Fresh Bouquet

Hello friends.  Things have somewhat gotten back to normal since the holidays, and I finally had a chance to play with PTI's Fresh Bouquet.  Melissa Phillips made a set of cards (HERE) that I absolutely fell in LOVE with and just had to CASE. 

I used a SSS Gingham background stamp with Lilac Grace, Aqua Mist, & Lovely Lady inks for the bottoms of my card, and matching card stocks for the die cut sentiments from the Inspired: Hope, Inspired: Faith, & Inspired: Love sets by PTI.  I used the Tag Sale #5 die to put my sentiments on, and then used the stamps and die from the Fresh Bouquet set for all the flowers.  Truly a fun and lovely set to work with!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I wish all of you very happy and healthy New Year!!

Merry Monday Challenge #228 - Anything Goes

 

 Hello friends.  Merry Monday is still on break till next week, but we thought it would be fun to have an "Anything Goes" challenge this week, where you can post your favorite Christmas card from 2016, or maybe even create a new card from one of the challenges we had this past year that you didn't get a chance to play in.

Here's a card I made that I really liked, but just didn't fit any particular challenge:

I had a background leftover piece using Alcohol inks and Yupo paper that was just to pretty to throw away, and it fit perfectly to place my die cut Nativity from Penny Black.  A simple square stitched die frame in white framed it and my sentiment is from PTI's Stained Glass stamp set.  So easy, and it all came from scraps...gotta love that!!

We hope you'll ALL come play along with us this week and show us your favorite card from 2016 (or a new one!)!!  You can play along right HERE.

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

 

Papertrey Ink Dec. 2016 Blog Hop

Hello friends.  Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family & friends!  It was a fun filled 3 days of celebrating for me and my family, but I'm ready to get back to "normal", like playing along with Papertrey Ink's monthly Blog Hop!  Another fun and colorful inspiration photo this month to inspire us along:

The colors reminded me more of a birthday celebration than Christmas, so I went with the colors and used the new Celebrate Big stamp set for my card:

I used the Noted: Scalloped A2 Vertical Dies for my card base and top layer, and then die cut the "Celebrate" from the top layer piece.  I used Hibiscus Burst to blend the ombre color onto the die cut, and then inlaid it back in to the top layer.  I die cut the little banner flag from Aqua Mist and then heat embossed the pole in gold.  Here's a closer up photo for you to see this better:

I also die cut the flag streamers and stamped them with New Leaf, Limeade Ice, & Aqua Mist inks.  The little stars were stamped in Buttercup Yellow.  I also added a few matching enamel dots, a few sequins (to give the party effect, ya know?!!), and a piece of pink bakers twine and some gold thread at the top.  It's a small little set, but I think it packs a BIG punch for a birthday card...or other BIG celebrations too!  :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!  And now I'm off to see how everyone else was inspired by this months inspiration photo.  You can too...right HERE.

Christmas Prayer Boxes

Hello friends.  Hard to believe Christmas Day is almost here!  Are you ready or still charging full steam ahead to finish everything?  I'm getting there...shopping done, gifts wrapped, cards made and sent out, and most of my projects completed.  One of my BIG projects this season was to make 10 prayer boxes for my dear, dear lady friends I do Bible study with on Thursday mornings.  When I saw Amy Sheffer's post (HERE) about what prayer boxes were, I knew I had to make them for these 10 special ladies!  Of course it probably would have helped if I had started earlier, but my good friends Birgit and Sue have been pushing me on, and I finally finished them this morning! 

Here they are all cut out (just cutting ALL the pieces was a time consuming task in itself!) and I'm in the process of gluing on all the window and door pieces.  Remember there are 10 church buildings I'm making, and each church has 7 windows and one door, so that's 80 windows and doors to glue on!  I used PTI's Tiny Town: Church dies to make these prayer boxes.

Here they are after all the trim pieces were glued on and all flower swags (7 for each church) were stamped over each window and door using a tiny leaf branch from PTI's Birds & Blooms stamp set.  I also stamped and fussy cut a little wreath from SU!'s Holiday Home and then used re-positional tape to attach them to the top round window. (I wanted the ladies to be able to take the wreath off after Christmas so they could still leave it out and use it year round.)  Next came all the folding, attaching. and assembling.  There's nothing hard about making these prayer boxes, but they are time consuming when you make this many at once!

Once they were all assembled, I decided they still needed something else...so I added the window boxes out of Basic Gray cs to match the roof panels, and then added the flowers from Real Red cs.  These dies are part of the PTI Tiny Town: Sweet Shoppe dies.  Next came all the little cards (2 1/2 X 2 1/2) I stamped using PTI's Choose Joy stamp set so that prayer requests can be written on them.  (I made 10 for each church, so that was 100 little cards I needed to do)  Next I added the cards to the bottom of each church building and then added a clear bag filled with silver, red & green kisses...I was hoping the shiny colored foil would look like stained glass through the windows...not so much but I know the ladies will like the little extra treat.  :0)  After they were all stuffed and tied shut, I kept thinking they still needed something...I know, I know, I make it harder on myself than I need to!  But I decided that the steeples needed to be bright and shiny silver, so I die cut 10 of just the top part of the die and added the silver steeples...PERFECT!

Definitely a lot of work, but a true labor of love as I know the ladies are going to love these and USE them!  I truly believe in the POWER of PRAYER, and these pretty little church boxes will remind each of these special ladies to daily pray for those in need.

I wish each and every one of you a most wonderful and blessed Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!  Merry CHRISTmas! 

  

Merry Monday #227 - Holiday Cheer

Hello friends.  Less than a week till Christmas...are you ready?!  Nina is hosting our challenge this week at Merry Monday, and she would like to see some Holiday Cheer on your cards.

I used PTI's Cuppa Love stamp and die set to create my mug that is filled with peppermint hot cocoa!  Take a look:

I used Crumb Cake and Soft Suede inks to stamp and sponge on my mug and then added the holly die cuts from PTI's Shaped Sayings: Christmas.  Hard to tell in the photo, but I WOS'd them so they're really sparkly IRL!  The tag die cut is part of the Cuppa Love set and I stamped it with PTI's Tag-its #9 stamp set.  My background is plaid DSP from SU!'s Warmth & Cheer pad and I embossed it using SU!'s Cable Knit EF.  It sure has been Wintery here in Michigan, so a cup of Holiday Cheer sounds real good right now!!  :0)

Looking forward to seeing what all of you come up with for this weeks challenge!  Check out all the fabulous inspiration from my team mates right HERE and then play along with us!  :0)

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

CAS Watercolour December 2016

Hello friends.  Playing along with the CAS Watercolour challenge today, where they are asking us to use the watercolour resist technique.

The watercolour resist is a fun technique, but the real challenge for me is to keep the card CAS!  Loll and the DT members always make this part of the challenge look so easy, but I admit I struggle with that part!  I just want to fill the whole card up...grrrr!  But anyway, after playing around for awhile, I think I came up with a CAS card using PTI's What The Doodle: Snowflake set.  Take a look:

  

I started by embossing in white SU!'s En Francais background stamp on a piece of Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock and then watercolored it using Peerless Sky Blue watercolor.  For the double snowflakes, I also embossed those in white and then used water and my Zig markers to color them up.  Really love the way these colors blended together!!  I mounted my background piece to a layer of black and then layered that to a white card base.  The snowflakes were pop dotted and then I added the sentiment, with the word "wonderful" embossed in white on a black strip of cs.  It's different than most of my cards, but I think I like it!  And it's my first card to put away for next years stash, as I mailed out all my cards this week...YEAH!!  :0)

There's still time to play along with this challenge, so make sure you check out all the beautiful inspiration from Loll and the DT team right HERE and then play along.

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

Merry Monday #226 - "Winter Fun"

Hello friends.  Merry Monday has a fun little challenge for you this week with Lori as our hostess, and she would like to see some "Winter Fun" on your Christmas cards.

I am so totally hooked on MFT's Polar Pals stamp set lately, and the image of the bear ice skating seemed like a perfect one to use for this challenge!  I used to love ice skating as a child, and have lots of fond memories of going to Mulik Park ice rink with my girlfriend Kathy and skating away an afternoon.  My dad tried a few different times to make an ice rink in our backyard for my brothers and I, but could never quite get it smooth enough to skate on...my brothers piled up snow to make a hill next to it though, and then would slide down it and across the ice.  Oh the fun memories!  :0)  But back to the card:  I used Copics that I matched up with my Perfectly Plaid paper from Lawn Fawn to color the Polar bear (C1, C3, C5, BG13, RV34, & R27), and then used MFT's Die Namics Stitched Mini Scalloped Rectangle dies to cut out my main layer and also a Bermuda Bay layer, before attaching to the plaid layer and white card base.  Some white bakers twine and a simple little tag from PTI's Tiny Tags finished off my "Winter Fun" card.

Can you believe it's less than TWO weeks till Christmas?  If you're not done with those cards yet, let us help and pull out some of those "Winter Fun" stamps and play along with us.  You can find lots more "Winter Fun" inspiration from my Team Mates and how to play along right HERE.

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

 

Have a Beary Good Birthday

Hello friends.  Just a quick post today with a fun little card I made for my little brother's birthday tomorrow using MFT's Polar Pals set. 

I admit that I have fallen head over heels in LOVE with the facial expressions on ALL the bears in the Polar Pals set...they just crack me up and I think my brother will get a kick out of them too!  I embossed the bear in black and then lightly outlined him with a C1 Copic, and colored in his scarf with a B95 and YG05 Copics.  After fussy cutting him out I pop dotted him to a blended background using Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord, Salty Ocean, & Faded Jeans distress inks (yes, I'm kinda hooked on this color combo for backgrounds!).  I also embossed in black the mountains from PTI's Warmest Wishes stamp set before pop dotting my polar bear image.  The sentiment from the Polar Pals set was stamped on a banner from PTI's Tag Sale: Quilted Set.  I know this card is going to my brother, but I just couldn't help myself adding the sequins...hopefully he won't notice!!  :0)

That's it, that's all folks for this week!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  We have our first family Christmas get together and they're predicting lots more snow...sure hoping they're a little bit wrong so traveling's not an issue!!  I love getting together with my mom's side of the family...I have GREAT cousins that I really enjoy getting a chance to get caught up with!  Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!

 

CAS Mix Up December Challenge

Hello friends.  Playing along with this months CAS Mix Up challenge, where "sponging" is the main technique they're looking for.

I love to sponge backgrounds with distress inks, so this was a fun challenge for me!  Here's what I came up with:

I started by sponging my background with Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord, Salty Ocean, & Faded Jeans distress inks, and then added water splattering, and also a bit of splattering with white acrylic paint and gold Adirondack Alcohol ink.  I also sprayed the whole background with Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Spritz...if you click to enlarge the photo, you'll get a better view of how shimmery this background really is!  After everything dried, I added a die cut snowflake frame...I would love to tell you who it's by, but it was given to me by my dear friend Birgit...I'm guessing Memory Box??  Now I realize it looks like I didn't add any stamping to this card, but my sentiment started out being stamped in Delicata Golden Glitz ink using PTI's Wet Paint Holiday Collection.  I then die cut it and made a mess because I was too impatient to let it dry enough first...grrrr!  So to try and save it, I stamped it again with the Delicata Golden Glitz ink (it's a pigment ink) and then embossed it with gold embossing powder.  A nice save, but I could have saved myself a lot of time by simply die cutting the sentiment from some gold cardstock!  Oh the things we do sometimes as stampers!!  Anyway, I really like how this card came out in the end and hope you do too!!  :0)

You can check out all the beautiful cards from the Design Team and the other players in the gallery right HERE.

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

Make It Monday #269 - Embossed & Outlined Backgrounds

Hello friends.  Playing along with Betsy and this weeks Make It Monday challenge, where Betsy shows how something as simple as outlining an embossed image with a Copic marker can add such dramatic depth to your card.  I would have loved to use the same snowflake set as Betsy, as her card was so lovely, but decided to try out the What The Doodle: Tea Time stamp set, as I have not had a chance to use it yet. 

Now I realize I didn't quite follow the directions, as my outlined image is more the focal point than a background image, but I still like how this turned out!  I embossed my image in white and then blended Lovely Lady, Hibiscus Burst, & Raspberry Fizz inks over it.  I used a Copic RV04 to outline the tea cup and heart and I really do like how it makes the image pop!  I added a small strip of striped DSP to the edge of my card and then added my die cut sentiment from the Big Hugs stamp and die set.  A few sequins and my card is ready to send out to my girlfriend who just had her 2nd hip replaced (she's only 52!!).  This was definitely a FUN technique and one I will be using again!

You can check out Betsy's video and lovely card right HERE.

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

Merry Monday #225 - A Candy Cane Christmas

Hello friends.  Linda is our hostess this week and she would like to see you use a candy cane on your card this week at Merry Monday. 

Isn't that such a pretty inspiration photo?!!  Here's what I came up with using SU!'s Candy Cane Lane DSP (LOVE this paper!!) and a tent fold card:

I apologize about the poor photo quality...who knew such a fun little tent folded card would be SO hard to photograph!  I wish I could take credit for this card, but I did CASE Dawn Griffiths card HERE.  Super easy card to make following Dawn's instructions and oh so cute IRL!  I used my sentiment from Catherine Pooler's Candy Cane Lane stamp set as I thought it fit perfectly with this card!

Can't wait to see what you come up with this week using a candy cane.  Only 3 weeks left till Christmas friends, so let us help you get those cards done!!  You can check out all the inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and then play along right HERE.

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

 

Birgit, Patti, and Marcia's Monthly Challenge - Holiday Greens

Hello friends.  This month will be a little different as it is just Birgit and I...Patti is continuing to heal and taking off this month.  I hope you will all join Birgit and I in sending lots of prayers Patti's way for a complete (and hopefully quick) recovery!  Also, because it is a crazy time of year for most of us crafters, we will be taking next month off, and then hopefully all 3 of us will be back in January!  :0)

Birgit and I both fell in LOVE with Dawn McVey's Holiday Greens set this Fall, and decided this would be a great one to challenge ourselves on for this month.  I only have 3 cards for you this month, but I'm really happy with the way they turned out!  (Now if I could only be happy with the way I photographed them...none of the sparkle showed up, so just try to imagine all three of these with a little sparkle and shine to them!)

My first card is a take off of one of Melissa Phillips cards (HERE)...I loved her layout and just changed up my colors and sentiment.  I used a SSS Gingham background stamp with Scarlet Jewel ink for the bottom third of my card, and then stamped, die cut, and embossed the 3 layers at the top using the Holiday Greens images.  My sentiment is from Neat & Tangled Bright Baubles. 

This is the card I really wished would have photographed better, but there just isn't a lot of sunshine in Michigan during the Winter months.  The pine branches in the background and the holly leaves are all WOS'd to the hilt and it just looks so pretty IRL!  The ferns are embossed in white on Smoky Slate cs and then die cut.  I used Basic Gray (SU!) cs for the bottom layer and also sponged the edges with Basic Gray ink.  The berries and the pinecones are all stamped on Smoky Slate cs.  The sentiment is also from Neat & Tangled Bright Baubles.

My last card uses PTI's new Leaf & Sprig Frames and I just love the look of this die added to a card.  I used Olive Twist cs to cut out the frame, and then started building my card around it.  My sentiment comes from the Inspired: Jesus stamp and die set, and I die cut the Jesus 3 times and then blended Pure Poppy and Scarlet Jewel inks over the top one.  The fern from the Holiday Greens set was embossed in clear and then I sponged over it with Spring Moss and Olive Twist inks.  The 2 die cut sprigs in Saffron Spice are from last years Spruce & Sprigs set.  Here's a closer up view:

I really LOVE the colors in this card, and can't believe that when Saffron Spice first came out, I didn't like it!  What was I thinking?!!! 

I hope I've inspired you to take this set out and stamp up a few lovely cards with it...if you need more convincing, please head on over to Birgit's blog as I just know she will once again blow us away with her creative talents!!

We LOVE to hear from you, so please leave us a comment and tell us what you liked (or didn't like) about our challenges each month!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!!  :0)

 

Make It Monday #268 - Double Layer Tags

Hello friends.  Playing along with Dawn McVey (YEAH...she's back!!) and this weeks Make It Monday challenge where Dawn shows us some assembly line technique's for making double layered tags.  If you've visited my blog recently, you know I'm all about making tags at this time of year, so this was a FUN challenge for me!

I made a set of 4 tags using Tag Sale #3, #5, & #8 dies, Pure Poppy & White Basics Paper Collection, and the Make It Market Mini Kit: Holiday Folk, Polka Dot Basics, and Season's Greetings stamp sets.

My color theme is traditional reds and greens (Pure Poppy & New Leaf inks), so these tags will look great on my packages this year.  Super FUN and Super EASY to make...might just have to make a few more!!

Make sure you check out Dawn's cute, cute tags and her video right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I'd love it if you come back tomorrow for Birgit and my monthly challenge (Patti is off this month to finish healing!) where we'll be showcasing PTI's Holiday Greens stamp set.  :0)

 

Merry Monday #224 - Masculine Christmas Card

Hello friends and welcome to another Merry Monday challenge.  This week Kathy is challenging us to make a masculine Christmas card, and that was a challenge for me!  I tend to struggle with any type of masculine card, and this was no exception at first!  But I persevered and was happy with what I came up with!!

And here's what I came up with:

I started by blending a few TH Distress Inks together for my background....Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans, & Chipped Sapphire.  Next I used my MISTI to stamp just one side of Penny Black's Woodland Wonder stamp to the right side of my top layer.  I had to stamp it several times to get a complete coverage of the black...gotta LOVE the MISTI in times like this!!  Next I stamped my sentiment from Penny Black's Yuletide Wishes stamp set and then added a deer die cut from PTI's In the Meadow set.  I layered my top layer to a black layer and then both of those layers to a white card base.  Not my usual Christmas card, but I think it will work perfectly for a masculine Christmas card!!


Only 4 weeks left till Christmas my friends, so let us help you get those cards done!  Come check out all the FABULOUS masculine inspiration we have for you this week, and then join in the fun!  You can check it out right HERE. 

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

25 Days of Christmas Tags - Days 20, 21, 24 & 25

Hello friends.  I have LOVED playing along with Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags challenge, and so wish I had had the time to play with every days challenges, but I think I was able to do a little over half, so not too bad!  Today I'm finishing up with days 20, 21, 24 & 25.

Day 20 sponsored by Sunny Studio and Altenew

I was inspired by Tracey's tag and all her colorful lightbulbs...since I don't have a light bulb stamp I used an ornament stamp from MFT's Santa's Elves.  I embossed in black and colored with my Copics.  The black tags were embossed in white with a sentiment also from the same set.

Day 21 sponsored by Waffle Flower

I was inspired by Channin Pellitier's black with white embossing tags and I must admit also by my good friend BIRGIT, who used MFT's Santa's Elves on her tags...it was just SO cute I had to CASE!!  I used SSS Gingham background stamp and embossed with white onto 2/3 of my black tag, and then added the little elves from MFT's Santa's Elves.

Day 24 sponsored by Pretty Pink Posh

I was totally inspired by Lisa Elton's star tags and just had to CASE these also!!  I die cut my stars from red glitter cardstock and then added my embossed and Copic colored snowmen from Pretty Pink Posh's Happy Snowman set.  I also added a few glittered up snowflakes die cut from IO.

Day 25 sponsored by Jillibean Stamps

Fell head over heels in love with Amy Sheffer's adorable house tags and was totally inspired by the non traditional Christmas colors!  I made one with Smokey Slate cs and one with Basic Gray cs, and love them both...which color background do you like better?  I embossed the houses in white using a stamp from PTI's Winter Hill's and then made a banner tag for my sentiment and stamped in Real Red ink using Catherine Pooler's Candy Cane Lane stamp set.  I also added a few Hawaiian Shores snowflakes from IO.

The 25 days are over now but there is still almost a week to play along with this great challenge!  Even though I didn't have time to play along with each days challenge, I have LOVED looking at all the fabulous tags created by the designers for their respective companies...they ALL really knocked it out of the park this year with their creativity!!  A BIG BIG thank you to Tracey McNeely for all her work (and beautiful tags!!) putting this challenge together...well done Tracey!!

You can check out all the beautiful tags from the designers and from all the players in the gallery right HERE.

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