The Flower Challenge - Count Your Blessings!

 Welcome to The Flower Challenge! Our theme for Challenge #95 is to use a stamped flower on your card.  So pull out those pretties and put some ink to paper! 

I've been going for the less is more vibe lately, and Penny Black's tulips from the Overflowing clear stamp (31-062) gave me a kickstart to a clean card. 

I watercolored using re-inkers from my Distress Inks. Adding TWO pearls (colored with Copic markers) seemed a good way to emphasize the "twice" in the sentiment. Am I the only one that thinks of these things?

Thanks so much for your visit today! Please come and visit us at the challenge blog where fabulous floral designs await to inspire you! 

I'm adding this to these challenges: The Penny Black Saturday Challenge,  and NBUS where I'm using the stamp and die for the first time. Time Out Challenges asks for cards of encouragement/friendship.

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Other Supplies from Penny Black:
Blessed Builder Clear set (30-996)
Berry Basket Dies (51-796)

Sunflower Harvest at Penny Black

 I'm always surprised to see the back-to-school and fall decor items flooding the stores before summer is even over! And I'm usually not at all ready for the new season, even though FALL is my favorite! 

But the Sunflower Harvest is a brand new-to-me stamp set that I couldn't resist pulling out for this card. It's my reminder that The Penny Black Saturday Challenge is still in full swing! The  challenge is Anything Goes, with an Optional theme - flowers. I LOVE sunflowers!

Pairing them with a rustic fence and pumpkins makes it even better. I stamped the scene using light gray ink, and watercolored with Distress Ink re-inkers. After fussy cutting the image panel I layered it with patterned paper and twine. The sentiment is from the Delightful Day set, stamped onto brown card stock. 

I sure hope that you've already checked out the challenge blog and enjoyed the inspiration! Thanks so much for coming by to visit me. I end this post by sending autumn greetings your way - just a wee bit early!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Flowers for You at Penny Black

 Hi there friends.

 I couldn't be more delighted to share this news! I've been chosen as the monthly Guest Designer for The Penny Black Saturday Challenge,  so of course I said, "Yes!" I've been loving my Penny Black stamps and supplies, new and old. Actually, the "new" products have been multiplying quickly in my craft area, so I'm glad to use them!

You'll find their challenge to be fun as it's often 'Anything Goes' and this month the optional theme is Flowers. Who'd have thought ????

My very simple card uses the Charisma Transparent stamps and dies. With the addition of circle dies, I cut a framed window and placed the bouquet on top. Using versa mark and one of the floral stamps, I created a subtle background, topping it all off with a sentiment circle. I found it refreshing to use only one stamp set for this card. The floral image was stamped in pale gray and colored with Distress Oxide re-inkers and a brush.

I sure hope you will check out the inspiration at the challenge and play along! I'm so happy that you've visited today. Thanks so much! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

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

Sending Prayers

 Hello, I'm especially happy that you've come back to my blog today. I'm sharing a sympathy card for a friend. It's always sad to need one of these. I don't usually have a stash of them but I may fix that now that I've made this one. 

I used a stamp from Penny Black from my stash ( 40-744 Garden Variety) and tried a new layout idea which has been shared often by a fabulous artist. I've been watching amazing videos by Micheline Jourdain and I gave one of her techniques a try. 

It worked well for a sympathy card. I can't wait to try it again using more of my stamps. 

Beginning with masking and a watercolor wash, I inked the stamp with Distress inks and stamped onto watercolor paper. Removing the mask, I added some bits of the image outside of the masked area, adding details and shading. 

The sentiment was partially heat embossed with gold and the smaller text in gold ink. I like the way the sentiment is the focal point. Spatters in orange and gold were the last touch. I may have added a bit too much - but I was having fun! And motivated to get on my way to other tasks, lol! 

I know this post is pretty long already but I want to let you know what I've been up to. I've had need to go to physical therapy for the last months, and you know, that takes time but my sciatica and medial epicondylitis (called golfers' or tennis elbow, but I might add, crafters get it too!) are improving. 

I also spent the last month doing a HUGE down-size to my craft supplies. I have been long overwhelmed with TOO MANY CHOICES and not finding where things were in the craft room -- so getting rid of MANY older  and some current stamps, inks, dies, and some even much older STUFF, has helped immensely. I also regrouped many of my stamps by theme instead of by companies, thinking this will make it easier for me to combine supplies from various companies and use what I have. How will this affect you? 

I'm going to stop listing all my supplies except the stamps or dies that are current. If you really want to know a certain supply, please just shoot me a reply to the post. I am also trying to keep my cards more simple.

I hope to be enjoying my streamlined space more often and kudos to you for sticking with me through this long post! I will end it here and send you a quick hug!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Challenges: 

4 seasons - Anything goes Spring

Krafty Chicks - All Occasions 

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - Florals

Penny Black Saturday Challenge 

Waggingly Happy Color Hues #79

Hello friends, how are you faring in this winter cold? It's a sunny day here with a lovely Carolina blue sky, but brrrr! It is colder than usual! I can't complain as I know many of you are experiencing brutal cold temps and more snow than I can imagine! 

It's time to cuddle up in your craft room? or with a loved one? or a furry friend? And time for our challenge at Color Hues, to use Copper and Green. 

 I chose this Waggingly Happy stamp from Penny Back. 

I stamped on Mixed Media card stock, in black ink.  Using Copics in green (G12, G14) and rust (YR27, E21) I did my best to represent the hues of the challenge. I masked the  cute canine and sponged a circle in Bundled Sage distress ink.  The Parsley card stock and three enamel dots complete the card. As you'll see from the fabulous DT samples, there are many ways to interpret these colors. I can't wait to see what you will make! 

Thanks for your encouraging support here on my blog and at Color Hues. Hope your years is off to a great start. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Radiant Red and Gold

 Hi and happy Monday! Christmas cards are coming fast and furious at our house and I'm happy making the cards I look forward to all year! I have so many stamps for Christmas but today's card features a new-to-me rubber stamp by Penny Black called Radiant Red. You can never have too many poinsettia stamps! 

I love to watercolor. I stamped with Toffee Crunch ink onto Canson Watercolor paper and used Distress Ink re-inkers to color the blooms. I've long been a fan of PB but Jill's recent videos about batch stamping have inspired me to try her system to avoid decision fatigue. In giving this a  try over the weekend, I found myself sitting to paint and work on this card (and others) in little bits of time between football games and home duties. 

A simple card but dressed up with a beautiful sentiment, a border die and gold flat sequins. I'm playing at The Paper Players today 

the Penny Black Saturday Challenge 

Merry Little Christmas Challenge 

and adding this to NBUS as well. 

Thanks so much for your visit. I hope you're having a wonderful day. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Other supplies: small sentiment - Penny Black Jolly Snippets; LawnFawn Just stitching Double Rectangles, Sentiment Dies from Birch Press Design

Do you love your four-legged friends?

 Hello! Thanks for stopping in for a visit today. For those in the US, it's a day to take a break from our labors. That's a great reason for me to spend time in the craft room. I appreciate that you spend a bit of your valuable time here on my blog. I am grateful for every one of you! 

I do love my four-legged friends. We are without a dog now, but I hug lots of other people's dogs! We also have deer that come by our back yard every day to enjoy. The Paper Players asked for us to play along with the theme of four-legged friends this week and I did just that. 

I have quite a few new sets from Penny Back that I bought to encourage myself in two ways. First, I want to practice my watercolor skills with paints, and they have so many pretty and cute (like this bear!) line art images. I will practice, and practice some more! 

I stamped the image with Warm Wool ink (WPlus9). This is my favorite ink for a soft outline that looks black. I stamped onto Canson Water color paper, and used Distress re-inkers to color, adding some sponging for the sky, and a few details with Prismacolor watercolor pencils. I did a bit of masking when adding the sky. 

Secondly, I want to try to simplify my stamping processes. I can stamp images in batches, and color them when I have a short span of time, not needing to complete a card in one sitting. I'd LIKE to go more to a clean and simple style, but we will need to wait and see if that happens! 

Entering these challenges:

The Paper Players 

NBUS  Critter Crazy Challenge SSSWednesday Challenge  AAA Birthday - animals and 
PBS Saturday Challenge 

That's it from me for now, have a wonderful day! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft!
                 Make something beautiful!  

Penny Black supplies used: Stamp - Showered in love, includes sentiment; Background Basics stencils

Hello SPRING!

 Hi everyone, this time I made a card just because. Because I wanted to. Because I had NBUS (never before used Shtuff!in this case, the stamps). Because spring is almost here and it's a lovely bright and sunny day! Because one of my favorite things to do is color. Well, I could go on and on, but I think you'd like to see the card instead. 

 Using the Bunnies & Robin stamps (Colorado Craft Company) I die cut an oval of watercolor paper, stamped the image in soft brown and used my watercolors from Altenew to paint this sweet scene. The darling critters illustrated by Anita Jeram really captured my heart. 

As I went to post this, I saw that it's a perfect fit for two challenges. 

The Tic-Tac-Toe challenge asks for birds, trees, and green; Or I also included the diagonal row of bird, coloring and flowers. 
 I will also add one more to the NBUS challenge gallery for this month. 

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. I enjoy your visits and kind words more than I can say! Have a fabulous weekend.

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Inspired By: Spring Into Color

I love it when the spring brings gorgeous flowers, blooms and splashes of bright colors. That's just what we are featuring this week at our challenge, Inspired By. What I love even more is when there is a sentiment that describes the season perfectly! 

I found the perfect combination in the beautiful stamps from Penny Black called faith.hope.love, and Spring Day. Using my MISTI, I stamped the images on watercolor paper and used my Zig markers and a brush to add color to the images and the background. I didn't add spatters this time, but there are a few tiny dots to look like speckling on the eggs. 

Our challenge is calling for SPRING COLOR and I sure loved creating this card. 

We would love to have you play along too! It is always amazing to see how you are inspired. 

Thanks for you visit, I've enjoyed having you stop by. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Let's color it Pink and Red Colorado Craft Company

Hi there! It's good to see you here again. Just in time for our Color Hues Challenge #11 to use Red and Pink. I had so many ideas for this combo, but in the end these cute mice assured me they would look just adorable watercolored in a pale pink. What do you think?

I love the stamps from Colorado Craft Company designed by world-renowned illustrator Anita Jeram. 

I stamped in black and used a brush and Zig markers to watercolor the images.I also scribbled the inks on white card stock to make the pink and red hearts. I added Nuvo drop polka dots onto the gray package, and added a floor from this great stamp by Ink Blots. 

This set is called Birthday Wishing and since it is my first time using it, I will be posting over at NBUS where challenge #23 has just begun on this brand new month.

You will love seeing the fabulous creations from our Design Team, so please head there to check them out! 

Thanks so much for your visit today, hope it's a lovely day for you.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 
        Make something beautiful!

It's All About You with Colorado Craft Company

 Hello, happy Tuesday! It was a happy day for me when my new stamps from the Colorado Craft Company arrived and I couldn't wait to use them for a special January birthday. These illustrations by Anita Jeram have taken the card-making world by storm! Such fun and adorable critters. 

I combined the images from the Christmas Presents set and the sentiments from Birthday Wishing for today's card. 

Stamping on watercolor card stock, these were colored using Zig markers and a damp paintbrush. Isn't that dog the cutest? You can almost feel his tail wag, lol. 

I really love these sets and how easy they are to create with simply by adding color. You will be seeing them again! For today, I'm entering this at NBUS because the stamps are brand new - to me. 

Thanks to you for visiting! See you soon.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

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

Poinsettia Bouquets One stamp Three Cards

One week until Christmas! The cards are mailed, the packages are wrapped and the food is bought. I had time to play with a new purchase for the first time, the Poinsettia Bouquets stamps and dies from W Plus 9 Designs. Dawn's new release HERE is so beautiful and I love it! 
I love to watercolor, so I chose the bouquets to play with, and color them I did. Three different ways. Three cards to share with you today. 

 CLEAN and CLASSIC

This began with clear embossing over black ink, and coloring with Copic markers. A few dots with the white gel pen. I kept the lines clean and the embellishments simple - a gold embossed sentiment, and a few flat sequins.

SUBTLE SHIMMER

For the second card, I colored with watercolors mixed with Perfect Pearls in white. I began by embossing in gold onto watercolor paper. Mixing the pigment powder into each color gives a subtle shimmer and shine. I die cut the bouquet and then wondered what would set off the softly colored image. 

I decided to use a pale blue card stock run through the crimper. Lots of texture with a direct to paper inking of white craft ink on top of the ripples and lots of splatters. In gold and white. I finished it off with metallic thread, mirror paper mat, and pearls. IRL they are white. This was hard to photograph! It's my fav of the three cards because I love the texture.

Here is a better look at the shimmer.  And one more to go -   

BOLD ELEGANCE 5x7

This one is also embossed in gold onto watercolor paper and colored with Copics.  The gold mirror card stock is used minimally. This larger size is made easy by Dawn's dies for a 5X7 card. I loved having the extra space to make an impact! The bouquet was partially die cut and layered over Dove gray card stock. 

I am entering this at the NBUS Challenge. I'd love to know which of the cards is your favorite! Thanks for taking time to spend with me today. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Peonies For You

I'm happy to have a project for you today and a special one for tomorrow. I am thrilled to see sunshine out my window as I write this afternoon post. It's been a crazy couple of weeks to say the least. I've tried several ways to put my mind at rest but it's been hard settling down to stamp. Last night I pulled out my best therapy - markers inks and stamps to do some no-line coloring! 

I gave Tombow markers a try for coloring using a paintbrush and water to spread the inks onto Fabriano water color paper. Being a rarely used coloring medium for me, some of those markers were dry then I substituted Distress Markers. Trying something new took lots of concentration and it was good for me to focus for an evening. 

Fussy cutting the flowers, I used foam tape to add them to a panel inked with Antique Linen, Lucky Clover and Chipped Sapphire DOX inks. I love the way these flowers stand out against the dark panel. Splattered with white paint, bedecked with a few jewels and it is done. 

Thanks so much for coming to my blog today. Writing helps me too, and I think reaching out is good for all of us! Sending hugs and well wishes to you all. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Altenew - Adore You. Sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp: Mandy's Flowers embossed with Altenew Rose Gold powder