Peace On Earth Challenge #33

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Peace On Earth Challenge and they have the most absolutely BEAUTIFUL mood board to inspire us.

To me, the hearts signify what Christmas is all about...LOVE!  And how perfect to include a heart on our Christmas cards...I love this idea!!  I got a new Poinsettia die for Christmas, and paired with the new Heart Arrow Die from The Greetery, I came up with this CAS card...

I started with a white panel that I die cut the Heart Arrow Die with, and then embossed the panel with SSS's Holiday Greenery EF.  I die cut the Heart Arrow Die a 2nd time in Real Red cs and inlaid it into the embossed white panel.  Next I smooshed a piece of white cs with water and Real Red ink, let it dry, and then die cut with Waffle Flowers Layered Poinsettia Dies.  I absolutely LOVE the tiny holes that are cut out with each layer of the leaves on these dies!  Here's a closer up so you can see...

I also used some scrap dsp (I think it's SU!) to cut the leaves from and I love the little bit of contrast they give from all the red & white.  I finished with a strip sentiment from Gina K and some PFS Ruby Glitter Drops.

There are so many GORGEOUS inspiration cards from the DT and already in the gallery, so check it all out right HERE and play along if you're looking to stay ahead with your Christmas cards this year.  This challenge ends on the 16th @ 8:00PM.

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

Double D Challenge - HEARTS

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Double D Challenge today with a cute little Valentine card for my hubby.

I was inspired not only by the beautiful hearts mood board, but also by Bonnie Klass's cute CCC/Anita Jeram card (HERE).  I have quite a collection of the cute little critters myself (have I mentioned before how much I like paper mice better than the real ones??!!) and after seeing Bonnie's darling card I went digging through my stash to see what I had, and came up with the Ever Thine stamp set, and came up with this card...

  I started by making a background using Gina K's Layered Hearts stencils, using red, pink & orange inks that was left on my ink blending brushes.  

I matted my stenciled layer to a piece of black cardstock and then adhered both a white card base. Next I die cut a Heart Arrow Die (The Greetery)  and added to my stenciled background before attaching my cute little PAPER mouse from the Ever Thine stamp set.  I did pop him up with some foam tape for a little dimension, and then finished with just a few clear sequins.

There is LOTS of FABULOUS inspiration for you from the DT over at the Double D Challenge, so if you need to finish up those Valentines, this is a terrific spot for inspiration!  This challenge is open till the 12th @ 8:00PM. 

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

The Flower Challenge #77

Hello friends.  The Flower Challenge is back and this month they would like to see our latest flower stamps or dies.

Well this was an easy one for me as probably 90% of my stamp buys are flowers, and I just happened to have bought the Magnolia Pattern stamp and coordinating stencils from the latest PFS release.  Here's what I came up with for my 1st play with this new set...

What I loved most about this stamp/stencil combo was that after you finish stamping your background stamp in black and then using the stencils to add color, there's still black & white left on this image!  I used a variety of Gina K and PFS inks in light pinks, corals, greens, & teals to do my stenciling and then added to a top folding white card base.  

At this point I stamped and stenciled a single flower and fussy cut it out, and then added it to a gold foiled diamond (PFS - Nested Diamonds) with a bit of foam tape behind it, and then added my gold foiled sentiment (PFS - Fancy Script Words) just below the fussy cut flower.  To finish I added a few gold metallic pearls (PFS).  

Make sure you check out all the BEAUTIFUL inspiration from the talented DT and then play  along with your new goodies right HERE.  This challenge closes on the 25th @ 5:00PM.   
 

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

Color Hues Challenge #57 - Coral & Sage

Hello friends.  It's time for another Color Hues Challenge and this time we're looking for the colors CORAL and SAGE on your cards.

These colors are just perfect for florals, but I went with leaves and berries from a PFS Christmas set called Berry Branch and just love how it turned out!  Take a look...

 I embossed the image in silver and then used the coordinating stencils to color in the Coral Cabana ink (Catherine Pooler) and Soft Succulent ink (SU!).  After die cutting the image, I mounted it to the Ornate Oval Frame Die (PFS) and adhered both to a panel that I used the Stitched Diamonds Cover Plate Die (PFS) on.

  My sentiment (Perfect Sentiments - PFS) was embossed in silver and looks SO much better in real life.  I finished this card with a few Iridescent Gems from PFS.

We can't wait to see what YOU come up with using these two colors, so check out what the DT and our GD came up with for some more inspiration, and then play along with us right HERE.  This challenge will be open till the 14th @ 9:00AM.

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

Concord & 9th Happy Heart Boxes

Hello friends.  Just a fun post today...no challenges!  And no cards.  Just a long overdue playdate with a set of dies I bought over a year ago and had never even opened the package, let alone made anything with the dies!  Until I was inspired by my sweet friend Birgit who had ordered the same set of dies and actually used hers!  (See Birgit's post HERE)  

The die set I'm talking about is from Concord & 9th and is called Happy Heart Box Dies.  They are so easy to put together and FUN to decorate, and I made 3 of them for Valentine's Day (One for my mom and the other 2 will go to the foreign exchange students our oldest daughter and her family are hosting this year.)  

I'm pretty tickled with the way they turned out, and especially since I'm dealing with a bum left arm/hand (think I pulled/pinched a muscle/nerve in my neck and it's mostly affecting my left arm and hand...grrrr!!  Thank goodness I'm right handed, but you don't realize how much you really do use the other hand until you don't have use of it.). 

 This is the box that will be going to my mom and uses PTI's Into The Blooms: Roses and the fern from PTI's Into The Blooms: Dahlias dies.  I also added a sprig of Baby's Breath (die from The Greetery) and the LOVE tag from the Happy Hearts Box Dies set.

I did tie some sheer white ribbon (Michael's) around the perimeter of the top of the box for a little something extra.

This box uses PTI's Into The Blooms: Dahlia dies for the flowers and also the fern from the same set.  The white heart behind the flowers was embossed with Spellbinders Stylized Trellis ef and I used a Gina K Swiss Dots ef on my mom's box.  The X's & O's on this box are from The Greetery's Hot Stuff Sentiments stamp and die set, and I finished with a few Iridescent Clear Drops from PFS.

All 3 have been filled with chocolate hearts and will make for a fun and happy treat.  Thought about making 3 more for my grandbabies, but quickly decided they're too young yet for me to spend that amount of time on something they will rip apart to get to the candy!  But don't worry...Nana has them covered with treat bags that will be full of sweets!

Although I'm not entering these boxes into any challenges, I will add them to Darnell's NBUS #46 since it took me over a year to actually use these sweet dies!

  

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

Double D Challenge - SNOW

Hello friends.  Winter has returned to Michigan after the break we've had since the blizzard Christmas weekend, so it seemed appropriate to play along with the Double D Challenge titled SNOW!

The mood board almost makes Winter look fun, doesn't it?!  (Gotta LOVE that car!!!)  I'm not a snow fan anymore, although I do admit that it is beautiful...from the inside!  Haha!!  So anyways, here's my SNOW card...

I have always loved silhouette and ink blended cards (Gina K turned me into a fan of it!), but this past year I have really started falling in love with Lavinia stamps and the beautiful (and fun and whimsical) scenes created with these stamps!  I had held off buying any though until Leslie Miller started showing some cards she had been making with the stamps (like this one HERE that I absolutely LOVE!!!), and then I couldn't help myself and had to buy a few!  I started by tearing a piece of cardstock to use as a mask to make my snow hills, and then used Distress Inks (Spun Sugar, Salty Ocean, Stormy Sky, & Faded Jeans) to blend my sky.  

A little splattering with just plain water made my falling snow, and then I started inking up my stamps in black for the silhouette look.  The trees are Forest Scene (LAV524) and Christmas Tree Group (LAV021) and the bunny is Lori (LAV602).  I couldn't bring myself to add a sentiment to the front, so added it to the inside and just attached my panel to a top folding white card base.  Not too bad for a first try with these stamps, and yes, I do want more and to play more!!  (It's ok, I know I have an addiction to stamps and really don't have any desire to be cured!)

The DT has some AWESOME inspiration for you if you'd like to play along (HERE) and the challenge is open till Sunday, Jan. 29th @ 8:00PM.

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

Peace On Earth Challenge #32

Hello friends.  Trying to stay true to my plan to keep making Christmas cards all year long, and the Peace On Earth Challenge has the most beautiful mood board to inspire right now...

Isn't that just the prettiest mood board with all the beautiful birds?!  My hubby and I love watching them all year long, but especially during Wintertime, so it was a no brainer to play along!  I also had a new EF/Die to play with thanks to my sweet friend Bobby who mistakenly ordered two and shared one with me!  Gotta love stampin' friends...thanks again so much Bobby!!  

I made a pretty CAS card starting with SSS's Pepperberry EF/Dies with white cs and matted with a piece of Cherry Cobbler (SU!) cs.  I cut 2 of the matching 3 dies that come with the EF out of white cs also, and then colored them with a few Copics.

I couldn't resist pulling out an oldie but a goody chubby little birdie from PTI's Brushed Birds and inking him up with tans, browns and some red.  I also added a bit more red using an R89 Copic on the sweet little guy.

I finished by adding a strip sentiment from Gina K and a few red glitter drops and silver pearls from PFS.  

The talented DT has some awesome inspiration for you, so check it all out right HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open till Feb. 2nd @ 8:00PM. 
 

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