Little Shepard Boy

Hello friends.  I know it's not even Halloween yet, but I've got Christmas on the brain!  Yes, I've already started listening to Christmas music, started my shopping, and am totally into making Christmas tags and cards right now!  Hopefully this means I'll be ready when Christmas gets here, right?  RIGHT???

The card I'm sharing today uses a stamp that I found in the bottom of one of my drawers, and I don't have a clue who the manufacturer is.  If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.  It's red rubber, so I know I've had it for quite a while!  But anyway, I think it turned out quite cute, so take a look:

Isn't that such a sweet image?!  I simply stamped it with Memento black ink, and then colored with my Copics.  The background was done with distress inks and a blending tool.  The sentiment is from PTI's O Holy Night stamp set (LOVE this set!!!).  I mounted this layer to a white card base and then added a bit of Wink of Stella to the star.  Easy and one layer to boot! :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a great weekend! :0)

October Rudolph Days - Tis The Season

Hello friends.  It was actually snowing this morning in my neck of the woods, and while my dogs love it, me not so much!  However, it seemed an appropriate day to share a snowman card with you, since I do LOVE snowmen!  And these 2 will definitely make you smile!!  Take a look:

Are these 2 not just the cutest?!!  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that this is another NBUS stamp from Impression Obsession that I've had for well over a year and that this is the first time it has seen ink!  This card was so quick and easy though, that I think I'm going to have to make a few more!  I stamped it with Memento Black ink and then colored with my Copics.  The sentiment is from PTI's Season's Greetings, and then I simply layered it with a piece of Real Red cs onto a white card base.  Added a little glitter and called it good! :0)

Found a new Christmas card challenge through Bonnie Klass called Rudolph Days  where anything goes as long as it's Christmas, so I think these little cuties are going to get linked up there. :0)

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

Make it Monday #228 - Pearlized Blending

Hello friends.  Lizzie Jones is up this week at Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday challenge, and she shows us how to do pearlized blending with Perfect Pearls and inks.  Really cool technique and I had a lot of fun with this one and the new Spruce & Sprigs stamp set.  Take a look:

I did mine a little bit differently than Lizzie in that I used a separate piece of cardstock to do my blending on first.  I used Simply Chartreuse and Ripe Avocado inks blended together, then stamped the holly leaves in Versamark and heat embossed with clear.  Then I added another layer of Versamark and applied the Perfect Pearls before using my dies to cut them out.  I wasn't sure I liked the color at first, because I was expecting more of the deep green I had after blending the 2 inks together, but the more I looked at them, the more they grew on me!  They're more of a champagne goldish color, if that makes sense?  I die cut the spot I wanted the leaves to be out of my top panel after stamping my sentiment (O Holy Night) and then attached the top layer to my card base and finished stamping the rest of the spruce and sprigs so they overlapped onto the card base.  My last step was to inlay the holly leaves and pop dot the berries.  I really like the CAS look to this card, and of course the shimmer of the pearlized holly leaves and berries.  This is a great stamp set and I know I'm going to get a lot of use from it year after year...it's a classic!! :0)

Make sure you check out Lizzie's great video and card right HERE and then play along...fun, fun and beautiful technique!

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

Tag You're It Challenge #33

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Tag You're It! Challenge today, where Kara Lynne has a fabulous candy corn tag to inspire us!

CAS and oh SO cute!!  Everything about this tag inspired me, so I took off with the colors and of course, the candy corn!  I've had PTI's Candy Corn Collage Die for quite awhile now, and had never used it, so thought this would be a good time to break it out!  Take a look:

Please excuse my photographic skills and the cats double tail (because of the shadow)!  I started by using the "smooshing" technique for my background with Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise, & Orange Zest inks to imitate the candy corn colors.  Then it was a simple addition of the collage die cut out in white, the addition of the cat (PTI die), and the sentiment from PTI's Halloween Treats & Sweets.  Quick, easy, and fun and will make a great addition to my granddaughters Halloween bucket I'm putting together. :0)

There's still time to play along, so check it all out right HERE. 

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

Papertrey Ink October Blog Hop

Hello friends.  It's my favorite time of the month...the 25th!  So sit back and get comfy because I got a little carried away with the red and green Christmas inspiration photo that Papertrey Ink provided for this challenge.  I went with tags instead of a card this month, as I sell and use a lot of them at Christmastime.

The Christmas ornaments in the photo made me think of the Bokeh technique, so that's where I started.  Take a look:

I covered a piece of white cs with Peeled Paint and Fired Brick Distress Ink, and then stamped with Polka Dot Basics and Fresh Snow ink.  Then I embossed with black different sentiments from Season's Greetings.  Some seam binding ribbon and twine finished off these quick and fun tags. (Tag Sale #5)

Next up I played with my Brusho's and the Enclosed: Bell die and stamp set:

I used Crimson Brusho's on watercolor cardstock and then cut out the solid bell shapes, and then used Scarlet Jewel cardstock to cut out the top die cut.  I also ran the edges of this piece against my Versamark pad and lightly embossed in gold.  I used the Enclosed: Bell stamp and dies for the holly leaves and sentiments. 

And of course I HAD to try out the new Spruce & Sprigs stamp and die set...absolutely LOVE how these tags came out!!

I cut my tags from the Tag Sale #3 die and Pure Poppy cardstock, and then stamped different sentiments from the new O Holy Night stamp set in black ink towards the bottom of the tags.  Then the fun began with stamping and die cutting all the different Spruce & Sprigs images in the different shades of green and red and arranging them on the top of each tag.  I think these turned out so elegant and can't wait to place them on some of my gifts this year! :0)

And last but not least, I had a great time making some tags from the new Warmest Wishes stamp set.  I kept them very simple and just love how they came out.

Isn't that bear with his sweater just the cutest?!!  I used the Tag Sale #3 die again for my tags, and then embossed the tree image in white, and then painted with my Aqua Painter and New Leaf ink.  I stamped the sentiment in Pure Poppy.  Next I stamped the bear and his sweater and then fussy cut him out (I was too cheap to buy the dies!) and pop dotted him to the tag.  A tiny button and bakers twine finished off this set of cute, cute tags! :0)

Thanks for sticking with me through this loooong post!  You can check out all the rest of the inspiration right HERE.  Have fun blog hoppin!! :0)

Birgit & Marcia's October Challenge

Hello friends.  BIRGIT and I have been challenging ourselves each month for a while now with ideas that make us think outside the box or are new and different for us.  Birgit loves all things vintage, and a while back she sent me some absolutely beautiful vintage clippings that she collects online.  We decided for our challenge this month to combine some of those vintage papers and the season of Autumn for our cards.  I really like how both my cards came out, and I'm sure Birgit is going to WOW you with her creations too.  So let's get started!!

I wish I would have taken pictures of the papers before I started adding to them so you could see what I started with, but that would have required thinking ahead.....  Anyway, this piece looked like a vintage French postcard with a little cluster of light pink roses down in the right hand bottom corner.  Since we are trying to add Autumn to our cards too, I fussy cut out a bunch of fall colored mums using PTI's Mum's The Word to cover the pink roses.  Before adhering the mums, I stamped the larger fern from PTI's Meadow Greens several times in Old Olive ink and also a little twig branch from PTI's Twig Wreath in Early Espresso ink.  My sentiment is from PTI's Autumn Adornments and was stamped in Soft Suede ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  I sponged the edges of this panel with Tea Dye distress ink before adhering it to a kraft card base.  I finished it off simply with a narrow seam binding ribbon on the side.  This one really came together quite quickly, and as much as I like this card, it's my 2nd card that I really liked...in fact I already gave it away to a good friend at bible study for her birthday.  Take a look:

This card doesn't say Autumn to me the way my first card did, but I just really , really like the vintage feel to this card!  The bottom half of the card is from the piece that Birgit sent, and again, it was in kind of a French post card format.  I tore off the top half of the paper to give it that torn look, and then stamped the top half of my card base with a Heidi Swapp background stamp with Smoky Slate ink.  After adhering the bottom half of the vintage paper down, I sponged the whole card front with Tea Dye distress ink.  I die cut the leaf branch in black from PTI's Songbird dies and then added a bird that I stamped and fussy cut from Penny Black's The Sweetest Sound.  My sentiment is from PTI's Beautiful Brushstrokes Sentiments stamp set.  I also added some gold ink splatters over the whole card and a few gold sequins along with a piece of black twine to finish off my vintage birthday card. 

This turned out to be such a fun challenge and I'm so grateful to Birgit for sending me these images to play with.  Thank you, thank you dear friend...you really are the best!! :0)  And don't forget to visit BIRGIT'S blog to see what she has created for our challenge...I know you won't be disappointed!! :0)

And thank you loyal friends and fans for going along on this stamping journey with me these past 3 years...I treasure each and every one of you!  And really love it too when you leave comments to let me know how I'm doing...it makes my day to hear from you! :0)  Thanks again for stopping by and have a great weekend!

HLS October Christmas - Poinsettia

Hello friends.  This month at Happy Little Stampers, the theme is Poinsettia's.  Fell in love last year when PTI released their Painted Poinsettia stamp set, so that was my starting point for my card today.  Take a look:

 

For the flower, I used Brusho's Crimson, and rather than wetting my watercolor paper and then sprinkling on the powder, I misted the stamp first, and then sprinkled on the powder...does NOT work!  Thought I was being really creative, but it just made a muddy mess, and totally stained my stamp.  So I misted my stamp quite liberally and there was still enough color on the stamp that it stamped pretty well that time. I do like the way it looks now, but I wouldn't recommend that way of stamping it to anyone!  I added the veins in Cherry Cobbler, stamped the leaves in Old Olive and Always Artichoke, and then fussy cut them out.  I used a couple scraps of DSP for my Fancy Tea Cup die (PTI), and then mounted the flower and tea cup onto a layer stamped with SU!'s En Francais background stamp and Delicata Golden Glitz ink.  I also embossed with clear embossing powder the background and my sentiment too.  A layer of the gold cardstock (same as what's behind the tea cup) was also put behind the script background to ground the panel from the card base.  Really like the delicate and elegant look to this card! :0)

 

    

 

There's still a little over a week to play along in this challenge, so break out those Poinsettia stamps and start stamping those Christmas cards!  You can see all the great work from the design team and other players in the gallery right HERE.

 

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

Make It Monday - Focal Clusters

Hello friends.  Playing along with Lexi Daly and this weeks Make it Monday challenge, where Lexi shows us some great tips on making "focal clusters" with different stamps sets on our cards.  I loved Lexi's card, but I can see where more graphic images would work better than all my "flowery" images that I'm so fond of!  But anyway, I did have fun laying out different stamps from In The Meadow, Winter Hills, & City Scenes and arranging and rearranging.  And now as I'm sitting here looking at my card, I'm thinking I might have missed the whole point of this challenge, as I did not focus all my stamps into one main cluster...oooops!  Oh well, I like my simple card!  Take a look:

I think I should have used less stamps and put them all into one area of the card, but I think I got so excited after lining up my City Scenes perfectly on my MISTI, that I forgot about what I really was supposed to be doing.  So be it...it is what it is! :0)

Make sure to take some time and watch Lexi's video and then play along.  You can find all the info right HERE.

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

Merry Monday #176 - Frame It

Hello friends.  Playing along with Merry Monday and this week the challenge is to use a frame on your Christmas card.  I have a very simple card to share with you, but I really love how it turned out.  Take a look:

I started with a white card base and then colored it with Distress Inks (Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, & Concord Grape) before stamping my image (Stampendous - Silent Night) in Memento Black Ink.  I did use my MISTI on this as the image is larger and I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss any of the branches.  Next I added a simple white frame using one of my Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangle dies.  I finished with some snow dots using my white gel pen.  Easy peasy!! :0)

You can check out all the great cards and info to play along right HERE.

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

Trick or Treat

Hello friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend!  Ours was pretty laid back, so was able to spend a good bit of time in my craft room! 

I've always been a big fan of the House Mouse stamps, and when I saw this Halloween one, I had to have it!  It's called Monica Butterfly.  Take a look:

Isn't she a cutie all dressed up in her butterfly costume?  I colored Monica and her treat bucket with my Copics and then mounted her on a card base covered with DSP (from my scrap basket) and the spider web die cut (SU!).  My little tag is a die cut from Lawn Fawn and then I stamped the sentiment from PTI's Halloween Sweets & Treats with Versamark and heat embossed in white.  I also Wink of Stella'd the butterfly wings, so it's pretty shimmery and sparkly IRL.  A couple orange sequins finished off my card.  I think this card might be going to my granddaughter Addy, but we'll see! :0)

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

Merry Monday #175 - The Moose Is Loose

Hello friends.  This week at Merry Monday the challenge is to use a moose on your Christmas card...unfortunately I don't own a moose stamp.  Good reason to go shopping right?  RIGHT?!!!  Sadly, we only have Michael's and Hobby Lobby for buying actual stamps, and neither one had a moose stamp...grrrrr!  Thought I wouldn't be able to play this week, but while looking for something else, I found some sheets of cardstock where I had stamped a bunch of this really cute MOOSE...oh yeah, happy dance!  If I remember correctly, my cousin Sue had brought the stamp over when visiting a few years back, so I stamped a bunch and then forgot about them...so sorry Sue!!  Anyway, I don't know who the manufacturer is, but he sure turned out cute!  Take a look:

I used SU!'s Hardwood background stamp with Soft Suede ink on kraft cardstock for my background, and cut out a circle using my Lil Inkers Stitched Circle Dies.  Cut out another circle die with white cardstock and then sponged it with Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, & Stormy Sky Distress inks.  I also used my white gel pen to add a bit of snow in the sky.  I used my Copics to color the moose and then cut him out and pop dotted him to the inlaid circle.  I used Glossy Accents on his nose and Wink of Stella on his bow; both of which did not really photograph well and look so much better IRL!  I also added some red & white baker's twine that I twisted around his antlers, because while he looks like a happy moose, he doesn't look all that bright!  The sentiment was die cut from PTI's Just A Little Something and then stamped with PTI's Fillable Frames #9.  Forgot to take a picture of the inside, but I had also stamped a whole sheet of the "Merry Christmoose" sentiment, but the font was too big to use on the front of my card, so I just used it inside.

Time really is running out, so if you'd like to get a head start on your Christmas cards, hop on over to the MERRY MONDAY blog and play along.  Tons of great inspiration this week from the design team and players, so what are you waiting for????

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

Create Along With Us - October 2015

Hello friends.  It's release week at Papertrey Ink, so that means it's time for Create Along With Us.  I have been absolutely blown away by all the inspiration this month at PTI, but one that really caught my eye was the small (4Bar size - 4 7/8 x 3 1/2) set of thank you notes Lizzie Jones made using the new Fair Isle Borders stamp set.  I don't know if it was the size, the stamping, the colors...I just know I loved the whole set, and could definitely use some thank you notes to have on hand after holiday gift giving.  Obviously not having this new stamp set, I turned to Fair Isle Motifs, and absolutely love what I came up with.  Take a look:

I changed up the colors from Lizzie's, and used Tropical Teal, Aqua Mist, and Pure Poppy, and then just had fun creating with the different stamps in this set.  Here's closer up views:

My "thank you's" are all from Keep it Simple: Thank You.  And I made matching envelopes too:

And because 4 wasn't enough and because Darnell challenged me, I made a 5th one using the Plaid Builders:

I had only used this set for stripes so far (only had this set for almost a year now...how sad is that??!!), so Darnell challenged me to use the set for what it was intended for...thanks Darnell!!  I kept with the same colors and now it looks like it belongs with my set. :0)

Here's Lizzie's set of cards:

 You can check out all the inspiration from the design team members and the others playing along with this challenge right HERE.

And because this post doesn't have enough pictures already, I'll leave you with a couple more that are sure to make you smile:

 



 

My mom, daughter Caitlin, and I took my granddaughter Addy to a petting zoo and pumpkin farm yesterday and had SO much fun watching everything through her eyes!  Grandkids are simply one of God's sweetest gifts, aren't they?!!! :0)

 

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



Tree Poem

Hello friends.  Sorry I've been missing for a few days...my mom had surgery last week and I was her nurse for awhile.  She's 83 years young and did great, but I didn't get much stamping done!  I do have a card I made a few weeks ago that I haven't shared yet, called Tree Poem from Stampendous.  Take a look:

I used Tea Dye and Dusty Concord Distress Inks for my background and then stamped the tree (and poem) in Memento Black ink.  The part that my photo didn't capture was the Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist I sprayed the card with that gives it a really shimmery look.  It reminds me of early evening when the sun is going down...very soft and golden.  I matted with black and kraft cardstocks, and then tied a bit of cream colored twine at the fold.  I didn't add a sentiment, and left the inside blank, figuring I can use this one for many different reasons as they come up.

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

Merry Monday #174 - Java Time

Hello friends.  Playing along with Merry Monday today, and this weeks theme is to make a coffee related Christmas card.  NOT a coffee lover!  Love the way it smells, but the taste is SOOO different.  I always loved Laura Bassen's comment about coffee tasting like "hot dirt"! :0)  But anyway, I really like how my cute little card came out, and I will send it to someone who enjoys a good latte!  Take a look:

My little peppermint latte was stamped using an IO stamp that I water colored using Real Red, Pool Party, and Baked Brown Sugar (SU!) inks, a couple Copics for the pine twig and whipped cream, and some red stickles for the berries.  The word background was stamped with a Penny Black stamp called Christmas Story and distressed a bit with some Tea Dye ink, and the sentiment is from PTI - Season's Greetings and was embossed with black embossing powder.

 

 

 

Check out all the great cards by the design team, and the players too, right HERE.

 

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

HLS October CAS Challenge - Paper Piecing

Hello friends.  Playing along with the folks over at Happy Little Stampers today, where the challenge is to use paper piecing on your CAS card.  I had a hard time passing this little guy up from Stampendous and thought he fit the bill perfectly for this months paper piecing challenge.  Take a look:

 

 
I stamped this adorable little guy (Santa Hat Owl) in Memento Black ink, colored him lightly with  a C1 and C3 Copic marker, and then paper pieced his hat with Pure Poppy Bitty Dot DSP (PTI).  I used a  Pumpkin Pie marker (SU!) for his beak and added some Dazzling Diamonds for his hat brim and pom pom.  I also used a Spellbinders oval die to cut him out and then inlaid him back in just to give a little simple visual contrast.  Thought about adding a sentiment to the outside, but decided against as I really like just the CAS look to this card...and the hat says it all anyway! :0)

You've got almost the whole month of October to play along, so check out what the design team and players have created and play along.  You can find all the info right HERE.

Also entering this in Simon's Wednesday Challenge which is also CAS Christmas.  You can check it out HERE.

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

Make it Monday #226

Hello friends.  Playing along with Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday challenge today, where Laurie Willison shows some great techniques for working with stripes.  I loved her tip about running your fingers over your stamp first before inking it to get some of the oils from your skin on the stamp to get a cleaner stamped image...it really works!!  :0) 

I basically used Laurie's same layout for my card, and just switched out the colors to make mine a Fall thank you card.  Take a look:

I am still loving the Pumpkin Patch stamp set (PTI), and did a bit of the rock n roll technique with the same ink colors I used for my striped background (Background Basics: Super Stripes - PTI).  After fussy cutting my pumpkins out, (I masked the 2 in the background and pop dotted the 3rd one) I adhered them to the striped panel, and then stamped my sentiment along the angled top (Keep it Simple: Thank You - PTI).  Colors used in this card were: Pure Poppy, Canyon Clay, Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold, Classic Kraft, Fine Linen, Spring Rain, & Soft Suede.

Make sure you check out NICHOLE'S blog to see Laurie's great card and video, and to see lots of striped cards! :0)

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

Snow Bird

Hello friends.  A few weeks ago LeAnne had posted a card for the Merry Monday challenge using  Snow Bird by Stempendous, and it was one of those "I HAVE to have that stamp!!" moments.  Ended up finding it at Amazon (along with a few others!) and had fun watercoloring it, and almost completely CASE-ing LeAnne's card.  Take a look:

I used my Aqua Painter with Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, & Pool Party inks, and then also a black Zig water color pen for the top and crest of the bird.  I also used a C1 Copic marker for the shading on the top of the berries where the snow is and then also Wink of Stella'd the snow too.  I embossed in silver the sentiment from PTI's Christmas Blessings.  A pretty simple card, and that birdie is so doggone cute I may have to make a few more of these! :0)

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