long I've had it now and have yet to build a plaid background with it!  But it did make amazing stripes, so it's all good! :0)  And who knows, maybe someday it will actually get used to make a plaid background...miracles do happen ya know!! :0)

If you've got some time, grab a cup of joe or a diet Coke, and head on over to Darnell's blog and check out some of the amazing cards in the gallery...you won't be disappointed!! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Just A Note

Hello friends.  Just a quick post today, but wanted to share a card I made with some left over flowers that I had made for this weeks Make it Monday challenge and my new (to me) Fancy Tea Cup die.  Take a look:

I used the same Memory Box stencil that I used for the MIM challenge on my background (hey, it was still laying out, so.....) with Sahara Sand so it would coordinate with the Something Borrowed DSP (SU!) that I used for the top layer of the tea cup.  The back layer of the tea cup is silver mirrored paper and when the sun hits it just right, it really shines!  The flowers are from Mum's The Word (PTI) and I used Canyon Clay, Summer Sunrise, Rich Razzleberry, Simply Chartreuse, and Ripe Avocado inks.  A Rich Razzleberry cardbase, some bakers twine, and a few sequins finished off my card.

It just hit me that I could enter this into Darnell's latest NBUS challenge, as my teacup die has never been used before.  I have sooooo many NBUS stamps though, that I will have to make another card for this challenge so that some of these poor neglected stamps get some love!!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!!



 

Make It Monday #223 - Camouflaged Pocket Inserts

Hello friends.  Playing along with Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday challenge, and this week Dawn is showing us how to camouflage a pocket insert on our cards.  One of my all time favorite Fall sets to use is Mum's The Word, so that was my starting point for my card.  Take a look:

I used a Canyon Clay base, and then stenciled (Memory Box - Diagonal) on a cream layer, the pocket, and the tag (Tag Sale #8) with a sponge dauber and Canyon Clay ink.  I stamped and fussy cut my flowers from Canyon Clay, Summer Sunrise, and Lemon Tart inks, and the leaves (Meadow Greens) with Simply Chartreuse & Ripe Avocado.  The Birthday Wishes is also from Meadow Greens and the flourishes on the tag and card are from Autumn Adornments.  A scrap piece of ribbon and twine, and a few rainstones finished this fun card!

You can check out Dawn's lovely cards and video right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Ho, Ho, Ho

Hello friends.  Playing along with several challenges today (don't ya just love it when one card fits more than one challenge?!!), where using a holly and coloring are the criteria for our cards.  I have always loved House Mouse stamps, and am basically CASEing a card by Carol.  I used a different embossing folder for my background, and left the "Ho, Ho, Ho's" that surround Maxwell.  Take a look:

Basically a very simple red and white card.  I used my Copics to color Maxwell (E00, E02, C1, & R29), and used a holly embossing folder (The Paper Studio) for my background.  A little bit of glitter for his hat, and a little bit of red and white bakers twine, finish off this quick and simple cute Christmas card.

I'm entering this card to the following challenges:

 

 

Merry Monday
 

 

 

HLS Christmas
 

 

 

HLS CAS

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!! :0)

Addy's 1st Birthday - The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Hello friends and Happy Labor Day!  We celebrated our granddaughter's 1st birthday this weekend, and one of her favorite books right now is The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Even though she was much more interested in the tissue paper and envelopes than the gifts or cards, I had fun making my interpretation of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Take a look:

I started with a watercolored background using Brusho's.  If you've never used it before...fun, fun stuff!!  I think it's a bit pricey for a set with lots of different colors, so I just ordered the individual containers of the Cobalt Blue and Purple, so I could try them out to see if I would really use them!  (I've ordered 4 more colors since then!) Jennifer McGuire and Catherine Pooler both do great videos on how to use these intense color crystals if you're interested.  But anyway, I just wet my watercolor paper and sprinkled on the Brusho's and watched the beautiful color appear!  My next step was making the caterpillar, and for this I used the resist technique (see my tutorial HERE) with Versamark and Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, and Festive Berries Distress Inks, along with a dot stamp from Polka Dot Basics (PTI).  I used a small Spellbinder's circle die to cut out all the circles for the head and body of the caterpillar.  The branch behind the caterpillar is a die cut from the Songbirds collection (PTI)...did you notice the little holes the caterpillar ate through on the leaves?  The sentiment is from Big Birthday Wishes (PTI), and inside sentiment is Penny Black. 

I'll leave you with a few pictures from the party, as yes, I am a proud grandma!! :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)