Unity - Mushroom Card

 Welcome! - Yes,  I'm really posting a card here.  I know it's been ages since I've posted. - The holidays were a busy time and while I stamped I didn't get many posts done of the cards I made.  - Those will come later.

I ended up getting pretty sick in late November with Bronchitis and it took awhile to get over it.  

Thought things were going well this year and wouldn't you know it,  I came down with Covid. - Just a mild case, which I am very thankful for that. - Still it's left me with little energy so my time for stamping has been limited. 

Anyway I joined the Unity Kit of the Month club again and finally made a card with stamps from the December 2022 Kit.

Here is the card that I made:

I kept this one pretty, CAS (Clean and simple) more or less.

Card Base - Basic Black, Layered with Pumpkin Pie.  I added the stamped mushroom piece then a piece of printed mushroom designer paper and tied some twine around it.

The sentiment and mushrooms were stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  - I used SU Stylish Circle Dies and some black gems to complete the card. - The sentiment was popped up with foam tape.

Hoping to do a little stamping this week. 

I'll be starting to post a few of the Christmas cards I made for 2022 in the coming days as well.

Thanks for popping by.

Color Throwdown#716 and NBUS#43

 Welcome!

 

Today I'm joining the Color Throwdown blog for challenge #716 

 

Here is the inspiration photo and colors: Plum, Sage & Blush

 Also entering for NBUS#43

 

 

 

 

Here is the card that I created for this challenge. - I really liked the soft colors but could not seem to locate any designer paper in those colors so I decided to stick to using only card stock in those colors.

 

I started of with a card base of Perfect Plum (retired SU). Next I created a layer of Sage Shadow (retired SU) that I embossed with a new embossing folder from Spellbinders (Forevergreen).

Next up I stamped my image with Memento Tuxedo ink and used colored pencils to color the image.  I added some glitter to the star and used a gel pen for the little pink ornaments on the tree.

I cut the image out using SU Stylish dies and Circle Nestabilite Dies.

The pink circle was cut from SU Blushing Bride card stock.

Next up I stamped the sentiment from my new SU stamp set:  Brightest Glow with the Tuxedo black ink and used another of the Stylish dies.  I mounted the sentiment and the image with foam tape and added 3 light blush pink dots to complete my card.

 

So now I have my very first Christmas card of the season made.  I'd best get busy though as the holiday season is upon us now and time goes by quickly!

 

Color Throwdown #714

 

 Hello & Welcome!

 

Today I'm joining the Color Throwdown #714 challenge and also NBUS#43:

 

Here is the Throwdown inspiration photo & colors:

 

 

 

 

I was inspired by the colors and the photo.  I went through a bunch of fall themed stamps and found one that belonged to my mom that I had never used before so that is my "NBUS" stuff for this card as well as the designer paper that I used.

 

Here is my card:

 

 Details: Card Stock: Early Espresso, Night of Navy, Basic White and More Mustard*(retired) - Designer Paper (Plaid print from DCWV - Pumpkin Patch Stack.

 Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Early Espresso, More Mustard*

Stamps: Have a Festive Fall - Stampa Rosa, Acorn/Leaves -Studio112 which was purchased at JoAnns many years ago and never used.

Other: Fishtail Dies - MFT Stamps, Circle Nestability Dies, Colored Pencils, Gamsol, Distress Tool, Sponge, Masking Paper.

For this card I stamped the image on the white card stock and again on masking paper.  Then I cut out the image from the masking paper and laid it over the image on the card stock and sponged the Night of Navy ink over it.  I took the mask off and colored the rest of the image adding in some of the navy with a q-tip in places where I missed the ink from sponging.

The sentiment and the leaf image were mounted on the card with foam tape for dimension.  I distressed the edges of the mustard card stock with a distressing tool and also brushed some More Mustard ink around the edges.

 Links to NBUS#43  and Color Throwdown #714

Fusion Color Palette - Autumn Leaves

 Welcome! - It's been a bit (again) since I've stamped.  Have been dealing with some family issues and a nasty cold which has drained me of much energy. - I did finally get this card finished that I started for the current Fusion challenge.

 

 

 

Fall or Autumn is one of my favorite seasons.  I love the leaves as they change color.  - Speaking of color....just look at all the beautiful colors in the inspiration photo and sketch.

 

I decided to use both the sketch and the colors for my card.

 

 

 So many different stamp sets were used to make this card come together.  -  Plus I'm not totally sure on the colors of card stock I used but I'm going to give it my best shot.

I'm thinking the base layer is Cajun Craze  The yellow layer is a retired SU color, Barely Banana.  The wood grain stamped layer is Pumpkin Pie and the Blue Leaf border is Coastal Cabana or Bermuda bay. - Hey I said I wasn't totally sure but they looked as close to the colors as I could find.

 

Stamps used:  SU - Woodgrain background, Petite Patterns*(retired),Give Thanks (bucket of Leaves) also *, Hero Arts - Hero Greetings (tiny Hello) and Inkadinkado - Autumn sentiment.  This was part of a Halloween mini set purchased at JoAnn's several years ago.

 

Ink used: Memento Tuxedo Black, Cajun Craze, So Saffron

Other: Stylish Dies & Nestabilitie Circle die - Colored Pencils, Leaf border punch (EK Success).

 

I think it turned out pretty cute for mixing so many different stamps sets to create one card. - I hope you enjoy it too. 

Paper Players Theme Challenge #607 & Global Design Project

Wow cutting this under the wire for sure. - Our computer has been acting up and I had this card ready to post yesterday but just could not get the darn thing to work right.

 

Anyway the Paper Players theme challenge PP607 this week was,

Fall Fun.

 

I've also decided to enter this in the Global Design Project

 

 

Here is the card I created for the challenge:

 

 Card Stock used: Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Mint Macaron and Basic White.

Desinger Paper, Carta Bella (Welcome Autumn)

Stamp Sets: Nuts About Squirrels (SU) and Hey Foxy (Amuse Studio) Woodgrain Background (SU)

Ink:  Cajun Craze, So Saffron, Soft Suede, Early Espresso (SU)

Dies:  Stylish Dies (SU) and Circle Nestabilitie Dies. 

Other: Gold Gems and Foam Tape.

The squirrel was fussy cut.

I really liked how this turned out so I wanted to make sure I got it posted for the challenge.  - Our computer sucks right now!

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #551

Hello & Welcome!  Today I will be showing a card I made for the current FMS#551 challenge. 

Here is the sketch:

Here is the card I created using the sketch.  - This was a cool sketch because you could really do a lot of different things with it.

Once again I got out my Hocus Pocus stamp set from Photo Play. I really like this set and the matching dies a lot!

So I started with a card base of Basic Black cs. (SU) then I took a piece of Granny Apple Green cs (SU) and embossed the spiderweb on the top portion of the card stock only.  Then I added strips of Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black and Gorgeous Grape cs. leaving a portion of the green on the bottom where I stamped the sentiment.

I used Basic White paper to stamp the broom, cauldron & shoes with Memento Tuxedo black ink. - I colored the images with Prisma color pencils and blended with Gamsol and blending stumps.  Then I cut them out with the matching dies.  I added glitter to the shoes and some, Wink of Stella to the potion in the cauldron.  I glued the cauldron down and popped up the shoes with foam tape along with the bottom of the broom.

Lastly I added 3 sequins to the top portion of the web.

I must confess that originally I had a punched spider in the web but felt it wasn't the correct portion for the other images so I pulled it off and when I did it tore the paper a little.  So to correct that boo-boo I added the sequins.  I think it works.

Don't forget to click on the link and check out the DT cards as well as the other participants.  So much talent out there!

 

 

Color Throwdown #707 & NBUS #41

 

 Happy Monday!

Joining in today with a card I created for the Color Throwdown #707

 (Mustard, Navy Blue & Turquoise)

Since I also used some new stuff for this card I will be posting for the NBUS #41 as well.

Here is the card that I created:

 

 For this card I started with a card base of (Night of Navy-SU card stock).  Then I embossed a layer of More Mustard *retired SU cs with a new embossing folder from Spellbinders called, Radiant Burst.  This was the April 2022 Embossing Folder of the month.

Then I cut out circles (SU - Stylish Dies) from Basic White & Bermuda Bay cs.  I stamped the Owl with the coffee cup which is also new and is from Unity Stamps Itty Bitty Ray of Sunshine.

I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored the owl with Prisma Colored Pencils.  I distressed the edges of the owl and the sentiment with More Mustard ink.  I added a strip of designer paper that I found in my scrap pile so I don't know which company it is from.  The circles and sentiment were mounted with foam tape.

I hope this makes you smile.  That owl is just so silly looking, it makes me smile.

Have a great day & thanks for stopping by.

Freshly Made Sketches#549 & Color Throwdown #706

 

 

Hello and Happy Friday!

 

Today I'm sharing a card I created for, Freshly Made Sketches#549

and Color Throwdown#706 

 

Here is the sketch:

 

 Next is the Inspiration Photo for the Color Throwdown:

 

 

Finally here is my card:

 

  So for this card there was very little stamping involved.  Instead I used a lot of Dies to come up with my design.

 

I started with a card base of what I think is an old SU color, Tempting Turquoise - I really should have kept track of the retired colors better.  Anyway...I then took a piece of white cs and used a die from a set Tim Holtz Mixed Media#1 to cut out the pattern on the bottom portion of the card.  Next I used an old SU Kaleidacolor ink pad, Caribbean Sea and the Itty Bitty Background stamp to create the little colored speckles.

 

Then I cut circles of Bermuda Bay and Pool Party with my new Stylish Shape Dies. - I stamped the sentiment from an old retired SU set - It's Your Birthday with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.

 

I die cut two leaves from Granny Apple Green cs with dies from two different sets (Momenta) that I purchased at Hobby Lobby.

 

I added some Wink of Stella to them for added sparkle and then included some lime green sprinkles from a company called, AnnaBelle stamps that is no longer in business.

 

Here is a picture of the sparkle:

 For a change I went pretty CAS on this card but I really like how it turned out.  I hope you do as well.

 

Be sure to click on the links and see what the DT came up with and also the other participants.  

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Freshly Made Sketches #548

 

Welcome. - Today I'm joining Freshly Made Sketches #548 and 

NBUS #41

 

 

 

Once again I used another stamp from my new Stamp Set, Hocus Pocus and the matching dies.

I also used a new piece of designer paper that I purchased last year and never used.  It's by Echo Park and is from the Halloween Magic collection.  This piece was called, Haunted Hats.  

Another new thing I used was my background embossing folder,

Spellbinders - Faux Stitch and was the May embossing folder of the month.  It reminded me of the patterns in the paper I used for the strip portion of the sketch.

Here is my card:

 

 So details:  Card background, Basic Black, Embossed layer, Old Olive, Strip layer, Pumpkin Pie and Haunted Hats dp.  I used a paper distressing tool on the edges.

Hat was stamped in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Basic White cs and colored with Prisma colored pencils. I use Gamsol to blend the colors.  I stamped the sentiment (Best Witches) with Memento Tuxedo ink and added it to a piece of the pumpkin pie cs.  I used another of my new dies from SU Stylish Shapes set on s piece of More Mustard*-retired card stock to resemble a moon.  I used the Star Die to cut out 3 stars in Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive and Gorgeous Grape.  I added some Wink of Stella to them for sparkle.  

 The hat and sentiment were mounted with foam tape. 

 

This was a great sketch because you could use your imagination on how to fill it in.  You could go CAS (Clean and Simple) or embellish it more as I did.

Be sure to stop by the FMS blog and check out the other particpants and the design teams cards. - Also NBUS as there is a lot of great inspiration there.

Fusion Challenge - Wine and Cheese

 Welcome! - Today I'm joining the latest Fusion Challenge - Wine and Cheese

 

 

The idea is to used either the sketch, the inspiration photo or combine both. - I chose to do both for my card. - Although I must admit that it is rather a unique take on the inspiration photo (IMO)

 

I don't have very many wine/drink related type stamp sets and I wanted to use one of my new Halloween sets so I created a Halloween themed card.

Using the wine color from the photo as my main inspiration.

 

My card base is, Basic Black which I layered with a patterned piece of old retired SU Halloween paper.  I used a strip of Rich Razzleberry cs and stamped the stars on it from my new stamp set.

I added a piece of punched spiderweb to the side.

 

My images (cauldron, wand, bubbles, bat and sentiment were stamped with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored with pencils (except for the bat).  I used the matching dies to cut the images out and mounted them with foam tape.  The sentiment was stamped on White card stock and I used some new dies for that as well.

 

As you can see in this image I also added some shimmer to the bubbles and brew using my Wink of Stella pen.

Since I used a bunch of new stuff  I'm including this for NBUS#41

 

The Stamp Set and Dies are from Becky Moore - Hocus Pocus  and I just love them.  

The sentiment dies are also new to me and are from SU - Stylish Shapes Dies.

The spiderweb border punch is a Martha Stewart punch - Most likely retired by now.

Magic Under the Sea - 3 Challenges.

 

  

 Happy Friday!

 

My card today is joining the Fusion (Beach Tiers) challenge,

 

and will also be entered for the current Color Throwdown #703

 

 

 

 Since I'm also using some brand new dies and stamps I'll post this on NBUS#40 as well.

I really liked the sketch and the inspiration photo for the Fusion challenge.  Then I noticed that this weeks Color Throwdown had some similar colors and a beachy vibes to it as well so I thought why not combine the 2 challenges into one card.  Here is what I came up with:

 

 

 

NBUS#40 

 

 

 

 

So for this card I started with the sketch from the Fusion challenge only I turned my card vertical instead. - I also was inspired by the beach theme of the challenge.  Then I used the color scheme from the color throwdown (Kraft, Cream and Powder Blue) .

My card base is Crumb Cake (Kraft) with a layer of Very Vanilla (Cream) stamped with a retired SU background stamp, Cheese Cloth with Crumb Cake ink.  I cut out the Mermaid, Star Fish, Sea Shells using a retired piece of Bashful Blue cs and Very Vanilla cs.  I added some color to the mermaid, starfish & shells using old retired SU chalks.  The Panels are Very Vanilla edges with Crumb Cake and a piece of blue card stock (not sure what SU color is is but I know it's a retired color. I'm going to guess Baja Breeze.  

The sentiment was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I added sparkle to the Mermaid and shells with a Wink of Stella pen.  The mermaid and shells were popped up on foam mounting tape.  I added some small caramel colored gems to the starfish centers to complete the card.

The Dies and Stamp set are part of a Spellbinders Kit (Under the Sea Magic) that a friend of mine sent me as a surprise this past week.  

I think this will make a fun birthday card for someone. - I hope you like it.

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #544 & NBUS #40

 

 Hello and Welcome!  Today I'm joining Freshly Made Sketches #544 and also NBUS #40

 

I really liked this sketch and found it easy to work with.

 

I had recently purchased a new stamp set, (Your Zest Life - Catherine Pooler) and the matching dies.  So I got it out along with another piece of new designer papers from Paper Studio and went to work on my card.

 

Details on this card:

Card stock, Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy for the strip & Basic White. (SU)

Designer Lemon Paper - American Crafts, Polka Dot textured paper -
 Core-dinations.

Stamp Set - Live Your Zest Life - Catherine Pooler, Matching Dies

Ink Pads: Crushed Curry (for the lemon) and Memento Tuxedo Black.  Versa Mark Pad

White Embossing Powder

Colored Pencils, Gamsol, Wink of Stella, White Gel Pen, Paper Distressing Tool (retired SU) and Foam Mounting Tape. 

I tried to get a picture of the shimmer from the Wink of Stella pen but it's a bit blurry - you can still see some of the sparkle.  Looks really pretty in real life.

I hope you have enjoyed this card as much as I did creating it.

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