Freshly Made Sketches #541 & NBUS#39

 

 Welcome!

 

Today I am joining in on Freshly Made Sketches #541:

 

I needed to make a Sympathy card and while they are not always the most fun to create they are needed (sadly).

 

So I started out with the first card below and wasn't sure if it was a bit much for a Sympathy card so I created a second card.  Tell me which is your favorite & which you think is most appropriate for a Sympathy card.

 

Card #1 

Card Base, Extra Heavy White

Next Layer Bashful Blue - Retired SU color (which I really miss) that I embossed with Birds & Swirls embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

Next I layered a strip of Night of Navy cs and a strip of Bashful blue with a tiny piece of designer paper (Paper Studio) - I also distressed the edges of the Navy piece.  I glued down a piece of the designer paper on white card stock and cut the heart die and also the bird die wing out.  The main bird was bashful blue.  I also used a rectangle die for the first time from Sizzix.  I cut that out in white and used the negative piece from Night of Navy.  The banner was cut with fishtail die (MFT) and the sentiment is from SU - Heal Your Heart stamp set.  I used Memento Tuxedo black ink on that.

 

 

Card #2 - I angled the rectangle portion of the sketch on this card.
 

Card Base - Bashful Blue

Embossed Layer - Basic White

Heart Die & Rectangle Die - Night of Navy cs

Multicolor deisgner paper - Paper Studio.

Other: Foam Tape

Baby Blue Stickles for the centers of the 3 flowers.

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Fishtail Dies

 Stock for the strip across the card.Textured Piece of Navy Card

  

Entering in for NBUS #39 as well since I used New Dies on these cards.

 

 

There you have it.  2 cards using the same colors, dies & stamps.  

Which one is your favorite?

Paper Players CAS One Layer Challenge #596 and NBUS#39

Before I get to today's card I wanted to share that I made the "Cut Above" for my card featured HERE for challenge #594.  It's always a fun surprise when you receive good news like that.

Now on to this weeks, Clean and Simple challenge.  Something that is totally out of my comfort zone. - Clean and Simple is hard for me to start out with but combine it with a, One Layer card and yep, I'm a little intimidated. 

I decided to give it a try though. I'll also be posting this as an NBUS#39 card since the stamp set I used is brand new and this was it's first use along with the Distress inks that I used.

Here is my card:

Card base: White Card Stock - This was a thicker card stock that I believe I purchased from Papertrey Ink many years ago.

I used a stencil from Tim Holtz Halloween set and sponged on,Spiced Marigold, Mustard Seed and Crushed Olive Inks.  Next I stamped the drink stamp (Unity - Itty Bitty - Chillin) with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with colored pencils blended with gamsol.  I stamped the sentiment with Versamark ink and embossed with Basic Black embossing powder to complete the card.  

So how did I do?  I'm still not sure that this is a style I'll grow to love but at least I gave it a try.

Color Throwdown#696

Hello!  Welcome back to my blog.

 

Today I am joining the Color Throwdown blog for challenge number 696.

What a fun group of colors with lots of possibilities to use them.

I debated about what I wanted to do and then decided to dig out my Nuts About Squirrels stamp set again.  I just love how cute and cheery looking those little squirrels are.

Here is the card I created using the colors (Kraft, Cream and Green) and whatever neutral you wanted to use.

 

Stamps:  Nuts about Squirrels, Itty Bitty Bakcgrounds - (SU)

Card Stock: Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, Old Olive and Very Vanilla.

Designer Paper - Heartwarming Designers Series (which after I had already finished the card I noticed that it has white in it and not vanilla - oops!)

Ink: Early Espresso (neutral color), Crumb Cake, Mossy Meadow, Old Olive - Granny Apple Green Marker (for the eye)

Other: Circle Nestabilitie Die, Burlap Card Stock, Foam Mounting Tape

All images were stamped on the Vanilla Card Stock, Fussy cut and mounted with the foam tape.

This card was fun to create and I hope it makes you smile.

Have a great day.

Paper Players #594

 

 Hooray I finally stamped a card!

Today I'm sharing a card I created for the Paper Players Challenge #594

 

 

I recently purchased some new paper at JoAnn's (well new to me) with lemons on them so I thought this would be the perfect time to use them. - I remembered that I had an old StampinUp

stamp set that had a lemon image in it so I located the set and got busy creating the card below.

 

 Card Base: Old Olive (SU)

Lemon Designer Paper - American Crafts

Yellow Dot Paper - Core'dinations

Lemon Stamp - SU (retired) set, Sun RipenedII

Sentiment - Inkadinkado

Enamel Dots - Paper Studio

Swiss Dot Embossing Folder

Oval Nestabilitie Dies

Basic Black Embossing Powder - SU

Prisma Colored Pencils

Foam Mounting Tape

I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, colored it with pencils and blended with Gamsol then fussy cut it out.

Be sure to check out the Design Teams inspiration and the other entries as well.  - Have a great day.

Fusion Color Palette - Blue Butterflies and NBUS#38

 Welcome!  Join me today for my interpretation of the Fusion Color Palette Challenge - Blue Butterflies and

 

 NBUS #38

Here is the inspiration sketch and photo for the Fusion challenge.

Here is the card I created:  I used both the sketch and the inspiration photo.

Lots of new, never used before stuff on this card.

The sentiment (just a note to say) and the die cute Hello are both new and from: Hero Arts Hello Stamp/Cut set.

The wonky circle die is from Sizzix - Mixed Media Motifs

The pattern paper is from: The paper studio along with the dark teal and light teal card stock.

The butterfly (not exactly new although it's the first time I used that particular butterfly from the set. ) Hero Arts - New Day butterflies.

Non - new stuff, Herringbone Embossing folder - Cuttlebug by Provo Craft (they are no longer in business)

Fishtail Die - mststamps.com

Night of Navy card stock - SU

Granny Apple Green card stock - SU

Basic White card stock - SU

Prisma Colored Pencils

Night of Navy Ink - SU & Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Gamsol, Foam Tape

A few cards...and NBUS

 Well here I am (finally) posting something stamping related.  It's just been hard to find time anymore to spend in my craft room although I have a ton of new stuff I need to work with and share.

 

So last month I was invited to attend a stamping day at a friends church.  They meet once a month and make a couple of cards and just have fun visiting and stamping.  The first two cards here today are the one's we made at the meeting.

 

 This first card uses and adorable set called, Berry Special.  It has a matching die set as well.  If interested you can purchase it HERE

We also used a cloud stencil and Stampin Blend markers (SU) to color.  The sparkle doesn't show up great but we used a Wink of Stella marker on the cards and added some little adhesive gems.

 

Next she had us pick from an kit from SU Paper Pumpkin called, Lots of Pun.

 

 Finally for my last card...

I'm sharing with NBUS#37  since the stamp set/die are both new.  The sketch was from Freshly Made Sketches #530  - Sadly I didn't get the card finished in time to meet the challenge deadline and then I also ran out of time to mail it off so now someone will get this card next Easter!

 

 The card uses the March Spellbinders Small Stamp/Die of the month set,  Spring Gnomes.  I used Granny Apple Green card stock for the card base,  The little Gnome girl was colored with Prisma Color pencils and blended with Gamsol.  I used a piece of patterned paper from a kit that was given to me as a gift.  The strip of orange is Pumpkin Pie cs.  -  I added a baker's twine bow and mounted the images with foam tape.  Easy, peasey card.

 

That's it for today.  I hope I can share something again real soon.

Color Throwdown #685 and NBUS #36

 

 Well after a long month of being absent from the stamping world I'm back!

 

Before I get to the cards I want to say that last week I got to meet one of my blogging/stamping friends.  Her name is Terri and she blogs at: Time 4 Kards  - She lives about 45-50 minutes away and drove over to hand deliver my birthday card and treated me to coffee and a muffin at one of the local coffee shops.  It was so much fun meeting her.  She brought her grandson along, he is 9 and such a nice friendly, polite boy.  I had a blast visiting with both of them and we can't wait to meet up again.  You can see the card she gave me HERE.

So my cards today are going into the current Color Throwdown#686 and NBUS#36

 

First up for the Color Throwdown:  What a fun spring color combo this was.

In fact I liked it so much that I used it for both my cards!

Card #1

I joined the Spellbinders Embossing Folder of the Month club along with Small Stamp set & die of the Month club back in January.  I have yet to use my January stamps but decided to use the February stuff for these cards.

 

For this card I started with a card base of Pumpkin Pie.  Next I embossed a piece of Crumb Cake card stock with the Sketched Floral embossing folder.  I layered that (using the debossed side) on top of a piece of Granny Apple green card stock and tied a small piece of orange bakers twine around it.  

 

I stamped the typewriter, flower and sentiment panel with Memento Tuxedo black ink and used the matching dies to cut them out.  The typewrite and flower were colored with Prisma colored pencils blended with Gamsol.  I stamped the two leaves with Granny Apple Green ink on Granny apple green cs and used the matching dies to cut them out.

The green panel was mounted with foam tape along with the typewriter and flower.  The leaves were glued down.  I added green and orange enamel dots and some glitter on the flower to complete the card.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For this next card I used the same colors and stamps/dies but chose a more CAS style for the card.

So for this one I used a Granny Apple Green card base, and Embossed piece of Pumpkin Pie cs with a small strip of Black cs that was distressed.  The typewriter was stamped with Crumb cake ink and cut out with the matching die. The sentiment was also stamped with Memento Tuxedo black in as was a different flower from the stamp set and the cute little heart.  Both were mounted with foam tape and glitter was again added to the flower.  The flower was colored again with pencils.

 

So there you have it, two fun but different cards using the same color scheme and stamp/die sets.  - I hope the people receiving these cards enjoy them as much as I did making them.

 

It felt good to be back stamping again and I hope to do more next week but it's a busy week so I may not get around to it until the following week.

Cupcake Card

Hi,  Remember Me?  - I know it's been awhile.  I'm still around but have just not been inspired lately to stamp much.  Anyway I do have a card to share today.

 

I made this for a friends birthday recently and planned to use it for one of the challenges but missed the deadline.

Anyway here are the details:

 

Card Base: Early Espresso (looks black in the photo but it's a dark brown)

Next layer is Basic white.  I added a strip of colored designer paper (source unknown) and a punched border of the espresso card stock.

 

The cupcake was stamped on white card stock and colored with watercolor pencils.  I added a red button for the cherry.  I fussy cut the cupcake and mounted it on a circle of white cs layered on top of a circle of Real Red cs. and mounted with foam tape.

 

The cupcake stamp is from: Hero Arts and the sentiment stamp (stamped in Real Red ink) is from, Annette Allen Watkins (it's a very old stamp I've had forever).

 

That's pretty much it for this card.  I hope to get back into stamping again soon.  I've got a bunch of new stuff I need to start using!

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Fusion Card Challenge - It's a New Year

 

Welcome!  -  Today I'm sharing a card I created for the new Fusion challenge. - It's a New Year.

 

For this challenge you can either use just the sketch or the inspiration photo or both.

 

 

For my card this time I just went with the inspiration photo.  I really liked all the gold sparkle and the bokeh.  Here is what I created:

 

 I went CAS with this card and also made my very first Christmas card for this year, (getting a head start!)

 

Card Base is Basic White.  Next I added a layer of Brushed Gold card stock (retired SU and my very last scrap of it, boo hoo).

On top of the gold layer I added a piece of white designer card stock that has gold/silver glitter pieces in it.

 

I used some punched poinsettias (Waffle Flower cover die) 

Using the gold/white designer paper from Paper Studio that I purchased at WalMart.  To the center of those flowers I used my new, Gold Luxe Nuvo Dream Drops.

 

I embossed the sentiment (D. Hunter) with Bold Gold embossing powder (SU) on Basic White cs and mounted it with foam tape over the sparkly paper.

 

I really like how sparkly it turned out but boy is it hard to get a decent picture of the sparkle. 

 

Thank you for stopping by & have a nice day.

Paper Players#572 & Color Throwdown#674

 Today my card is doing double duty.

I'm joining the  Paper Players Theme Challenge #572 and the current Color Throwdown #674

 

The Paper Players theme was, Make 2022 Sparkle and the Color Throwdown was: Black, Gold and White.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the card I created for these challenges:

 

 

 Details: Card Base, Basic Black, layered with a piece of white/gold shimmer paper (The Paper Studio).  I also used SU Gold paper for the border and the rectangle die.

 

I added a strip of Basic White card stock as well as the scalloped gold piece.

 

The New Year stamp (retired SU) was stamped with Gold Fire Opal embossing powder (Embossing Arts) on black card stock.  I added 3 black sprinkles (Annabelle Stamps - no longer in business).  I mounted the rectangle with foam tape.

 

This card is very sparkly in real life.  It's just hard to get a good picture of all that sparkle.

 

 

 

Christmas Past

Happy 2022 - Welcome,  I hope you are enjoying the New Year so far. It's been a "snowy" one for our area (much to my dismay) but so far I haven't been depressed about it.

So today I'm sharing a couple of cards that I just did not have the time to post before Christmas arrived.

Both cards use the same stamp set: Gifts of Joy (2005 - SU)

Card No. 1 - This card has a "retro" feel to it.

I stamped the Santa image with Real Red ink on Basic White cs and fussy cut him out.  The Card base is Real Red layered with Crumbcake.  The designer paper is a very old DCWV holiday stack.

I used Mint Macaron card stock and a Martha Stewart punch.

The sentiment is from Tim Holtz Bold Tidings  stamp set.  I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo ink and used Circle Dies to cut it out.  I also added some tiny light green gems and mounted the Santa image with foam tape.

 Card No. 2 - For this card I went with more of a sparkly/festive look.

Card Base was, Mossy Meadow layered with Cherry Cobble and a piece of designer paper that I have no clue where it came from.  I also added a small strip of pear pizzazz.  The Santa was stamped with Cherry Cobbler ink and fussy cut.  The sentiment was stamped with Mossy Meadow ink and mounted with circle dies.  I added some green sequins to the card as well and some clear sparkly glitter to Santa. (hard to see in the photo but it was very sparkly). 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed both of these fun holiday cards.

Rustic Poinsettia Christmas

 Hello & Welcome!

Today I'm featuring a card which was sent to a blogging friend and now that I know she has received it I'm going to show the rest of you.

Now I must confess this card is a "case" of a card I saw in an old stamping magazine. - I kept a lot of the Paper Crafts magazines (how I miss them) and from time to time I get them out for inspiration.  Here is a picture of the card from the magazine:

Kimberly Crawford use to have a stamping blog (https://kimberly-crawford.blogspot.com/) but is no longer posting cards as she has now become a surface pattern designer.  I wanted to give her credit though for the card idea.

So for my card I used the following:

Poinsettia Die - Waffle Flower

Holly Leaf Die - Momenta

White, Green and Red felt

Background Stamp: Retired SU Plaid

Burlap Card Stock: DCWV (Die Cuts With a View)

Card Stock: Crumb Cake - SU

Ink: Real Red - SU

Sentiment: Amuse Studio - Essential Sentiments

This was a fun card to create but I will say that in order to get the felt to cut I had to use a shim and run it through the machine and back several times before it cut completely through the felt.

Have a great day & Happy Stamping!

Non-Traditional Christmas

 Hello and Welcome. 

I made a bunch of Christmas cards that weren't for any particular challenge so I'm going to share one of those with you today.

For this card I went with the colors of, Black, Gold & White.  

Once again I used the Poinsettia Die from (Waffle Flower) and cut out the flowers in Basic Black, Basic White, and Gold (SU)

I also used a wreath die that I purchased from Sizzix (Mixed Media Motifs).  The berries are from another die set that I have.

I embossed the sentiment with Versamark Ink and Black embossing powder.  The sentiment is from, Hero Arts.

The designer paper is from, Paper Studio.

I added black drops to the center of the flowers.  They were from a now non-existent company called, Annabelle Stamps.

I really like how, "modern" this one looks.

Christmas is almost here

 Good Day! - Thanks for stopping by. I haven't posted in awhile as I've been busy trying to finish up my Christmas cards.  Today I'm going to share one of them.

Do you remember this card?  Today's card features the reverse side of that designer paper.

So for this card my card base was, Real Red cs that I layered the reverse piece of designer paper on top of it.  I added the little white centers from the flowers that had been punched out from the first card.

Next I used my Poinsettia Die (Waffle Flower) and the leaves/berries from another die set.  I added some lime green glitter to the center of the flowers berries.  The Merry + Bright sentiment is from an awesome new set by Tim Holtz that I've used a lot this year.

I stamped it on Granny Apple Green card stock, added some washi tape and 3 small white circles to complete the card.

More cards to come soon.  Just trying to get them all off in the mail.

Paper Players Sketch Challenge569

 

 Talk about "under the wire"  - Today I decided to do a card for the Paper Players sketch challenge and it was one thing after another and I'm super late getting my card up and posted.

 

 

Hope you aren't tired of this color combo as the last 2 cards I've posted have been done using it.

 

For this card  used the sentiment from: Star Studded Season.

Card Base: Basic Black, Second layer blue card stock from paper studio, designer paper from paper studio, brushed silver cs *retired su, Whisper White. Edited to add that the star is white cs with silver glitter in it.

Swiss Embossing Folder, Star Dies, Memento Tuxedo black ink and a blue gem.  Foam mounting tape.

If you have any questions about how the card was made just email me and I'd be happy to answer them.

Peace on Earth#4 - I couldn't resist a second card!

 

 Yes, I just had to do a second card for the Peace On Earth Challenge #4

 

Again the inspiration/mood board:

 

For my second card I went again with the colors of the inspiration board and did a religious card.  My mom always sent out cards celebrating the birth of Christ at Christmas time so again this one is a reminder of her faith to me.

 

 The card base is Basic Black. Then I layered it with a piece of a blue card stock (Paper Studio) and a piece of patterned paper that I found at JoAnn Fabric.  This paper was so cool.  It has an almost felt like texture to it and had sparkly silver stars and blotches of blue against a black back ground.  It really reminds me of the night sky.

I stamped the Nativity (Inkadinkado - O Holy Night) with Night of Navy ink on Basic White cs.  Then I added a tiny touch of glitter around the halo of baby Jesus.  I layered that onto a circle of the same blue card stock.  The sentiment is from: SU - For Unto Us stamp set and I stamped it on white cs with Memento Tuxedo black ink.

I embossed the star, also from the For Unto Us stamp set on black card stock with Silver embossing powder and fussy cut it out.  Then mounted it with foam tape and added a light blue gem to the center of the star.

I really like how this one turned out.

Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge #4

 Welcome!

 

Today I'm sharing a card for the Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge#4 

 

Here is the "Mood Board" 

 

Below is the card I created for this challenge.

 

 

I love the Blue/White color scheme so I was inspired by that and the snowflake ornament in Santa's hand.

 

My card base is Basic White cs (SU).  I layered that with Night of Navy cs and a piece of dotted designer paper that I have had in my stash for some time.

The snowflake was cut with a snowflake die from (Momenta) and embossed with Versamark ink and Silver/White embossing powder.

I stamped the sentiment the same way.  The sentiment is from, Studio G. I added a silver ball to the center of the snowflake.  It's hard to see in the photo but the snowflake and sentiment both sparkle.
 

Freshly Made Sketches #512

 Hello and Welcome.

Join me today for a card for the Freshly Made Sketches #512 challenge.

Here is the sketch:

Below is the card that I created for this challenge.

For this card I started with a card base of, Granny Apple Green cs.

Next I layered a piece of Basic White cs which I embossed with the Swiss Dot embossing folder.  I added a strip of designer paper at the top and a punched border underneath in a turquoise color.

Next I stamped 2 images of the tree and cut one out with a oval die. I colored the 2nd image with copic markers and cut out the tops of the trees.  I glued the two side trees down and mounted the center tree with foam tape adding some glitter to the star and the base of the trees. I mounted that onto another oval die cut using Real Red card stock.

The sentiment is from a Fiskars stamp set (Festive Trees) that I've had for a number of years but have never used. I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo black ink.

Tree Stamp: Studio G

Oval Dies - Sizzix

Punch - EK Success

Color Throwdown #669

 

 Happy Friday! - or just Happy Day (in case you are viewing this on a day that isn't Friday!

Today's Card is for the COLOR THROWDOWN #669

 

 

Navy, Gold & White.

 

Here is my CAS card for this challenge:

 

 I found this small stamp set my mom purchased at WalMart several years ago still unopened it it's package and decided that I wanted to used it for a Christmas card.  She loved "angels" and so this one is dedicated in her memory. 

Card Base: Night of Navy - SU The next layer is Brushed Gold card stock -*retired SU.

I stamped the angel with Versamark ink on Basic White cs and used Gold Glory *retired SU embossing Powder.  The star and swirl were also gold embossed. - I used a water brush and the Navy ink pad to loosely water color around the angel.  Then took the Navy marker and spritzed some blue ink onto the image.

The sentiment was stamped with Night of Navy ink.

I distressed the edges of the Navy Strip of paper and around the angel.

To finish the card I added 3 Navy brads (something that use to be very popular on cards)

The gold panel and the angel panel were mounted with foam tape to give it a big more dimension.

 

 

Four Seasons Challenge - Anything Goes Fall

 Hello everyone.  Welcome to my blog.

Today I'm participating in a (new to me) challenge blog:

FOUR SEASONS - for their ANYTHING GOES - FALL challenge.

They include an mood board for you to use for inspiration:

Fall is one of my two favorite seasons (spring being the other one). 

For my card I wanted to used warm colors and fall leaves.  Plus I couldn't resist using my squirrel stamp again!

Here is the card that I created for the challenge:

I started with a card base: Basic Black

Next I added a layer of Pumpkin Pie along with 2 patterns of designer paper (Carta Bella - Welcome Autumn series) Those leaves are just so pretty on that paper.  

Next I stamped my sentiment (which took me forever to locate in my stamp drawers) - With Memento Tuxedo Ink - The sentiment is one I've had forever and is from, Hero Arts.

I cut a circle of More Mustard*retired SU card stock and added 3 small gold colored gems.

I stamped my squirrel (Nuts About Squirrels - SU) with Memento Tuxedo black ink, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry and Crumb Cake inks and fussy cut it out.  I mounted the squirrel over the circle with foam tape.

Hope you have enjoyed your visit & have a great day.

Paper Players Color Challenge #567

 

Hello & Welcome!

Today I'm joining in on the current Paper Players Color Challenge #567

 

Here is the color scheme: Grey, White, Black & Silver.  - A really neat combo.

I decided to make a Christmas card using these colors.  I know it seems weird for a holiday card but I assure you it works.  Be sure to check out the Design Teams cards as well as there are several Christmas/Winter themed cards using these colors. - It was hard to photograph this but the silver is shimmery.  I really miss this card stock that SU use to carry in both gold, silver and white.

For my card I started with a black card base.  Then I stamped the wood grain texture with Smoky Slate Ink.  Over that I stamped the Peaceful Wishes Greeting with Versamark ink and Bold Black embossing powder.

I added a strip of black,grey & silver designer paper a punched border of snowflakes in brushed silver card stock.  The I punched out my cardinal with brushed silver card stock, the poinsettia in black and white cs, the holly leaves in silver, the berries in white.  I glued the cardinal down on Basic White cs, added the poinsettia piece which I mounted with foam tape.  I also used some white/silver cording and a touch of glitter to the center of the flower.

Sentiment Stamp is from SU (Peaceful Wishes)*retired.

Bird and Poinsettia Dies are from Momenta

Background Stamp Momenta

Circle Die - Spellbinders

Thanks for stopping by.