12 Kits of Occasions June 2020 - Love Is In The Air...

Hello friends.  Hard to believe another month has gone by in this year already, isn't it?!!  June has typically always been a BRIDES/WEDDINGS month, and our sweet hostess Michelle has put together a beautiful kit for us this month at The 12 Kits of Occasions celebrating all things LOVE.

Michelle's kit was so thoughtfully put together and I was able to create 5 cards and a couple tags so quickly and still have plenty of supplies left over to make lots more!  (I'm always inspired by my team mates, so I've learned not to use the whole kit at once so I can CASE the other gals!!)

Michelle had a whole panel stamped and embossed in bright gold that I had to play with first, and since she had used a larger square envelope to send some of the kit elements in, I decided to use that and make a square card to match....

I used a SU! embossing folder for my background and also the envelope flap, and then cut out the gold embossed tree and sentiment and layered it with the blue cs Michelle included and also some gold mirror cs I had on hand.  Had to decorate the envelope and also the inside of the card...

Easy peasy and I have a very elegant card to use for the next wedding I go to!

I just LOVE the flowers that Michelle stamped and die cut, and thought they looked perfect with the lacey background paper she included.  I die cut the white oval frame from my stash (Pinkfresh Studios) and layered it on top of the dsp and gray card base, and then added the flowers and the small ribbon wrap from The Greetery's Fit To Be Tied set.  I think this card would be perfect for wedding, anniversary, or bridal shower.

This card would work for a wedding or anniversary too, but I was thinking bridal shower when I made it because of the soft pink color.  Lots of Greetery goodies on this card plus some of the sparkly clear sequins Michelle included that have no holes in the centers...I love them!!  :0)

I thought this card would work well for an anniversary card and I think it took me a whole of 10 minutes to put together!  Michelle stamped the pretty pink flowers, and then I made a frame using the piece of cardstock that Michelle used as a folder to hold all the goodies she sent in this kit.  I used PTI's  Pierced Feature Frames dies to cut out the frame and added foam tape to the back, tied a piece of the yellow & white bakers twine that Michelle used to tie the folder together around the side of the frame, and then added a small tag (PTI).  Another easy peasy and done card.

Michelle included this beautifully stamped background from The Greetery's Print Shop: Fresh Floral Background Stamp and all I did was adhere it to a gold layer and white card base, and then add the sentiment, some gold thread, the die cut flower, and a few more sequins from the kit.  This card will definitely be for a wedding!

Michelle also included a couple tags, and of course being the tag lover that I am, these were the FIRST things I worked on!  The "happy" tag is obviously not for a wedding, but I already have a recipient in mind for this tag, and couldn't resist blinging it up with a few more of the lovely sequin mix that Michelle included.  The other tag could definitely be used on a wedding or shower gift.

And here they are all together, and I couldn't be happier to have a stash that I can use for weddings, anniversary's and bridal showers.  Thank you Michelle for such a BEAUTIFUL kit...it was a true joy to work with it!  And now I'm going to hop along to the other gals sites to see what they came up with using this same kit, and you can too by clicking right HERE.  You can also click HERE to find a full list of all the supplies that Michelle used in her kit.

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

A Mondo Holly Christmas

Hello friends.  Just a quick post today, but wanted to share a card I made with Ellen Hutson's Mondo Holly that my sweet friend Bobby shared with me.

Don't you just love it when an image is SO big it takes up the whole front of the card?!!  Bobby sent this image already die cut, so I just water colored it using my Aqua Painter and ink from the inside lids of my stamp pads (SU!).  I used Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Real Red & Cherry Cobbler.

My background is a new SU! embossing folder Old World Paper and I love the vintage look it gives this card.  I finished with a black mat and white card base, and also some copper cording and little star tag (PTI - Tiny Tags).  Very CAS and I just love the way it turned out!

I'm sharing this card with the June Rudolph Days Challenge where it's Anything Goes Christmas.

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

Just For Fun Part II

Hello friends.  Just another fun post to show you what I've been working on from watching Gina K videos on Monday and Wednesday nights, from ZOOMing with a few of my local Stampin' Up friends, and from using some new products from The Greetery (you may have already seen these if you follow me on IG).  I'm one of those who hasn't ventured out yet, so yes, I do have plenty of time to stamp!  :0)

This card came from watching one of Gina K's videos where you use a dark piece of cardstock, a blending brush, and old eye shadow makeup, and then stamp your images with Versamark ink.  Such a FUN technique!!

My sweet friend Birgit said EVERYTHING looks good in a Mason jar, so I thought why not pinwheels?!!

These pinwheels from The Greetery are addicting and sure make for FUN cards!!  :0)

Another of Gina's fun videos where she blends using a circle mask and then stamps using silhouette images.  I took to this technique like a duck to water...as you can see from the following photos!

I make a lot of my cards for a program called Smiles For Seniors (cards for nursing home residents), and since I had so much fun ink blending with silhouettes, I did a little assembly line stamping and quickly made 8 more cards to add to my seniors box.

From one of my ZOOM nights where we did a Mystery Card...we were given the dimensions for cardstock and dsp to have ready before we met and then were given directions the night of to make the actual card.  A little hard when you don't see the actual card ahead of time, so there's a lot of "winging it", but it was still fun!!

This was another ZOOM meeting project where you take a piece of white cs cut at 10 1/2" x 8" and then score lightly down the middle of both the 10 1/2" side and the 8" side.  Then you start stamping in the center and go around in a circle...almost like you're creating a wreath.  Then you cut on your score lines to come up with 4 card fronts that you attach to card bases.  It looked like a hot mess before I cut it into fourths, but I actually like how it turned out once finished!  Here's a link if you're interested in watching the video on how to do this: Split 4 Stamping

This card came about from another Gina K video where you used colored pencils on kraft cardstock.  I've never been a fan of using colored pencils until I started watching Gina's videos...she LOVES using them and now I have to admit that I'm enjoying coloring with them too, and I really like the look on kraft cs also!!

Two more blended cards (told you I was hooked!!!) using warm colors rather than the bright colors of the previous cards.

YAY...you made it through my whole post!!  Thanks for sticking with me through it all!!  A little side note here:  have any of you tried using the new blogger yet?  I tried to do this post using it, and ended up having to revert to the legacy format as it was putting my photos in places I didn't want them and no option (that I could find) to remove them so I could try again.  I'm not sure I like all the symbols instead of the actual words either...just seemed to make everything harder (for me) than easier!  I guess I really am getting old...if it's not broke, don't fix it!  Anyway, just my 2 cents worth!!

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

Inspired By...fresh morning

Hello friends.  Hope you are all doing well and that your mojo is hanging in there too!  I have good days and some not so good days when it comes to my mojo, but the new Inspired By challenge really got me going!

The turquoise and coral colors were what stood out to me the most at first as I LOVE those two colors together!  Then of course the black & white in the rug and throw, and the mimicking stripes in the shutters spoke to me, and just the whole Summertime vibe of the photo!  With all that in mind, here's what I came up with:

Can never have enough birthday cards on hand, so I used The Greetery's Lemmon Blossoms and Birthday Blooms stamps sets, along with an older PTI embossing plate to make my card.  I stamped and fussy cut all my images from the Lemon Blossoms set and die cut the "birthday" from the Birthday Blooms set and then arranged it all on the embossed white layer using the embossing plate.  Here's a closer up so you can see the background better:

I know it's in a chevron pattern, but the chevrons are in rows which reminded me of the shutters and the stripes on the rug...especially once I matted it with a piece of black cs.  Pretty CAS but I think it makes for a great summertime birthday card.

There's LOTS of great inspiration from the DT to get your mojo going (if you need it!), so check it all out right HERE and play along.  

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

CAS Mix Up June 2020 - Embossed Vellum

Hello friends.  I'm playing along with the current challenge over at CAS Mix Up and this month they are looking for EMBOSSED VELLUM.

I received an embossing folder for my birthday back in February from my sweet friend Birgit that I had not used yet, so along with some heavy weight vellum from PTI and the new embossing folder, I came up with this card...

I wish I could tell you the name of the embossing folder, but unfortunately I threw the packaging away without thinking about it, and now I have no idea!  Grrrr!!  But anyway, I love the look of these blooms (Hibiscus maybe??) embossed with the vellum...so crisp and clean looking!!  I do have to be honest here and tell you that the first one I embossed I used my Copic markers on the backside to color, and I was NOT happy with the end result at all!!  It looked too streaky!!  So I embossed another one and decided to keep it very CAS!!

I attached the vellum to a top folding white card base just at the corners, and then added a gray embossed frame (SU!'s Subtle embossing folder with PTI's Pierced Frame Dies) so that the whole card wasn't white but the frame is still a neutral color.  I used my MISTI to make sure I got my sentiment straight (Stamp Simply's Words of Encouragement) and then finished with a couple clear sequins.  There's not much color to this card but I think it will work beautifully for a sympathy card.

The DT has so many BEAUTIFUL cards to inspire you this month, so check them all out and then play along right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

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

CAS Christmas Reminder - Bells

Hello friends.  Just a friendly little reminder that there's still time to join us at the CAS Christmas Challenge and our hostess Linda would like to see Bells on your Christmas Cards.

I used an oldie but a goody PTI die... Enclosed: Bell to come up with my CAS card:

I die cut the solid bell from white cs and then embossed it using a Darice snowflake embossing folder. I die cut the bell outline and JOY from brushed silver cardstock and attached to the solid bell shape before adhering to a white panel that I embossed with SU!' s Subtle ef.

I matted with a thin layer of Garden Green cs (SU!) and adhered to a white card base.  My holly leaves and berries were die cut from black cs and then stamped with white pigment ink.  Once the pigment ink was dry I stamped the holly leaves again with Garden Green ink and then used Ruby Slippers Nuvo Drops for the berries.  I love how the holly leaves turned out with the black, white, and green together and then the pop of the red berries. I finished with some real fine silver thread that I tied through the top of the bell.

This challenge is open till the 24th, so if you need more inspiration to get you going, you can check it all out right HERE... we'd LOVE to see you in the gallery! 

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

MFTWSC493 - Have A Fin-tastic Day

Hello friends.  Just a quick post and a quick and easy card for the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge.

Just received my Baby Shark dies yesterday (FAST shipping MFT!!) and had to make a quick card using this week's sketch...

How can you not love a face like that?!!  I die cut his body from some light gray cs and then sponged around him to bring a little definition to him.  The water was done ink blending with Blueprint Sketch and Salty Ocean DOX inks, splattering with some water, and then die cutting with a couple snow hill dies.  I went rogue and ink blended my clouds (MFT Cloud stencil) with pink ink to add a bit more color.  My sentiment is a bit doctored up using MFT's Farm-tastic stamp set where I literally cut the "farm" out of the sentiment and added a "fin" stamp instead.  Both the baby shark and the sentiment strip are on foam tape for added dimension.  I think my grandson is going to LOVE this card!!

You can play along with this challenge too...right HERE.

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

Christmas Kickstart #32 - Care to Tag Along?

Hello friends.  I'm playing along with the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge where this month they would like us to add a tag to our Christmas cards.

I used a fun background stamp from PB (Christmas Story) and a sweet little owl from MFT's Warm & Feathered Hugs to come up with this red & white card...

I stamped my background on white cs with Real Red ink and then used the same stamp embossed in white on Real Red cs before cutting out my tag (PTI's Scalloped Tags Die).  Love the play on play look this gives!  My little owl was Copic colored and die cut before pop dotting to the tag along with a piece of red & white bakers twine and some Dazzling Diamonds for a little sparkle on his hat pom pom.

The tag was also pop dotted onto the background and then all the layers adhered to a top folding white card base.  I thought it still needed a little somethin somethin, so I added a red die cut snowflake from PTI's Fancy Flakes and then called it good!

You can check out Jo's and her sweet elf (The QUEEN of tags!) Tracey McNeely's cards right HERE and then play along to get a head start on those Christmas cards!  This challenge is open till the end of the month.

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

Twofer Challenge #28 - Circles/Bubbles

Hello friends.  It's time for a new Twofer Challenge and this month we're looking for Circles/Bubbles.

As soon as I saw the prompt for this months challenge I knew exactly what I wanted to use...a NBUS die from Memory Box called Loopy Rings that I think I've had for years and years!  So not only do I feel great that this die can be called "used" now, I also have two FUN cards using it!  Take a look...

I used the die cut circles for a birthday card and then die cut another piece just out of scrap cardstock and used it as a stencil for my baby card.

I blended just a bit of Peacock Feathers Distress Ink onto my card base and then added the die cut circles that I cut from Turquoise Sea cardstock (Gina K).  I added a top layer that I die cut a window in (MFT's Rectangle Peek-a-Boo Window), and then added my sentiment from Catherine Pooler's Hook, Line and Sinker stamp set and also pop dotted a fish from Catherine Pooler's Vitamin Sea stamp set.  Hardest part of this card was getting the circles removed from the die without ripping them...sometimes dies with those skinny, skinny lines do NOT like to release well!!

We are expecting our 3rd grandchild in September, and little Miss Addy is going to have a sister and is SOOOOO excited...she wants to name her "Unicorn".  Mom said no.  But anyway, I decided to make a baby card using the die cut piece as a stencil and used a blender brush and Sweet Blush ink to make my background.  I stamped my Lily of the Valley image of the baby first (my FAVORITE baby image to use!!) and then masked her before adding the circle/bubbles background.  The baby's face, hands, and blanket are Copic colored and then her sleeper and cap are paper pieced.  The sentiment is from SU!'s Baby Bear stamp set.  I matted this layer with a piece of dark gray cardstock and then adhered to a white card base.

So there you have it...two different cards for two different occasions using one die!  And I'm ahead of the game with my baby card for when the new grandbaby comes...now I just have to put it someplace safe where I won't forget where I put it!!  What will YOU come up with this month using the CIRCLES/BUBBLES prompt?  We can't wait to see you in the gallery!!  This challenge is open till the 24th and you can check out all the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the DT and our Special GD right HERE.

Edited to add:  I'm also adding this to Darnell's NBUS Challenge #15  because the die I used for both of these cards had never been used before this challenge...grrrrr!  Why did I wait soooo long??!!

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

The Flower Challenge #45 - Navy + One Other Color

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Flower Challenge today where they would like your flower card to use NAVY plus one other color.

I have a twofer for you using the same stamp set...Altenew's Paint-A-Flower: Anemone.  My first card uses a technique Jennifer McGuire calls SPOTLIGHT STAMPING...you can check out her video HERE.

I used my MISTI and Night of Navy ink to stamp the floral image in the center of my card base.  Next I glued down Navy and shades of pink 1/4" strips over part of my stamped image, and then placed it back in my MISTI and stamped again with the Night of Navy ink so that it covered the colored strips.  The trick is leaving your stamp in the same place in the MISTI after you stamp on the card base, and then after adding your colored strips put the card back in the MISTI to stamp again.  Easy, easy technique but really packs a punch IMHO!!  The sentiment is from the same stamp set.

I wish you could see this next card in person...it is so shiny and sparkly, but the camera just did not want to pick it up!  I stamped and heat embossed the same image on Night of Navy cardstock with gold embossing powder, and then painted just the flowers using Lindy's Magical Powders in Autumn Maple Crimson.  The shimmer and sheen of the Lindy's Magical Powders is amazing in real life!!  I matted the image with a piece of gold matte cardstock and adhered both to a top folding white card base.  The sentiment is also from the same stamp set and is also embossed in gold.

And here they are both together.  Can you pick a favorite??  I can't...I'm drawn to the card on the right first off, but all that shimmer and sheen from the card on the left really calls to me!  Guess I'm just a glitzy girl at heart!!  Check out ALL the BEAUTIFUL creations from the DT right HERE and then play along...this challenge is open till the end of the month.

I would like to also add the card on the right to the current Double D Challenge where they would like you to use your scraps...which I did on all my 1/4" strips.

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