Make It Monday #289 - Building Wreaths With Small Images

Hello friends.  Lizzie Jones has a wonderful tutorial on this week's Make It Monday challenge over at Papertrey Ink.  It's all about using some of the smaller images in your stamp sets to build a wreath, and because wreath's generally involve flowers, I got all excited!!  Until I saw Kim Heggins and her fabulous wreath made with Summer images that is!  Her fun wreath got me thinking that maybe I need to think a little more "outside the box" and try something different!  So with the 4th of July approaching, I thought maybe a star wreath might be the way to go...

I used a lot of different star images from O'Tannenbaum, Winter Hills, & Warmest Wishes, and a small leafy image from Birds & Blooms to create my wreath on a piece of white cardstock that I had first stamped with Weathered Wood Distress Ink and a SU! Hardwood background stamp.  I stamped my stars in Americana, Enchanted Evening, & Weathered Wood inks.  I used my new To The Point Edger's to die cut the bottom portion of the stamped layer, and then added another die cut layer of Americana cardstock again with the To The Point Edger's.  I stamped the bottom portion of my card base with the Americana ink and a SSS Gingham background stamp.  I bought the Americana ink and cs when it first came out and this is the first time I've used it...what was I thinking to wait so long as I really love the color after making this card?!  Anyway, I added some bakers twine and my sentiment banner (Butterfly Hope), and thought to finish it off I would add some WOS to a few of the stars...bad decision!  BAD DECISION!!   I don't know what it is with WOS, Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens, or even glue and glitter AND red ink, but the red bleeds every time for me!  And why I didn't think of that before I added it this time, I'm not sure, but all I know is that my pretty card turned into a hot mess!  So back to work I went and re-stamped the whole card (because of course nothing came apart with out ripping!!) and added little diamond gems to some of the stars this time for my sparkle.  Here's a close up:

 

It was worth the time to re-make as I think it turned out really pretty, and will definitely brighten up my dear friend Nora's day, who is battling her 3rd year with ALS now.  She is such a trooper, and even though she's deteriorating at such a fast speed, she always has a smile and a kind word (through her ipad...she can't speak anymore) for everyone!   For those of you who believe in the power of prayer, please lift Nora up as she continues this battle...thank you!

Still lots of time to play along with Lizzie's fun challenge, so check out her video and beautiful card and then play along...you can check it all out right HERE.

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

Merry Monday #254 - Moose

Hello friends.  Lori is our hostess this week at Merry Monday and she would like to see a MOOSE on your Christmas card!

Isn't that moose just so cute all tangled up in the Christmas lights?!!  When I went looking through my stash of a bazillion Christmas stamps, would you believe I couldn't find a single MOOSE stamp?!!  So, like any self respecting stamper, I went shopping!  It was hard, but I did it!!  :0)  And actually found an older and adorable stamp set from SugarPea Designs called Moosing You and came up with this:

Isn't he just a happy looking dude?  I colored him with my Copics and then layered him on a SU! Circle Framelit along with some glittered snow banks, a lightly blended blue sky, and a few pine trees that were included in the stamp set.  My plaid DSP is SU! and the sentiment is from the stamp set also.

If you need more inspiration, make sure you check out all the cute, cute cards from the DT right HERE, and then play along with us.  We will be taking a short Summer break here at Merry Monday after this week, and then will be back on September 4th.  For those of you who love making Christmas cards all Summer long (I do!!), we will have a Summer Link Up starting July 3rd, so stay tuned!

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

Papertrey Ink June 2017 Blog Hop

Hello friends.  It's the 25th and that means it's time for Papertrey Ink's monthly blog hop!  Nichole has a beautiful ombre inspiration photo for us this month...

I was totally inspired by the teal colored jar and the peachy colored flowers, and while the photo is showing roses, I just HAD to play with my new Humming Along set and the pretty Petunia's!

I started by blending my card front with Tropical teal, and then added some water splatters that I mostly covered up when I added the Mix & Mat: Flourishes frame over the top.  You can enlarge the photo by clicking on it to see a few of the splatters closer up if you'd like.  Next I stamped and cut my peachy colored Petunia's (Bellini, Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise, Aqua Mist, & Ocean Tides inks) and then added to the bottom corner of my white frame...love how they pop against the white and ombre teal!  For my sentiment I heat embossed in white on my black banner (Banner Style), sponged the edges with white ink to give it a bit of the chalkboard style, and then adhered it to my card front along with a few iridescent sequins.

 
Can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with for this one!!  You can check it out and play along right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by and a special thanks to all who leave comments...I love hearing from you!!  :0)

Wedding Wishes

Hello friends.  Playing along with two challenges today:  Double D - Anything Wedding and CAS Watercolour - Summer.

Since June has long been considered Wedding month, and Summer makes me think of flowers, I figured these two challenges would definitely work together!  I also had been wanting to try a water color technique that my friend Colleen tried and loved by Laurel Beard, using Zig Clean Color Real Brushes...so these two challenges worked out for me to come up with this:

I kept my card very CAS so the focus would be on the lovely flower from PTI's Especially You.  I embossed my image in gold and then literally scribbled with my Zigs over it!  Yep, scribbled!  It was a hot mess!  (darn, should have taken a picture at that point!)  The magic happens when you spritz the image with water and the color starts to spread...so fun to watch!  After patiently waiting for it to dry, I fussy cut it out.  I added a simple gold frame (PTI - Cover Plate - Pretty Frame Die) to coordinate with the gold embossing, and then added a simple sentiment from PTI's Spring Woods.  I will definitely be trying this technique out again...fun, FUN!!

The CAS Watercolour challenge ends tomorrow (24th), so not much time left to play in that one, but the Double D - Anything Wedding goes until July 2nd, so plenty of time to play along yet.  And lots of BEAUTIFUL inspiration to be found from both DT's and players in their galleries!

Edited to add:  Also going to add this to The Challenge #88 where they have some challenge words for you to pick from to design your card...I chose Flowers, Bright, & Watercolor.

 

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

Make It Monday #288 - Pantone Chip Inspired Cards

Hello friends.  Lexi Daly is up with this weeks Make It Monday challenge over at Papertrey Ink and it's a FUN one!!  Lexi's video and cards are all about Pantone Chip inspired cards, which is apparently a new art form that I was completely unaware of!  I loved Lexi's cards though, and had fun browsing through the link for more inspiration on Pinterest.

Rather than doing a small chip card, I went for the larger style that Lexi showed with her flip flop card, and came up with this:

I used the Cover Plate from Bitty Butterflies and Raspberry Fizz cardstock...I know, I know, it looks more like a cross between Hibiscus Burst and Berry Sorbet cardstock!  It really is Raspberry Fizz though...sometimes even natural sunlight can do strange things to colors!!  I sponged all the butterflies with Raspberry Fizz ink before gluing them back into their cutouts to give them a little bit more definition, and then used just one that I had smooshed with ink so it stood out a bit more.  My bottom piece I stamped with gray and black using Wonderful Words: Hello.  This really was a fun challenge and I loved learning and doing something new!

Lots of time left to play along with this challenge, so check out Lexi's fun and beautiful cards and video and then play along right HERE.

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

Merry Monday #253 - Bears

Hello friends.  This week at Merry Monday our hostess Linda is asking for us to use a BEAR on our Christmas cards.

Kinda hard not to love a challenge that involves something as cute as a bear, isn't it?!!  I still smile every time I pull out MFT's Polar Bear Pals stamp set...the faces on those bears just crack me up!

I started with a piece of kraft cardstock and stamped 3 of the Polar Bear images in Soft Suede ink (so technically they're not Polar Bears, but Brown Bears!), and then masked them off so I could stamp my trees.  (Deep Red - Winter Pines)  I used a few Copics to color the scarves (R29 & G05) and an E31 to do a little shading on the bears.  I used HA Unicorn Pigment Ink and a sponge to add some snow to the bottom of my panel and then mounted to a Cherry Cobbler and kraft card base.  Some bakers twine and a Tiny Tag (PTI) and also a few wooden stars (also PTI) finished off my card.

Check out the rest of the inspiration from the DT and then play along with us right HERE.  We'd love to see what you come up with using a BEAR image on your Christmas card!  And remember that Merry Monday will be taking a short break for the Summer (July & August), but will return the beginning of September.  So play along with us this week (and next!) and get a head start on those Christmas cards...December will be here before you know it and you'll be so glad you worked ahead!!

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

 

CAS Mix Up June 2017

Hello friends.  Playing along with this month's CAS Mix Up challenge where using embossing pastes/gels are the theme for your cards.

This seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to try my new jar of Glass Bead Glitter Gel (Faber Castell) which I've had for awhile now, but for some reason was just too chicken to try out!  Ever get that way with something new?  I can get so intimidated at first, but then after trying it out, I'm like "why haven't I done this before now?!  This is SO fun!!"  And of course this time was NO exception!  Take a look:

I apologize for my poor lighting, but you probably would have needed sunglasses for this card if it had been sunny out when I took my picture!  I kid you not, the sparkle on this card is unbelievable!  It far outshines any type of glitter, WOS, Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens, etc.!  I started by blending lightly some Tiara ink (Catherine Pooler) on a piece of TH Watercolor paper, and then used a TH Bubble stencil and blended the same ink a little more darkly over that.  I left the stencil in place and then used the Glass Bead Gel, pulled the stencil off, and then left it to dry.  The more it dried, the sparklier (is that a word??) it became!  I kept the rest of the card very simple and just added a stacked (5 layers) Daisy die cut (Penny Black - Bashful) and embossed sentiment (WPlus9 - Hand Lettered Hello).

I'm hoping this card qualifies for this challenge as there really isn't any stamping on it, unless you count stamping the sentiment with Versamark ink before embossing it.  Oh well, if not, I still had fun trying something new and ending up with a card I really like!  Other than the no stamping part, there is stenciling, Glass Bead Gel, die cutting, & embossing on this card.

One more week to play along with this challenge (ends the 24th), and there is a ton of beautiful inspiration over on the CAS MIX UP site, so check it out and play along!

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

 

Create Along With Us - June 2017

Hello friends.  Playing along with Papertrey Ink's release week challenge Create Along With Us.  Once again, so many beautiful cards I would've liked to re-create, but when it came right down to it, color was what swayed me and I couldn't resist another one of Dawn McVey's lovely creations!  Here is her card:

And here is mine:

I was drawn to the yellow (Harvest Gold) paired up with the blues and greens...so striking!!  I like the way Dawn used the new To The Point Edger Dies on her card much better than mine, but since I had to improvise with some square dies, this was the best I could do.  I liked how much more white space was available on Dawn's card so her flower design didn't take over like my leaves (Leave It Be) did.  Oh well, it's only temporary till I can order, and I still like this card anyway!  The colors are just so bright and cheery and I love the sentiment from Phrases & Praises.  Some thick bakers twine and a few Rainstones finished off my card.

You can check out all the lovely inspiration from the DT and the gallery too, right HERE.

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

CAS watercolour June 2017 - SUMMER

Hello friends.  Playing along with this month's challenge over at CAS Watercolour where the theme is SUMMER!

I have two CAS (with the emphasis on SIMPLE) cards to share with you today.  I started with some TH watercolor paper and used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi water colors to lightly add some sand and water.

Once my cardstock was dry I used a stiff bristle brush dabbed into the light brown water color I used to add some dimension to the sand.  I added a die cut frame (MFT's Peek-A-Boo Window Frame) over the top and then added a starfish die cut (Gina Marie Designs) that I distressed with some Antique Linen ink and a sentiment from PTI's Winter Woods.

My 2nd card is exactly the same but with a different die cut.

 

This card shows a little more sand than water, and added a bright red crab die cut...also from Gina Marie Designs.

So which one do you like best?  Part of me likes the crab one best because of the pop of red color, but another part of me really likes the calm and tranquil look of the starfish card.  I live in West Michigan and am only about an hours drive from Lake Michigan, which is kind of like our own ocean.  As a young girl and even as a young parent, we spent many, MANY fun filled hours during the Summers at Lake Michigan...wonderful memories!

As always, you have until the 24th to play along with this month's CAS Watercolour challenge, so check out all the beautiful inspiration and then play along right HERE.

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

Inspired by Kreative Kristie

Hello friends.  I have lots to share with you today after a very productive weekend in my craft room with the newest SOA (Stamp of Approval) box!  Boy did I have fun, and it was all inspired by one card from Kristie Goulet!!  Check out this BEAUTIFUL card of hers!!

Don't you just love her CAS design and the gorgeous sunset and silhouettes?!  I was totally blown away by this lovely card and had to try one of my own!

I am head over heels in love with the Wild Garden stamp set that came in the SOA box...it is just full of beautiful images to use as silhouettes!  Creating the blended backgrounds has always been a favorite technique of mine and Kristie nailed it using the blended background and silhouettes together!  And if you've never tried Catherine Pooler inks before, it's a definite MUST!!  Her inks remind me a lot of the new DOX (Distress Oxide Inks), but in much brighter hues than the more earthy tones Tim Holtz uses.  CP inks blend SO smoothly and seamlessly that you just can't mess up when using them!  And because they are so easy to use, I had to make a few more:

 

Aren't they so prettyful (as our middle daughter used to say when she was young!)?  For my first card and all of these, I simply used post it tape on the top and bottom of my card fronts, and then blended away using a variety of different CP ink colors.  Once I removed the post it tape, I just lined up my images in my MISTI and stamped away on each of my rainbow colored cards.  Easy peasy and came up with these:

These 4 cards all used sentiments from previously released SOA boxes.  After adding the sentiments, I simply added some black bakers twine and a few iridescent sequins to finish them off.  Forgot to mention that I did do some water splattering on all the card fronts before I started stamping all the images...LOVE the look the splattering gives!

I used the last 4 to make sympathy cards as I'm always being asked for them and then never have any on hand when I need them!

These 4 cards all used sentiments from different PTI sets.  (Hint, hint Catherine...we need a sympathy sentiment set!!)  I finished off these the same with the black bakers twine, but left off the sequins.

I also have one more card I had to CASE of Kristie's.  Here is her lovely card:

She once again used the Wild Garden set for this card and I just LOVE the way the green pops with the black!  Here's my version using pink and black:

I am also so in love with the font of the "best" sentiment in the Simply the Best stamp set that is included in this latest SOA box!  (The box sold out in a matter of hours, but CATHERINE will have the individual stamp sets available in her online store down the road!)  Love how this card turned out with the pinks, and I'm thinking it would look pretty cool with yellow and black too!

Thank you SO much  Kristie for ALL the inspiration you made from this latest SOA box...I will be happily creating for weeks and months to come because of you and all the other DT members too!  :0)

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

Merry Monday #252 - Inspiration Photo

Hello friends.  Kathy is our hostess for this weeks Merry Monday challenge, and she has a beautiful inspiration photo to challenge us all with.

Isn't this a GORGEOUS photo?!  I was inspired by the Mason jars, the greenery, the ornaments, and the vintage-y feeling to it, and came up with this:

I started with some beautiful DSP from Carta Bella called Christmas Wonderland and then just started adding images to my Quart Jar (PTI).  The greenery is from PTI's Spruce & Sprigs stamp set, and the ornament and pinecone are from SU!'s Ornamental Pine set.  My sentiment is from Penny Black's Yuletide Wishes set.  A jute bow and a couple enamel dots finished off my card.

Can't wait to see what YOU come up with this week using the lovely inspiration photo!  Check out all the DT's amazing cards for more inspiration and then play along with us right HERE.

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

Make It Monday #287 - Baby Wipe Inking

Hello friends.  Ashely is hosting this weeks Make It Monday challenge and showing us a few different ways to use baby wipes in our inking up of backgrounds.  Fun and easy...definitely will use these techniques again!!

I started by smooshing my background piece with some Aqua Mist re-inker on my craft mat, and then when dry, tried Ashley's technique of scrunching up a baby wipe and dipping it into Aqua Mist and Hawaiian Shores inks that I had put on a clear block.  I ended up covering up a lot of the background with the rest of my card, but if you enlarge the photo, you can see it better!

I used the Mix & Mat: Flourish die to cut a piece of white to add my flowers (Some Like It Hot) onto, and then also added my sentiment banner (Just Desserts) over it.  A few enamel dots finished off my card.  Really like the way this background turned out and think it adds a nice backdrop for the rest of the card.  Thanks Ashley!!

I FINALLY made a coin purse!!  I have had the coin purse die for a looooong time and never done anything with it till I saw MARYBETH had made a couple using felt backed material (The Felt Pod) and absolutely fell in love with them!  Had to order some of the material and then re-watched ERIN LINCOLN'S video, and voila!  Easy peasy!!

 

Even putting the 4" zipper in was easy!  And this material is so cool...does NOT ravel!  Can't wait to make some more now!  Thanks Marybeth for inspiring me!!  :0)

Make sure you check out Ashley's beautiful cards and great video and then play along right HERE.

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

 

Merry Monday #251 - Monochromatic Blues

Hello friends.  Welcome to another Merry Monday challenge where this week Debbie is asking for a Christmas card done in Monochromatic Blues.

Here's what I came up:

The Joyfully Announcing (by Morningstar Stamps) stamp was one of my very first Christmas stamps when I first started stamping back in 1999 and still continues to be one of my favorite stamps!  I absolutely LOVE the idea of sending out birth announcements welcoming the birth of our Savior!!  :0)  I used Night of Navy ink to stamp the sentiment and then used Blueberry Sky ink to stamp the Holy Family (Stampendous) over the sentiment.  I used a SU! (Pine Bough) embossing folder on my top layer of Night Of Navy cardstock and then cut out an oval window for the images to show through.  A few blue and clear sequins finished off my card.

Make sure you check out the rest of the DT's inspiration and then play along with us.  Can't wait to see a gallery full of Monochromatic Blue Christmas cards!  Check it all out right HERE.

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