Cuteness advisory! Penny Black

 Hello crafty friends, it's been a hot minute since I've posted. The busy-ness of June is now behind me, and it was a wonderful wonderful time! Now that we're back and settled into more of a routine we've been hit with the heat advisory. I'm really happy to have had ample  time while I stay cool inside to play at stamping. 

That has included watching these terrific videos from Jill Foster for her new card class series, Permission to Play. This time her videos suggest sketches to make simple cards and they are filled with ideas and the sweetest cards! I highly recommend checking them out!

I'm showing you three cards from the day one sketch. 

For each card, I stamped images on watercolor paper, and colored with Distress re-inkers. 

The next card is my favorite, I just love the Cuteness stamps! 

Lastly, these mice got a bit carried away....

Jill says so often not to compare your cards with others, and that's its OK to make simple cards, or to reuse your fav sketches. I need that reminder.  I've had so much fun doing just that. I hope you enjoyed seeing them! Thanks for taking the time to come by! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supply lists: 
Make a Wish - Time to Celebrate 30 - 414; Critter Party 30 - 013

Love and hugs- Cuteness; Delightful Day

Happy - Critter Party 30 - 013; Smiles and Sprinkles

Beautiful Birthday for The Flower Challenge

 Hi there, thanks for coming to visit! 

Today my card is for The Flower Challenge, where for October, Anything Goes! We are also happily celebrating the 7th Birthday of the challenge where flowers are always the main feature. My flowers decorate a cake, that's a sweet mix!

I knew when I saw the Takes the Cake line from The Greetery that it would be used often for a variety of occasions and cards. I love that there are dies for the cakes, decorations, cake stand and flowers. The stamps sentiments and dies perfectly fit the banner. And the best - the dies cut out the entire floral design outline and there's a stencil for the flowers. I inked my flowers with Distress Inks in fall colors. A few pearls seemed just right. 

Please visit the blog to see what the design team has created to inspire you. Sadly, the challenge creators, Vivien and Aileen will be leaving. How we appreciate their years of inviting us to share creatively together!

See you soon, I will be creating over this weekend! Looking forward to having some time to play. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

 

Color Hues #42 Black and Yellow

Welcome to my blog! June 1st is a special day! It's the beginning of my favorite month of the year, and the start to a new challenge at Color Hues! 

Black and yellow. Flowers? Bees? Butterflies?  How about a humorous birthday? 

 

I love the masculine vibes in the MFT stamps and dies called Get Down to Basics. I like how this looks in black and yellow! 

All the images were stamped, colored with Copic markers, die cut and assembled on the card front. For extra detail I added some DSP and Glossy Accents to the smiley face. The main sentiment was embossed with white ink. On the inside it continues with "OFFICE MEMO: You're Awesome!"

Speaking of awesome, be sure to visit the blog to see inspiration from the team that can't be beat! Thanks for your visit here today!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful! 

Playing at Spring Card Camp!

 Greetings! I am dropping in with a quick post to share a fun project. I love playing with my supplies and the Online Card Classes Spring Card Camp 2022 is giving me a perfect chance. I love these classes and have taken almost ALL of them! 

The lessons, great samples and new techniques or even old ones revisited - get me to see my supplies with fresh vision. Every card doesn't have to be a masterpiece, you know? 

While this card turned out way too busy for me - I  created a birthday card with a nautical theme for someone who will love it. 

Using layered dies for a background isn't as hard as it looks! Supplies are listed below, and you will see how I have different companies in the mix. 

I am adding this to our challenge gallery at Color Hues where I chose Red and Aqua for our combo this time. These are go-to's in my book for a nautical scene. I will be back soon, happy day! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies used: 
Stamps: Stampendous - Nautical Anchor (sentiment) embossed with white EP

Accessories: Sailboat die - Poppystamps, colored with Copics; other dies are from Stampin' Up! Sailing Home.  The STAR charm is also from SU! One I've saved for years, lol!

We are Family

 Hello there! It's been a snowy weekend and I've been happy staying inside and catching up on a few things. January is a big month for family birthdays and today that was my focus. A card needs to be in the mail tomorrow, so I got busy! 

My husband and I grew up in Maryland and his family spent lots of time on the water. When I saw the Gina K stamps depicting Magnificent Mallards I knew it would really help with those guy cards. The sentiments are specifically geared towards family adding to it's usefulness. 

My card is a CAS(E) of Mindy's fabulous card HERE. I was inspired by Jen's sketch at Freshly Made as well. Also entering at NBUS #34 as it's my first time using this set. 

That's it for me today! I hope your week is off to a wonderful start. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Warm Winter Birthday for The Paper Players

 Hello friends, are you ready for a new challenge at The Paper Players? For Challenge TPP574 Claire has chosen a theme for our CAS cards today. Winter Animals. What fun! 

The cold weather sure helped me get in the mood. For this one I pulled out an old favorite Winter Pals (from WPlus9) and created a simple scene with lots of white space. 

I used the Postage Layers Die to add to the playful style and a trio of pines. I colored with Zigs and only needed the heart as an embellishment. I love this foxy skater and the dear one I'm sending this to loves purple. 

 

I sure hope you will play along! I've had a peek at my teammates cards and you will be inspired! Thanks for visiting! Stay warm if you can. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Take a Number!

 Hello! Ready for another fun challenge this week at Inspired By? Take a Number has lots of possibilities! Using a number on a card is perfect with grandchildren's birthdays coming soon! And who doesn't love balloons? 

My little sweet petunia will love this mini slimline card in Flirty Flamingo with the three scalloped windows. 

I hope that you'll join us to play along! There are lots of occasions for using numbers. Birthdays, anniversaries, special dates. 

Or let the stripes colors and polka dots inspire you. We look forward to your designs! Thanks so much for your visit to my blog. Your comments are so cheering. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps:  NEW TO ME! Balloon Numbers from Sugar Peas and coordinating dies. Entering to NBUS. 

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Flirty Flamingo - SU

INK: Gina K - Amalgam Ink

Accessories:  COPIC markers, Wink of Stella, and NBUS - Mini Slim Square Window Cutting Plate - Taylored Expressions

Inspired By...another great challenge!

 Hi there, I am so glad that you are back! I'm excited to announce my new DT spot on the Inspired By Challenge! I am honored to be invited to join the team of very talented stampers and look forward to the weekly challenges. 

I've been just waiting to ink up this new to me background stamp from Pinkfresh Studio. I used dark green ink to stamp the outline, and colored the image with Zig markers and a paintbrush.  

Today we're to be Inspired By...everything is a-bouquet. 

I was inspired by the colors, the trailing leaves and the sketch for my project. 

What will you be inspired to make? Be sure to head off to see the fabulous DT samples. Have a great day! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Altenew - Floral Frame (sentiment) Pinkfresh Studio - Sweet Blooms 

Paper: Neenah Solar White, watercolor paper

INK: WPlus9 - Siren Song Dye Ink, these hold fast when used with water!

Accessories: Border dies are from MFT

A New Year and a New Challenge at Color Hues

 Welcome to a New Year and welcome to my blog. You're just in time for Color Hues Challenge #9 ! I know many have enjoyed a long break from card-making and stamping over the holidays. Jump back into the fun of our challenge to use red and gray for your project. 

I needed a few birthday cards for January, so I thought these colors would be great, especially for a couple of the men on my list

Using a monochromatic background really allows the red to pop! I combined some dies from my stash with a scripty sentiment and created a scene. Beginning with Dove gray card stock, I stamped pine trees in the background and die cut a trail of stars along the top. White die cuts of the stars are popped up. The stag was cut from white card stock, sponged with a very pale gray ink, and then covered with a wash of Wink of Stella. 

I hope you will check out the wonderful projects of our team, and play along!  

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Stamps, Markers, Scissors and Glue

Hello again! I'm having a return to the basics for my stamping this week, and today it's stamps markers, scissors and glue and just a bit more. I feel a bit like a hamster on a wheel rattling around in my house but I enjoyed putting this card together and thinking happily of the sweet girl who's first birthday is coming up. 

I started with stamps from Birthday Bears (MFT) which an oldie that's been in my stash since 2015. Instead of using the dies, I did some masking enabling me to position the gift, the hat, and balloons, then cut it out. Colored with Copics. 

One thing about Copics - I used to try and make coloring with them SO COMPLICATED that I stressed out over using them. I'm over that now. Two layers and I'm done, simple. The black and white strip of paper was on my desk, so I glued that on and added some translucent stars. Believe it or not, I don't think I've ever used them. And I think they add just the right bling. 

I'm playing with The Paper Players, who have a theme week: Zoo, and Retro Rubber Challenge whose theme is squares. My square card measures 4.25 x 4.25. 

Enjoy your day! Thanks for your visit. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Pine Branches Winter Birthday

Hello, friends! 
I have a hard time with masculine cards, but when it came time to make this one I knew I had supplies to make something special. For someone very special, our son. 

I'm sure by now you've realized that there are new stamping goodies in the house! I've been using the BotaniCuts Pine Bough Die (The Greetery) but I'm excited today to have added the Cozy Flannel Cover Die (Altenew). I love being able to create the look of a buffalo plaid so easily.

I began with card stock for the boughs and pine cone cuts and added sponged inks and colored pencil shading. The sentiment is from Uplifting Thoughts (SSS) and continues inside to say, " You are every bit of wonderful." 

I'm happy to have the layout from Cas(e) This Sketch to kick off my stamping.  My entry from last week was a CTS Honorable Mention!

Hope it's the beginning of a wonderful day for you and a great week. 
I appreciate your visit very much. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

          Make something beautiful!

Elegant Winter Birthday

Happy Friday! I'm posting quickly as evening approaches. 
Do you ever have a card that just doesn't turn out the way you thought? And you're not sure if you like it? Or maybe it's the photo that doesn't turn out right? 

I answer yes to all three of those with today's card. I almost didn't post it. I thought I'd let you decide! 

One thing I'm sure of is that I need to use these gorgeous stamps again without the glitzy add-on. The Winter Sketches stamps (The Greetery) are beautiful when layered with inks. I wanted to use my new to me Rose Gold Powder (from Altenew) so I tried ending with the optional fifth layer for highlighting the branch and outlining the buds and embossing it.

I backed the black panel with Rose Gold foil paper. I rarely use black for my main panel but I love the affect when others do it, so I am giving it a try as well. 

The card layout is from the Freshly Made Sketch Challenge, and the inspiration photo from The Card Concept had lovely black and gold elements with shine that inspired my card. I'm classifying this as a Classy/Elegant card. 

That's it for me today! I hope you have a weekend that is wonderful in every way. Thanks so much for your kind words!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

All dies and the stamps are from The Greetery. which has quickly become my favorite stamp company!

Autumn Birthday with The Greetery

It's Monday, saying a happy hello to you! 

Some snippets of time and leftovers from past projects came together for today's card featuring products from The Greetery. 

I had an extra inked panel left over from this card (click HERE to see it) and decided to add texture with stencil paste. Just to play around. 

I liked the effect so much that I went looking for other images to make it into a card. The detail on the wheat seemed similar to the V in the stencil. I really am loving the Budding Beauties stamp set!

I was also inspired by Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches to play along. 

I will list all the products below. The inks used were Distress Oxides. Thanks for visiting! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used: all from The Greetery 

Stamps: Budding Beauties stamps and dies, Sentiment Suite: Birthday and Dies

Accessories: Knit Wits Stencils

You're A Classic

Good morning and happy Friday! Hope you're on your way to a great weekend.

I pulled out my Polychromos to color the car for a masculine card today. I liked being able to color this car as if it had a few dings and dents of a classic. Or vintage set of wheels.

 When I saw the argyle in the inspiration for the sketch I knew I would be adding another masculine birthday card to my stash.  And playing along with:

CAS(E) This Sketch 

Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes. 

Now for the rest of the story. I keep thinking this card needs something. And it does. Because .... I lost the stamp I initially planned to use on it! You know how easy it is for polymer stamps to get stuck on something?  Well, the sentiment that says "Cruising by to say...." cruised itself right into hiding somewhere in plain sight. I chose a different sentiment after a long time of looking and left the banner mostly empty. Calling it done and squeaky clean!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Honey Bee - You're A Classic, Car Show

Paper: Neenah Solar White, SU - Real Red, Smoky Slate

INK:Simon Says Stamp - Intense Black

Accessories: WPlus9 - Bold Banner Die, Wink of Stella, Polychromos Colored Pencils

The Greetery Blooming Branch

Hello friends! You know that I can't let too many days go by without pulling out stamps from The Greetery. 

Today's card features the Blooming Branch and Robin and Wren sets with a clean layout. 

Inks in the window were blended using soft corals. You will find all my supplies listed under my signature.

I'm joining the inspiring group at Freshly Made Sketches with my entry. 

I'm so glad that you came by today!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: The Greetery - Blooming Branch, Robin and Wren and dies , Sentiment Suite - Birthday

Paper: Neenah Solar White

INK: WPlus9 - Warm Wool, Last Leaf; Distress Oxide: Worn Lipstick, Abandoned Coral, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord, Walnut Stain