Butterfly Kisses

Hello friends.  I had to laugh this week when LINDA posted a card using a Mama Elephant stamp set called Butterfly Kisses, that she had had sitting on her desk for a month and not used...I had that same stamp set sitting on my desk for about a month now too, and had just gotten around last weekend to making a card with it!  I hadn't posted the card I made because I wasn't too happy with it, but told Linda I'd post it so she could see what I had done with it.  So this was my first attempt:

It's ok, but definitely not one of my better coloring projects!  I used my Copics to color the flower and leaves, and some distress ink was blended in the center of the circle.  I really love the sentiments that come with this set, so that makes the card redeemable in my eyes!  :0)

My next two attempts were much better, and I used the emboss resist technique on these:

My second card is pretty similar to my first card...just turned it vertically, used different colors, and changed the sentiment.  The 3rd card I used some patterned paper for the background and the sentiment is from the new SOA box set (the "You" is diecut and the rest stamped). 

I feel much better now that I used this stamp set for 3 cards.  I hate it when I buy stuff and then it sits there and never gets used...grrrr!!  I admit I get too easily sucked in by all the hoopla with new releases, and then just get overwhelmed with too much new stuff all at once and don't end up playing with any of it!  So yes, it is a sickness, but I truly have no desire to be cured!!  :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend to all you moms out there!!  :0)

Merry Monday #203 - Ombre and Glitter

Hello friends.  The challenge over at Merry Monday this week is to use ombre colors and glitter on your Christmas card.  I had just ordered a couple new sets of ink cubes from Altenew, and they package them 4 inks to a set, with the 4 colors being graduated...perfect for the ombre technique!  I used the Green Fields set and used 3 of the shades of green (Evergreen, Forest Glades, & Frayed Leaf) to ink up some white cardstock, and then used a PTI die set called Merry & Bright to cut out 3 trees.  Take a look:

Each tree consists of 4 pieces plus the star, and I mounted them on a MFT's Blueprints #27 stitched and scalloped layer.  The "peace" was die cut from silver glitter paper using a die from PTI's Wonderful Words: Holiday Collection.  This was such a quick and easy card to make, and I really love the CAS look to it!  May have to make a few more of these to bulk up my stash a little!  :0)

Make sure you check out all the beautiful cards from the design team this week, and then play along.  You can find all the details right HERE.

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

Make It Monday #247 - Watercolored Note Cards

Hello friends.  Playing along with this weeks Make It Monday challenge where Melissa Phillips shows us a bit of a different way to make quick and easy watercolored note card sets.  I used the Peonies on Parade watercolor cards for my set, and pretty much CASE'd the rest of Melissa's cards as they were just SOOOO pretty!  Take a look:

I used sponge daubers to apply my ink (Green Parakeet, Amethyst Allure, & Lavender Moon) and then my Aqua Painter to move the color around a bit.  (My first tries didn't work out too well, as I used too heavy a hand with the ink, and then after applying water, it just got too muddy!  I like how it turned out much better when I used a lighter hand with sponging on the ink!!)  I love the Choose Joy set, so used those for my sentiments just like Melissa did.  For my flourishes, I used an older SU! set called Priceless with Green Parakeet and Lavender Moon inks.  For my splatters I used Amethyst Allure ink.  A little bit of striped DSP, Silver Glitter paper, silver sequins, and a seam binding bow on one of them finished up this little trio of cards. 

I also made some matching envelopes using the flourishes for my cards:

This was such a fun challenge to play along with!  You can check out Melissa's video and beautiful cards all right HERE.

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

Tag You're It! Challenge #46

Hello friends.  I am honored once again to be guesting with the fabulous ladies over at the Tag You're It! Challenge.  The challenge this time is a fun one...take a look at the inspiration:

Isn't that just the cutest little tag??!!  I took my inspiration from the brick background and the little gnome holding out the flowers and came up with this:

Since I don't own any gnome stamps (dang it!), I used one of the mice from MFT's Harvest Mouse, and then paper pieced her coat and scarf from some scraps, and colored the rest of her with my Copics.  My brick background was done by inking up the inside of a brick embossing folder and then spritzing it with water before placing my cardstock on it and smooshing it down.  The sentiment is also from the Harvest Mouse stamp set.  A few sequins and some bakers twine finished up this fun little tag.

LOTS of really cute inspiration from the DT members, so check them all out and play along right HERE.

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

April 2016 Challenge with Birgit

Hello friends.  It's time once again for BIRGIT and I to do our monthly challenge, and this month we are focusing on die cuts.  I don't know which one of us has more dies, but I think it's safe to say that neither one of us had a problem coming up with a card or two (or 3 or 4 or 5 or......) using a die cut on it!!  Isn't it nice that we can share this addiction together??!!  So let's get to it!

My first card uses the new What the Doodle: Apple from PTI.

 I also used PTI's Enclosed: Apple die to cut out the red frame and clear acetate to make my card into a shaker card.  My sentiment is die cut from PTI's Wet Paint Die Collection III, and the rest of the card is stamped, and accessorized with washi tape, bakers twine, DSP, & sequins.

My 2nd card uses MFT's Gumball Machine die, which my dear friend Birgit shared with me...aren't stamping friends just the BEST?!!!

I die cut all the pieces from retired Pixie Pink (SU!), silver, and white cardstock, and then assembled and layered on top of a part of the Cover Plate: Pretty Frame die that I cut out in sparkly white cardstock, and then layered that on top of a piece of black and white polka dotted DSP.  The gumballs were blended with shades of Pixie Pink ink, and then covered in Glossy Accents.  A tiny tag (PTI) and some bakers twine finished off this fun little card.

My third card also used MFT dies:

This card uses the Blueprints #27 dies and the Hello die.  The flowers and leaves and butterfly are all part of MFT's Build-able Bouquet and Tweet on You stamp sets and were colored with my Zig markers.

My 4th card uses dies from PTI's latest release:

I water colored my background first with Peerless water colors (Blue Sky), and then added the die cut Inspired: Faith and butterflies from the Color Pop Butterflies.  The water colored layer was die cut with a Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangle die, and then matted on black and again on a white card base. 

My last project isn't a card, but a die cut pillow box:

My pillow box was cut with SU!'s Square Pillow Box Thinlits die, and then decorated with PTI's Friendship Jar Flowers dies, which I stamped first and then die cut.  I absolutely love how this turned out and am going to have a hard time giving it away!  Thank goodness I have everything to make more if I miss it too much!!  :0)

Hope you enjoyed seeing what I came up with using dies, and make sure you check out what BIRGIT has done using dies too...I just know she's going to blow you away with her crazy good talent!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and supporting us in our crazy addiction and love of stamping!!  :0)

New Stamps

Hello friends.  Just a quick post to share a couple cards I've made with some new stamps. 

First up is a card I made using some of the new stamps from the latest SOA box...I am SO hooked on the butterflies in this set!!

I embossed in white the 3 butterflies, and then blended over them with Altenew's Shades of Purple ink set.  The sentiment and die cut butterfly are also from the new SOA set.

My second card used PTI's What the Doodle: Feather stamp set.

I stenciled my background with a PTI stencil and Amethyst Allure and Ocean Tides inks.  The feathers I embossed in white, and then blended the same two colors over the embossing.  The 3rd feather was embossed on vellum.  The tag is a Casual Fridays die cut and the sentiment from the What the Doodle: Feather set.  A seam binding bow, bakers twine, a pearl, and a few white sequins finished off this card.

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

Merry Monday #202 - Let It Snow

Hello friends.  The theme this week at Merry Monday is "Let It Snow".  I had fun creating my card and using Peerless Water Colors for the first time.  I had heard of these water colors before, but didn't really have a clue what they were when I bought them.  They come in a little booklet form, and you just snip off a tiny piece of the paper (it's like a cardstock weight) and put it in a little tray of water and the color dissolves.  I used the Sky Blue for my background...take a look:

Isn't it such a pretty blue?  And so easy to water color with...I loved it!  After it dried, I added a few snowflakes from MFT's Cool Day stamp set and embossed them with white embossing powder.  Next I stamped (and masked) that cool snow dude on the ice chunk and used my Copics to color him.  I fussy cut him out and pop dotted him to the water colored layer.  I added a sentiment from PTI's Warmest Wishes and then mounted to a white card base.  You can't see it in the photo, but I also added some sparkle to the blue in the bears hat and scarf, using a Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen (it's like a WOS pen, but has MUCH more sparkle to it!!).  This was a pretty quick and easy card, but I really like how it turned out!

Lots of time to play along this week yet, and some gorgeous inspiration from the DT, so check it all out right HERE.

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