Tag You're It Challenge #89 - UMBRELLA'S

Hello friends.  Just a quick post today to share a tag for the current Tag You're It Challenge where they are looking for UMBRELLA'S (or as our middle daughter used to say...umbrella-lella's!).

Isn't that just a delightful photo?!  Umbrella's obviously make me think of rain, but this photo makes me think of a party, like a wedding or baby shower.  So I went with a baby shower tag...

I started with a couple die cut tags from Reverse Confetti, and then because I wanted to dress up the white tag a bit before adding my umbrella's, I used MFT's Cloud Stencil and some Aqua Mist ink to make a cloudy sky.  Here's a closer up:

My umbrella's were cut with an Impression Obsession die using PTI's Bitty Big DSP in Hibiscus Burst, Aqua Mist, & Harvest Gold, and I double pop dotted behind each umbrella to give some depth.  My sentiment strip was stamped and embossed using SSS's Tiny Words stamp set and I added an enamel heart also.  A little bit of ribbon and twine finished off my tag that will look so sweet on a baby shower gift.

There's still time to play along with this challenge, so check out all the BEAUTIFUL tags from the DT and then play along HERE.

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

Twofer Challenge #17 - BEE'S

Hello friends.  Darnell and her team have chosen BEE'S for the prompt in this month's Twofer Challenge.

Had to really hunt for some BEE stamps...almost thought I was going to have to go shopping!!  Found a teeny tiny BEE image from a PTI stamp set, but Kara had already used it, so I kept hunting and actually found a pretty cool one from an older SU! set called Nature's Walk and came up with these two cards:

Using the same BEE stamp I came up with a Christmas card and an encouragement card...let's take a closer look, shall we?

Want to know why I really LOVE this one??  It's because I used the Gina K Wreath Builder Template and made a BEE wreath...I mean how cool is that?!  I guess mostly I'm just tickled that it came out in a perfect wreath shape, because to be honest, I'm a bit afraid of BEE'S and they're not my favorite!!  But they do make a kinda cool card, so I'm happy with the way this card turned out.  After stamping them in my wreath shape, I used a Copic Y15 and some WOS to the BEE'S and then layered with some yellow and black cs and adhered to a white card base.  I computer generated my sentiment and then stamped the same BEE in a light gray ink and die cut with some SU! circle framelits.  A couple yellow enamel dots and some black baker's twine finished off my BEE wreath card.

This 2nd card is one of those that just popped into my head and wouldn't leave, so I know a BEE Christmas card is a little unconventional, but hey, what better place to show it than at the Twofer Challenge?!  I die cut my white card base with a PTI To The Point Edgers Die and also a piece of black cs cut using a coordinating die.  The plaid is a scrap and I'm afraid I can't remember the manufacturer.  I die cut the word JOYFUL from Memory Box's Classic Uppercase Alphabet dies in white and then glued them to the card base.  I used the same BEE stamp right above the JOYFUL and then added a Clear Star Jelly Roll pen over the body and wings of the BEE.

A pretty simple card, but I actually like the way it turned out!  You can check out all the amazing BEE cards from Darnell and the DT right HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Side Note:  I had mentioned in a earlier post this week that my family has been going through some health issues, and that my hubby was going in for a scope of a cyst on his pancreas.  We are taking it as good news that the Dr. doesn't think the cyst looks or feels like a cancerous cyst, but he does want to do a follow up MRI in 6 months to make sure the cyst hasn't grown.  My hubby has had cancer before, so of course the brain always wants to go to the worst places first, and then add to that that our eldest daughter has been having health issues (diagnosed just last week finally as having gastroparesis) and I've had a few of my own too (nothing serious!), so it felt like everything coming down on top of us!  Our faith was tested, but He always triumphs, so it's all good.  Thank you so much for all of you that prayed...we appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts!!    

And to definitely leave you with a smile, here's our 4 year old granddaughter Addy with her new friend she found in their yard:

She thinks her mom's being mean though cause she won't let "Toady" come live in the house with them!  Bahahaha!!  :0)

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

Altenew June 2019 Inspiration

Hello friends.  Playing along with this months inspiration challenge over at Altenew where they gave this lovely photo to inspire us:

I was actually inspired by the background striped colors and a video Lydia showed HERE for adding ink to an acrylic block, misting, and then stamping onto your cardstock.  I forgot to flip my block over so that the grid lines would be on the bottom before inking, but I actually really like how you can see some of the lines.  I used an older favorite set called Best Mom and came up with this:

After my background inks dried, I stamped the blossoms from Best Mom with Versafine Black Onyx ink and then inked again with VersaMark and clear embossing powder.  I've been kind of hooked on the bleach technique lately, so I used an older paint brush with some bleach to paint the open areas of the flowers, buds, and leaves.  Loving the look against the water colored background!!  Here's a closer up:

Little easier to see some of the grid lines on this close up too.  To finish up my card I matted the stamped layer with some black and then adhered to a white card base.  I added an embossed sentiment on vellum from the Beautiful Day stamp set, and also a couple enamel dots to hide the glue dots I used to attach the vellum strip to the card.

You can check out all the beautiful cards already in the gallery and play along right HERE.

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

Christmas Kickstart #12 & CAS Christmas

Hello friends.  Playing along with a couple challenges today...Christmas Kickstart where the focus is on elves and CAS Christmas is looking for gifts.

I decided to make a shaker card and used the elf from MFT's Santa's Elves that was holding the gift, and also a die from AE.  When I think of elves, I think of the movie ELF and Buddy all dressed in green, so I went with a pretty much green and white card with just touches of yellow/gold and a little bit of black for one of my layers.

I used my Copics to color the elf and the little Vanilla Sugar Snowflake Sprinkles are from Trinity Stamps...too bad they're not edible as they'd look really cute on cupcakes!  But then they look pretty cute on the card too!

You can play along with the CAS Christmas challenge HERE (open till the 24th) and the Christmas Kickstart Challenge HERE (open through June 16th).  Christmas is only 6 months away friends, so check out all the fabulous inspiration from both teams and play along!

And for those of you who believe in the power of prayer, if you wouldn't mind saying an extra prayer or two for my hubby who is having a biopsy on his pancreas tomorrow (Monday - 10th), we sure would appreciate it!  He's had cancer before, so of course that's forefront in his mind, but we are trying to stay positive that this is nothing but a benign cyst.  Thank you!  Hugs.   

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

CAS Mix Up And More

Hello friends.  Playing along with this months challenge over at CAS Mix Up and they are looking for OMBRE inking on our cards.

I have been in a bit of a stamping funk lately because of health issues going on in my family and just hadn't been able to find my mojo!  That all changed though when I started seeing posts from everyone who went to Loll's crafting retreat!  So today I have 3 cards to share with you featuring some of those techniques they shared, including this first card that uses the Ombre technique that Lin shared (she was inspired by Kristina Werner's post HERE).

I masked off the left 2/3rds of my card front, and then blended using DOX inks in Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, & Carved Pumpkin to create my ombre effect.  Using the DOX inks makes such a smooth transition from color to color!  I left my mask in place and then used SSS's Outline Butterflies background stamp with versamark ink and white embossing powder...LOVE how this came out!!

I kept my card CAS and finished it off with a lovely die cut butterfly from Gina Marie Designs and an embossed sentiment strip in white on black (PTI - Keep It Simple: Thinking Of You)

Another technique shown at the retreat by Nancy was called "Cut Up Stamping" which she learned from a Jennifer McGuire post HERE.  I used the same ink blending technique with Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, & Seedless Preserves DOX inks and embossed with white using another SSS set called Sketched Flowers (LOVE this stamp set...mostly because of the font of the different sentiments!).  Then came the hard part of this technique...cutting a perfectly good panel!!  But after the first initial shock and stamping my sentiment (PTI - Keep It Simple: Birthday), I loved the look of the card!!  A few of Lucy Little Gems and some black & white baker's twine finished off this card.

My last card and probably my favorite, is a bleaching technique which Susan showed at the retreat.  I have actually done this technique before, but it's been SO long ago, that I had forgotten all about it!  So anyway, I did some more ink blending (can you tell I'm a little hooked on this?!) using Abandoned Coral and Seedless Preserves DOX inks and then stamped with black and embossed with clear my image using a SU! set called Happy Watercolor.  Then I used an old brush and some splashless bleach to paint and remove the color from the blossoms...absolutely LOVE this look!!  I matted my panel with some black cs and adhered to a white card base, and then stamped my sentiment which is also from the same Happy Watercolor stamp set.  I finished with a few clear sequins and a piece of black & white baker's twine.

If you've made it with me this far...CONGRATULATIONS!  I know this was a looooong post, but I was just so excited about using these techniques and just having FUN in my crafty space again!  There are SO many BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT and already in the gallery using the OMBRE technique, so check it all out right HERE and play along.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

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

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites - Framed Sentiments

Hello friends.  This week at Laurie's Fabulous Favorites, Laurie has asked us to show our favorite way to frame our sentiments.  Laurie loves to use FLOWERS to frame her sentiments, and I'm right there with her...FLOWERS ALL THE WAY!!

I pulled out one of my all time favorite stamp sets and in fact, Simple Sunflower stamp set was one of my first purchases at PTI many, many years ago!  I started with a cream colored card base, and then added a piece of Harvest Gold Bitty Big DSP, and then covered it with a cream colored Bold Border: Arabesque die cut frame.  I stamped my sentiment from Penned Elegance in Cocoa Bean ink, and then layered on the leaf branch from the Songbird die collection, also in the matching cream cardstock.

I stamped up 3 of the smaller sunflowers in Lemon Tart, Harvest Gold, and Cocoa Bean inks and then fussy cut them out and arranged around the corner of the sentiment.  It still needed a little color, so I added some leaves from the stamp set using Simply Chartreuse and Ripe Avocado inks.  I also added some WOS to the sunflower leaves, but you can just barely see a hint of it in this photo.  To finish I added a piece of cream baker's twine and a few gold jewels (Lucy's Little Things).

You can check out Laurie's BEAUTIFUL card and play along with this challenge right HERE.

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

CAS Watercolour June 2019 - Something Blue

Hello friends.  Welcome back to another CAS Watercolour Challenge where this month Bonnie is hosting a color challenge...SOMETHING BLUE.

I love color challenges and I pulled out an older Altenew floral called Best Mom and came up with this:

I started by heat embossing my floral image in silver, and then used PTI's Pierced Feature Frames to die cut the image into a frame.  I used the selective coloring technique by only water coloring the inside rectangle piece with an Aqua Painter and some Altenew inks smooshed into an acrylic block that I could pick up with the Aqua Painter.  I adhered my water colored piece to a top folding white card base and then added the uncolored die cut frame (that I backed with fun foam) over top of my water colored piece.  I love the look of dimension and symmetry this technique gives!!

Here's a closer up where you can see the shine of the silver embossing, dimension, and the symmetry better.  My "hello" comes from a Gina K set called Skeleton Leaves - loved that it was small enough to fit in that small space and still a pretty font too!

Our challenge is open till the 24th, so check out all the great inspiration from the DT and our special GD TaeEun and then play along with us.  Remember to keep it CAS (LOTS of white space) and use all those lovely shades of BLUE out there with your water coloring...we can't wait to see what you come up with!  

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