Merry & Joy with Penny Black

Greetings all! I wanted to create one last Christmas themed set of cards with a new to me Penny Black stamp AND also play along with Penny Black Saturday Challenge and of course, NBUS!

I've been watching a lot of PB&J You Tubes lately and I've got to say, they are so inspiring! I love to color and Jill Foster is amazing with her creativity. Recently I  purchased Rosa PB-40-741 from 123 Stitch.com and created these 2 cards with it:

Starting with Ranger Ink's Distress Ink Mini Cubes directly onto the Penny Black stamp and using Bristol Smooth card stock, I found that I was coloring not only the flowers, but the stems in the same color. So in order to have separate colors (no mixed brown on this card!) I switched to my Tombow Markers and all was well! Jill Foster shows this method in almost all of her You Tubes.

I used 2 colors of red and 2 of green on each card. The sentiments are from a retired Winnie & Walter set and stamped with Altenew's Obsidian Black Pigment Ink. Perfect for crisp dark stamping. Both of them got a good splattering of gold watercolor paint and a few gold baubles for a little bling!

Here they are side by side:

Couldn't you see this stamp for birthdays, Mother's Day, Thinking of You, Get Well and on and on. So versatile! These 2 are going out in the mail tomorrow...hoping they will arrive before Christmas. If you haven't tried Penny Black stamps you are missing out. Check out their You Tubes for so much inspiration.

Thanks for joining me today and Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

One Stencil for 2 Holidays

Hi my friends! Do you like to get the max use out of your stencils? This delicate stencil from A Colorful Life Designs called Pine Sprig Doily can be used for many many occasions. I made a Christmas card and a Thanksgiving card for this post with it. 

Here is the stencil picture from A Colorful Life Designs' website for Pine Sprig Doily:

This stencil really needs a good spritz of Pixie Spray on the back before using. The stencil has thin delicate lines which I love for more color shines through!

My Christmas Card front panel was sprayed with Distress Ink's Tim Holtz Spray Stain Uncharted Mariner while the stencil was adhered tightly with Pixie Spray. The cute deer is from Simon Says Stamp Ho Ho Deer Circle Wafer Die and the sentiment is also from Simon Says Stamp called Tabbed Sentiments Holiday (retired).

For the Thanksgiving Card I ink- blended Distress Oxides: Frayed Burlap and Wild Honey through the Pine Sprigs Doily. The little images are from Trinity Stamps - Autumn Forest Friends and the sentiment is from Photoplay - Gnome for the Holidays stamp set (both retired).

Overall very quick and fun cards to make! Thank you for joining me today and if you stop by A Colorful Life Designs and pick up any goodies, use AnitaFan10 for 10% off your entire purchase (except bundles).

I will be submitting to the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #179

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Great Sale now Until Jan. 24, 2021!

Hi friends! I just wanted to let you know about a really good deal going on at Spellbinders now until Jan. 24, 2021. You don't often see such great savings!  And remember, Spellbinders sells Fun Stampers Journey products, too. 

Spellbinders has a new tool included with the Glimmer Hot Foil System if you were thinking of purchasing it. With $25 off - this would be a great time!

Here are some cards/projects I've created with both Spellbinders and FSJ:

The fun Say It Embossing Folder came from Spellbinders and right now it is on sale for $1.49! Can't beat that. 

Great time to pick up the popular Sunday Drive Series:

There are cute add-ons for this series, too. Halloween, Easter, Christmas and Love. Who doesn't love a Santa, a skeleton or a bunny driving a car?!

This card is from the Truckin' Through the Season Die set. There are lots of add- ons for this set, too! So fun to create these dimensional cards. No stamping on this one (except for the inside).

More fun creations from this year:

I took first place on a challenge with this card using the Hot Foil Glimmer System:

You can see I love Spellbinders and Fun Stamper Journey products. They stamp and die beautifully! I hope this helps if you are looking for some new craft supplies. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Simon Hurley Inspired Card for FMS#456

I recently watched Simon Hurley's You Tube video where he demonstrated watercolor stamping with an acrylic block. Honestly, I have done this for several years, but it was one of those techniques which I haven't used in a while. So using Simon's products, I created a card for Freshly Made Sketches 456 challenge:

Basically a clean and simple card once the background is created. To create the square backdrop, I used Simon Hurley's Bright White Card Stock and 3 of his dye inks: Tropical Tango, Bee Sting and Over the Moon. You simply ink up an acrylic block with the ink pad, spritz with water and set onto the paper. I did several (for who can do just one!?) and some I left sitting on the paper and some I lifted right away. The difference is the one lifted right away are more "juicy" and the ink runs more.

In Simon's video he leaves the acrylic watercolor on the card stock and stamps directly onto it once dried, but I wanted to cut mine out so that it was more like the sketch challenge. I used Hero Art's Square Infinity and Circle Infinity Dies for this card. Great set of dies for a staple in your stash. You'll always have the size you need with these sets...also make great frames!

Simon's stamp set I used is a previous release called Caroling Squad. I've used it several times and just love the little dog and the addition of reindeer antlers for him! If you look to the right of the singing boy you will see the little antler stamp...fun!

To put the card together, I stamped the sentiment from the Caroling Squad which says "WOOF! (THAT MEANS MERRY CHRISTMAS IN DOG)...We are a family with many granddogs, so this will be perfect for one of the daughters! I used washi tape from my stash again to comply with the sketch. Lastly, I added a Black Licorice Heart Jelly Drop from Trinity Stamps:

I felt it was just what was needed. So that's it for me today. If you are not familiar with Simon Hurley, I encourage you to check him out. He started when he was 14 making card videos. He has now graduated high school and has been a designer for Ranger for about 2 years. Kudos to him! His stamps are unique in the market and he hand draws, writes all the images and sentiments.

Thank you to Freshly Made Sketches and Simon for their inspiration.

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

The Card Concept 138b Christmas in July

Christmas in July! What could be better? No gifts yet, but just fun creating. My card for today's challenge was totally inspired by the colors of the inspiration photo: turquoise, red and that pretty pretty pink.

I made 3 Clean & Layered cards because I can never just make one!

They all were colored with Derwent Inktense Watercolor pencils on Ranger's Inkssentials Watercolor paper. This paper is perfect for card making! Bright white, has a smooth side for stamping and takes water well.

Which is your favorite? I love them all!

I will keep this post short today, but thank you for stopping by and if you are interested the products I used are shown below. 

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.