Silver & Gold Christmas

Gosh, has it really been that long since I posted last? 😏

Well Thanksgiving time kept me pretty busy, then

I had a surprise visit from my son and his fiance, it was a 

fabulous surprise and it was so nice to see them.  

Once I got back to crafting after all that it took me a bit to get rolling again.

I was able to get this Christmas card done using Unity stamps

and "no red or green" for their current challenge on Facebook.

Every year I usually make a Christmas card without the traditional

Christmas colors, but for some reason, this one stumped me

until I ran across this beautiful papers that my son-in-law 

had given me.  He works in a print shop and everyone while in a while

he will bring me some fabulous papers.  The silver paper on this

card has a metallic pearl-like finish to it and the gold is very

sparkly.   I stamped the tree and the saying using Versamark

ink pad and then embossed with a golden champagne-like color.

Both of the stamps are from the September Kit of the Month

from Unity stamps. Now parts of the merry didn't stamp out

all the way or very clear but that is the way the stamp

was made, it kind of messes with my OCD on everything

be stamped perfectly.

I embossed the silver panel and then added a  strip in

ribbon/chain along the side of the card.

Thank you for stopping by, I am so behind on my Christmas cards

I really need to get going. 

Fall Candles

Hi back to share a different kind of project for me, it is

not a card...................

I had done this many many years ago when I first started on my stamping journey, probably around 1996 and had forgotten about

it till I recently seen someone make one.  

So the challenge right now over at the Unity Stamp Facebook

Show & Tell group is to create something other than a card and thought

well, this is the perfect time to make some of these again.

I stamped on tissue paper using a couple of the stamps that were in

the August 2017 Unity Stamp KOTM.  I then colored the images

using my Copic markers and trimmed the tissue paper so there was not a whole bunch of extra around the image but not as close as fussy cutting.  You have to be a little gentle as to not tear the delicate tissue paper. 

 I had bought a two pack of plain white wax pillar candles. Using my Ranger heat tool I gently heated an area of the candle them placed the colored

image over it, it will not all stick down yet I just do this so it stays

in place till I move to the next step.  Then once it is right where I

want it to go, I continue to heat over the image moving around the heating tool because you do not want to over melt the candle.  Just keep heating

and moving around the heating tool till the tissue paper edges seem

to disappear into the candle.   Then I placed my second leaf and repeated

the process and that is it.  It is actually pretty easy.  I suppose

you could use a hairdryer if you don't have a heat tool.

I added some twine and buttons to the bottom to dress them up a bit.

I will take these to my daughters for Thanksgiving so she can

use them as decorations, or burn them if she wishes to.

          They would make great gifts for the holidays and so easy to make,

 the possibilities are endless.   In fact, it will be

on my gift giving list this year. 

               Unity Stamps is having a huge sale right now so if you have

had your eye on now is the time to pick up those stamps. 

Snowman Couple

Hi, it is that time of the month again (oh no not that time lol)

for the Bugaboo Crafty Challenge over at the 

Crafting Circle.

Each month starting on the 15th we have a challenge that is 

sponsored by Bugaboo where you just need to color up a

Bugaboo image and enter it in the challenge. 

Don't have any Bugaboo images, no problem Bugaboo offers

                         a freebie every Friday and if you look around I am 

                                sure you will find some images you like. 

So for my card this month I chose to use this adorable little

Snowman Couple.

 Aren't they just the cutest?  Well there is a reason I chose this image

beside their cuteness is, recently my son got engaged and I thought this

would make the perfect Christmas card to send them for their

1st Christmas as an engaged couple. 

I struggled so much on how I wanted to do this card, first I was going to

put them in a snowglobe and make a shaker card, but decided not too

because I didn't want them to be covered with things.

I was trying to keep it rather simple.   I randomly stamped on white paper

with a couple of snowflake stamps from the October 

Unity Kit of the Month and also some Hero Arts stamps

then I heat embossed them with white glossy

embossing powder.  

I colored the snow couple using my Copic markers and accented with some

glitter pens on the ornaments.  Her hat I added white fluff to

the band and the ball on the top, a couple details that are hard

to see in the picture.  Then I cut the image out using a

Gina Marie die that actually embosses the edges.

I then created a label in Cricut Design Space and wrote

out the Merry Christmas using my Explore and a black

Pilot Precision V5 pen.  Then fit right in your Explore

and I love the fine line they write with.

I pop dotted both the image and the label to give it some dimension.

Well thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and visit my

blog.  Head on over the Bugaboo Crafty Challenge and join in

the fun. 

Coloring on Red

                    You know all the rage right now is coloring on kraft cardstock me

included love it.  I love the look, I love the way the color lays down, 

I just love everything about it. 

So I recently ran across where someone colored on colored paper,

I believe what I saw was blue.

Well I recently got my Perfect Poinsettia set of stamps from

Gina K so I thought it would be perfect to give it a try

to color on red.  So for my project this month over

at the Crafty Awesomeness Challenge I made this card.

I stamped the poinsettias and heat embossed them in gold.  This set

of stamps is actually a multi-step set of stamps, much like the truck one I did HERE.  For this card, I only used the lined/detailed stamp.

I colored in the poinsettias using my Polychromo pencils.

I love pink poinsettias so that was actually my driving factor

to color on red paper.

I die cut the Merry Christmas using a GinaMarie die.  I thought it needed something so I covered it in Versamark ink and then heat embossed

it using clear embossing powder.  It made it stand out a bit more. 

I then mounted the red panel on gold foil paper to pick up the gold

embossing.  I am slowly making a dent in my Christmas

cards but still have a way to go.

Sorry this post is late, it was just one of those times where

I couldn't get it together in time.  I had the card all finished

but had to sit down and type up this blog post.

Thanks for stopping by and remember to head over to

the Crafty Awesomeness Challenge where it is

and anything goes challenge so come on over and let's see what you got.

An Old Classic

Hi, I am pretty excited to share this card with you.

Recently I ran across a stamp company called

Kitchen Sink Stamps.  I had never heard of them but while

doing a blog hop back in September for My Sweet Petunia (MISTI)

they were featured and I was hooked.

I used the Old Classic Truck set and following the sketch

at Sweet Sketch Wednesday I created this card.

Here is the sketch I followed.

The truck stamp is a multi-step stamping, in fact, this particular image

has 7 steps to it.  It adds so much dimension.  The biggest problem is picking

out your shades of ink. 

I had just ordered a couple sets at the time but I will definitely keep

this site bookmarked to check out some of the other sets they have.

The Kitchen Sink Stamps has a blog also so check it out HERE.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed my card. 

A Couple of Christmas Cards

Hi, I have two Christmas cards to share with you.

Well, they are pretty much both the same just in different colors.

I created the card following the sketch this week over at

Retro Rubber Challenges.

I was looking at the sketch trying to figure out what I was going to do, I actually set up a cut file in Cricut Design space.  Then I was looking through my Christmas stamps when I ran across this Unity Stamps Christmas tree
stamp from last year, so I thought well I will just flip this sketch on its side.
I rarely do this, normally I follow the sketch to a "T" but I thought
this was the perfect stamp. 
So here is what I came up with.

Red version, trees are stamped using the trees that were in
the Joyous Season set from October of 2016.  This one was stamped
using Catherine Pooler ink "Rockin Red" and heat embossed with clear.
The Merry Christmas is from a Hero Arts set from 2014, that I heat embossed with gold.

And the green version, I stamped using Distress Ink "Mowed Lawn" and
heat embossed with clear.  The Merry Christmas on this one I cut from gold
foil paper using a Gina Marie die.

The background paper on both cards is from a paper stack
from K&Company named Yuletide.  I have had this paper for several years.

This card was easy to create and I can see mass producing these to get
ahead on my Christmas cards for this year. 

Challenges entered:

A Snowflakes Promise - anything goes - ends - 11/13

Creates and Makes - anything goes - ends 11/27

Lemon Shortbread - anything goes - ends 11/6

A PAR-fect Day

Hi, boy October and November are such busy birthday 

months for me.  

One of my son-in-laws loves to gold so using the sketch this

week at Paper Players I created this card.

When I saw this sketch I knew it would be perfect.

I was looking through my single sheets paper trying to figure out what I wanted to use and I ran across this argyle pattern paper, thought

it would be perfect for a golf themed card.

I cut all the parts with my Cricut Explore.  The circle I embossed with a 

dots embossing folder but flipped it so it looked like divets

in the ball.  I always worry about cutting text from 

paper when it is small letters, so this time I cut the

word out of vinyl and stuck them onto the pretty silvery gray paper.

As a matter of fact this SIL works at a printing place and he brought me that

paper.  It is so pretty in person.  He has brought me some

pretty unusual awesome papers.

Thanks for stopping by I hope you enjoy my card and am

inspired if you have a golfer in your family. 

Challenges entered:

Paper Players - sketch - ends 10/27

Little Miss Muffet - anything goes - ends 11/2

Birthday Party Hats

Today I have a card I made following the sketch over at

Viva La Verve sketch challenge.  

If you are a regular visitor of my blog you know that I

love following a sketch when I create cards, in fact, it is rare

that I do not follow a sketch. 

I thought this looked like a fun easy sketch, so here is what

I came up with.

I wanted to use some of my Verve Stamps, so from the 

Treasured Words set I used the little party hat and stamped it randomly

in various colors of Catherine Pooler Inks.   The happy birthday is

also a Verve stamp from the Cake & Candles set, although when I

bought it many years ago it was available as a single. 

I stamped the HB and then cut it out with a Spellbinder die

from a label set.  I added a cute party hat button to the side as

my embellishment and added a strip of lime green ribbon.

You have till November 4th to create a card of your own

following the sketch at Viva La Verve challenge so head on over

and have some fun. 

Challenges entered:

Dragonfly Dreams - Fully Loaded - ends - 10/30

Stamped Blessings - anything goes + a stamp - ends 10/29

Lil Patch of Crafty Things - anything goes - ends 11/3

Some Fun with Watercolor Pencils

My great-grandkids were here last weekend so we had some

fun using the Watercolor Pencils from MAPED.

                           When I was sent these pencils to review I knew 

                                           my great-granddaughter would love them.  

                         She loves to paint but we all know how messy that can 

                                      get with a 6-year-old, so I thought

these pencils would satisfy her love of painting.

I printed up some images on some mixed-media paper

and had them all ready for them.

Here she is all ready to dig in and color.  I didn't really tell her what

the pencils did just that I had a surprise for her.  

So I had her color in some of the pumpkin using one of the pencils.

After she had a bit colored I gave her a water brush and told her

to go over where she colored.   

I so wish I would have videoed her when she first so what

happened when she added the water, she was so amazed and excited.

Then, of course, she had to sharpen her pencils. 

She was pretty impressed that it caught the shavings and of course

she loved the pink & purple color.

And her is she with her finished artwork.

Now the lil guy had been watching his big sister all along so he

had to have his try at those amazing pencils. 

His favorite color is orange so he had to color his little 

monster picture orange.

"OK, Nana now I am ready for the water"

And just like big sister her had to try out that pencil sharpener.

Even with his little hand he could hold this sharpener. 

Aren't they just the cutest little artists.  All in all, it was a fun time for all

of us, they got to paint and Nana did not have to worry about water getting

spilled all over or paints getting tipped over. 

#mapedhelix 

Fall Wheelbarrow

Sure wish Fall would show up here is Arizona.

The temperatures around here are just awful for this time

of year, we are breaking records.  Next week is suppose to 

get up to 98 degrees, HELLO Mother Nature hasn't anybody

told you yet that is is suppose to be cooling down. 

So I had printed up this image from Power Poppy's 

Fall Haul digital stamp set and thought maybe coloring it would make

it feel like or at least remind me that it is Fall.

My daughter was born on Thanksgiving day so I thought this

might make a good birthday card for her.

I love how it came out, I have to admit I followed the very good instructions

for coloring this image from Julie Koerber from the Bloomin Brigade DT.

I had to adjust the colors a bit since I was coloring on kraft and Julie was

coloring on white.  This is my first time coloring on kraft with my

Copics, I liked it but there are some adjustments.

The sentiment is from the same Fall Haul digital stamp set

and I had printed it out side by side so I made this card the size

that will fit into a #10 business size envelope. 

I mounted it on a couple layers to bring out some of the colors and popped

the top layer for dimension.

Well that is it, thanks for stopping by.

Challenges entered:

Power Poppy - Hues to Use (Sept open-ended)

Crafting with Attitude - anything goes - ends 10/29

Creative Knockouts - Fall - ends 10/26

Moving Along with the Times - Autumn Fall - ends 10/25

Much to be Grateful For

Hi, it is that time of year when the temperatures start to 

fall (hopefully soon here is AZ) and we begin to look

at all that, we are thankful or grateful for.

So using some of the stamps from the Stamp of Approval

"Counting Blessing Collection" I put together this Fall card.

The SOA box came with all kinds of Fall goodies.  I stamped

the background on cream colored paper using Distress Oxides and

a combination of the leaf stamps that were of the stamp sets.

Then using the leaf dies that were in the box I cut out some leaves in

coordinating colors.  Even the tan stitched strip across the front of the

card came in the box.  I distressed the edges of a piece of

tan cardstock and then stamped it with the grateful stamp. 

I think all the colors worked together well and remind me of

the colors the leaves change to in the Fall.

Thank you for stopping to take a peek at my card.

Challenges entered 

Paper Nest Dolls - anything goes - ends 10/30

Scrapbook Stamp Society - anything goes optional Autumn - ends 10/22

Pammies Inky Pinkies - anything goes - ends 10/22

Crafting from the Heart - anything goes - ends 10/22

Snowman Christmas

Hi, it's time again for the next Bugaboo Crafty Challenge

over at the Crafting Circle.

This month I chose to work with this cute snowman from

Bugaboo images who is the sponsor of this challenge. 

I printed him out on kraft paper and then colored him with my Prisma Pencils.

I cut an oval from the red paper using the GinaMarie die inside/out oval. 

I embossed it with snowflake embossing  folder the place it over the 

snowman so it was like a window.

I cut the label using a Spellbinder die then stamped the Merry Christmas

with a Stampin Up stamp and ran some snowflake ribbon through the

holes on the ends of the die cut.

I was sent some pencils sharpeners from MAPED to test out, although

most and geared towards school I wanted to see how they worked with

Prismas because they can be difficult to sharpen.  I am happy to report

the one I used with the eraser attached worked great with the pencils.

Be sure can check out all the cool products they have HERE.

My 6 year-old granddaughter was sitting here on my desk,

yes I said ON my desk (her favorite place to be) when I clicked over to

the MAPED website to get the link and oh boy she went wild

when she saw all the stuff.  She saw these pens

and said "Oh Nana can we order these on-line" I had to

laugh at such a different world now these kids live in.
You can order it HERE

So head on over to the CraftingCircle and color up some Bugaboo

images and join in the fun.  You will have till November 14th to join in.

And remember Bugaboo has a Friday Freebie every week. 

Water-coloring with Pencils

Hi, I am back to share another card with you today, another

Christmas card.  Trying to get some stash saved up.

I was sent some products to review from a company called

MAPED that has a lot of crafts and school products.

I have a 6-year-old great-granddaughter that loves to

draw, color and most of all paint.  Well we all know that

painting with a 6-year-old can be pretty messy, so I thought

using watercolor pencils with give her the feeling of painting but without

all the mess.

They are called Aqua Color'Peps 

I thought I would try them out coloring a stamped image before

I had a chance to color/paint with her, so here is what I made.

It was pretty easy to do, just colored in a bit and then used a water brush to                                                                spread the color.  

I did use some glitter pens to add some accents to it.  I matted the

pieces of paper with gold paper.  I stamped on a small tag using

a Hero Arts stamp then tied it on with some twine that has gold thread in it.

Back to those pencils, one thing I really liked about them is they have

slightly flat sides which means they will not roll off your workspace. 

The flat is not so much that you have problems sharpening them.  I also

got some pencils sharpeners to review.  I really loved the one

I got that has an eraser on one side of it, so convenient and the

eraser works great. 

I received a variety of pencil sharpeners and am anxious to try them

out with my PrismaColor pencils, we all know they can be
difficult to sharpen.

#maped

Hot & Spicy - Color Challenge

What a fun challenge this is.  Over at Less is More color challenge

this time the colors are "hot & spicy".  As soon as I saw this I knew exactly what

stamp I wanted to use. 

We recently took a trip over to Hatch New Mexico to pick up some chile

peppers (they are the best from there), once you see those strings of

red chile you know that Fall is here.

First off this challenge is all about simple or less is more as the

name states so I kept these cards as simple as possible. 

The string of chiles is a stamp from Mark's Finest Stamps, I bought this several years ago with the intention to use it on a Christmas card.  Living in Arizona I thought it worked well.

I colored the chiles with my Zig Clean Color brush markers, I tried

to leave some yellow showing but got a little too heavy handed with the red but it still looks good.  The Merry Christmas is a Hero Arts stamp

that I stamped in black and then heat embossed clear.

The second one I wanted to try and add a little more sparkle or elegance

to it, so I stamped it and heat embossed it in gold. I colored this

one using several Copic markers.

I fussy cut out the peppers but am going to work on trying to

scan in the image and cut it out with my Cricut Explore or Silhouette Cameo.

I would like to mass produce these so it would be very helpful if I can

get that figured out.

So what do you think, is that Hot & Spicy enough for you.

Leave me a comment and let me know which you like better.

I am so sad to say that when I went to link up Mark's Finest Stamps I

discovered that they have closed, such a shame but glad I

have the stamps I do have.

Challenges entered:

Less is More - hot & spicy colors - ends 10/13

Aurora Winds - clean & simple - ends 10/14

Color Inspiration - hand-colored image - ends 10/31

Scrapbook Stamp Society - anything goes optional Autumn - ends 10/22

Variety of cards using inks & Water

Hi, I been busy playing around with my inks and

various mediums and water to see what I could come up with.

I will share several cards here instead of doing a bunch of 

different posts.

Over at StampNation they are having a challenge that is

"just add water" well that was perfect for me to  play with

inks and water.

This first card I used Catherine Pooler inks in the colors

Mint to Be and Pixie Dust for the background.

I sponged the colors on a piece of watercolor paper but

was not too happy with it so I thought what the heck and I 

told my water bottle and sprayed it and wow I loved the

effect that made.  This card was actually made following

a sketch over at the Unity Show & Tell Facebook page.

I stamped the flower from Unity Stamps and then I took my waterbrush and added a little more color to the flower. 

The next card is using another Unity Stamp.  

I tried the loose or messing coloring then sprayed it with water and let the water move the color around.  I was not really happy with it till I cut it out with a GinaMarie die and then mounted it on a coral colored paper.

OK, and up next is another watercolor background plus

using a stencil to pick some of the color back up using water.  I

stamped the peacock, from the Naturally Inspired using various Catherine Pooler inks and mounted it on a die count out also from the Naturally Inspired collection. 

And last but not least I attempted the no-line watercoloring technique.

I love this rose stamp from Stampin Up and thought it was simple enough to try 

the no-line technique.  In the end I outlined the rose with a 

color glitter pen and it looks real pretty in person.

Well that is it for today, I sure hope you enjoy all my card, 

let me know what you think and which is your favorite one.

Challenges entered:

Crafty Sentiments - anything goes - ends 10/9

Creates & Makes - anything goes - ends 10/30

Digi Choosday - anything goes - ends 10/17

Oh What a Challenge!

Oh, boy what a challenge our fearless leader from the 

Crafting Circle put on us this month. 

You know you see all these white on white card (which I

really love) but I struggle with sometimes.

Well so being the person our leader MsWipz is she

has placed a challenge on us to use

BLACK on BLACK!!!!  Or she gave us some lea way

to do any tone on tone color if you got too freaked

out from black on black, LOL.

Me being me I had to follow the first challenge that she placed

on us, black on black.

Here is what I came up with.

Can we say, WOW!

I was so pleased, thrilled, overjoyed and shock at how well this turned out.

I Just made a black card base and then randomly stamped an image

from the Beautiful World stamp of approval collection, after I was

done stamping I heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

In order to carry out the black theme, I stamped my sentiment in white on

a stitched die from Gina Marie. 

I got so excited on how this one came out I thought I would try it

with another color.

For this one I stamped on royal blue with a background stamp

from The Ton, this stamp is called Peony Garden.

You have to go and check out their stamps, they have some amazing

background stamps and they are a full 6 x 6 so it will cover your entire card.

I stamped my sentiment this time on a piece of pearl vellum.

Well this is really a fun challenge so head on over to the 

Crafting Circle and join in the Crafty Awesomeness Challenge. 

Ink Smooching

Hi, I have a quick card to share with you today.

Over at Stamp Nation, they are having a challenge,

"Just add Water" so it is any project that you have

used water to make.

                  I love working with watercolor and inks and all the good stuff.

  So here is what I came up with. 

Luckily I do not need a sympathy card right now, but I like

to have some on hand.

For this card, I use Distress Oxides in Wilted Violet, Faded Jeans, and Broken China.  I just smooched some ink on a piece of acetate

and then sprayed it with water, then smooched it onto

a piece of watercolor paper.   I like using the acetate because

you can see what is going on with your colors and then

press or move to get the look you like.

I then mounted in on cardstock to piece up a couple of the

colors.  I used my MISTI to stamp using a couple

Unity Stamps.  The watercolor paper is very rough so by

using the MISTI I was able to stamp it a few times.  I used 

Catherine Pooler Black Jack ink which is a dark gray.

Thanks for stopping to take a peek, hope you are

having a fabulous day.

Challenges entered

Crafty Sentiments Design - anything goes - ends 10/2

Digi ChoosDay - anything goes - ends 10/10

Lemon Shortbread - anything goes - ends 10/17

Through the Craftroom Door - anything goes - ends 10/2

Happy Holidays

Hi, if you have visited my blog some lately you will

know I love coloring on kraft paper.

So this week when I saw that PowerPoppy's challenge was to use kraft paper

I was all in.  What better combination is there besides

kraft paper and PowerPopoy images, it is a win-win.

So here is what I came up with using PowerPoppy's 

Hollyberries digital image. 

I colored it using my Polychromo pencils and Copics for the berries.

I was surprised to find that Copics color well on kraft paper.

I mounted the image on a piece of deep red and then popped

the whole panel onto my kraft card base and that was it.  A pretty

quick Christmas card.

Thanks so much for stopping by and head on over to PowerPoppy and

join in the fun or at least poke around at all the great images at

PowerPoppy HERE.

Challenges entered:

A Snowflakes Promise - anything goes - ends 10/8

Creates and Makes - anything goes - ends 9/25

Digi ChoosDay - anything goes - ends 10/4

Lemon Shortbread - anything goes - ends 10/4

A Start on my Christmas Cards

Well it is that time of year to start trying to figure out what

I will do for my Christmas cards.  I usually try and pick one

style and then make that is bulk (I send out about 40 cards) and

then always have some odds and ends that I have made.

So when it was time to do my Bugaboo image for this month's

challenge at the Bugaboo Crafty Challenge I decided to go

with a Christmas image, Winter Circle 

In fact, I made 2 cards using this image.

For this one, I went with more traditional Christmas colors.

The second one using the same image I went with Wintery colors.

I really like this image and it is fairly easy and quick to color.

On both cards I used a scallop die to cut the matting, I wanted it to be

a little bigger mat than usual. 

And that's it, fast cards.  This might just turn out to be my

mass produced card.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure and check out the 

Bugaboo Crafty Challenge at the Crafting Circle.

The challenge runs from the 15th of the month till the 14th of the next month. 

Just for You

I am sharing a card with you I made a couple months ago

but never posted it. 

I was a fun simple card to make and I even made it

without following a sketch ha ha ha.

I used stamps that came in the Stamp of Approval box that was leased in June.

The collection was called Naturally Inspired and I love the stamps that same in there.

The cross hatch stamp made a fun simple background.  The feathers I stamped

in 3 different colors using Catherine Pooler Inks and then fussy cut them out.

I used a Fiskars punch to cut along the right edge of the card then wrapped some

bakers twine around it and popped the top layer.

This card was simple and fun to make, maybe I will try and do it in

a Christmas theme.  Will keep you posted.

Thanks for stopping to take a peek, have a great day.

Challenges entered:  

Crafty Freinds Challenge - dies cuts/punches - ends 9/22

DisDigiDesigns - Ribbon, Lace Twine - ends 9/22

Go OWL Out

Hi, time for the new Crafty Awesomeness Challenge over at

the Crafting Circle. 

This month our sponsor is Rick St Dennis whose images are

a bit different than most out there.

This month I chose these owls because I knew I had the

perfect sentiment stamps to go with it.

LOL, funny huh?  I colored the lil owls using my Copic markers then cut

them out with a Gina Marie cross stitched die.  The sentiement is from

a stamp set I bought many years ago that is Pink by Design stamps.

The web site still comes up but don't think they do business anymore since

nothing has been posted since 2013.  Such a shame because there were so

many pun stamps.

Don't these two owls already look like the went "owl out".

I actually made this following a sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday but didn't get to enter it since the challenge ended on the 29th. I made the triangle piece using

my Cricut Explore and Design Space.

The ribbon banner I cut using another Gina Marie die and then stamped the

sentiment on it.  The corner is a die from

My Little Paper World. 

So come on over and join in the 

Crafty Awesomeness Challenge.

Kraft and White Challenge

Hi, the card I have to share with you today is for the color

challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays.

The challenge is to use 

What a great combination, lately I have really enjoyed working

with kraft cardstock.  You can get some really neat effects coloring on it,

but for this one there is no coloring.

A very simple card but I think has a big impact.

I embossed the background with a Cuttlebug folder, then the kraft panel I cut out using a Gina Marie cross stitched die.  I stamped the flower using a Unity stamp and heat embossed it in white.  The sentiment is from the last Stamp of Approval box that was also heat embossed in white.  I added a few sequins to give it 

just a touch of sparkle.

Well that is it, head on over to CAS-ual Fridays and join in the fun

and see what you can come up with.

Challenges entered:

CAS-ual Fridays - kraft & white - ends 9/5

Scrapbook Stamp Society - anything goes - ends 9/10

Pammies Inky Pinkie - anything goes - ends 9/3

A Desert Scene

Hi, I am so excited to share this card with you.  I am thrilled

with how it turned out, more on that a bit later (I can't take credit for it).

This week over at StampTV the challenge is to make a card

with a scene on it.  As soon as I read that I knew whose blog I would

go to for help.  

So here is my card.

I could never have done this with out following Theresa Momber's 

great tutorials at Crafting the Web.

Here is the one I followed to create this card 

Desert Sun Card using the Old West 2 GinaK stamp set, in fact

Theresa Momber is the illustrator of this set as she is with many of

GinaK's stamps.  I know, I know I followed her design to a T but I had to do it like that the first time, till I get a bit more comfortable to change things up

on my own.  Normally that is how I learn and do new techniques, follow it the first time as close as I can and then branch out with my own twist later.  I 

actually do the exact same thing when I make a new recipe, follow it the

first time then change it up later. 

I do not have any GinaK inks so I used my Distress Inks.  After I completed my scene I embossed lines on the card base using my Martha Stewart score

board, then mounted the panel. 

Please go over and visit Theresa's blog and check out her tutorials,

you won't be disappointed. 

CRAFTING THE WEB

I had so much fun creating this card I think I will go do another one.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sunflowers in a Jar

Hi, this card was made following the sketch this week at

Tuesday Morning Sketches, I love to play along here when I can.

Here is the sketch.

I flipped it sideways so I could fit my sunflower image that came

in this months Unity Kit of the Month.

I stamped the image onto kraft card stock and colored it using my
Polychromo pencils.  The sentiment is an Altenew stamp.
I loved the place paper and thought it would pull all my colors together,
it is from a DCWV stack a few years back called Autumn Amber.

Thanks for stopping to take a peek at my blog.

Challenges entered:

Tuesday Morning Sketches - sketch - ends 8/20

Power Poppy - hues to use - no ending

Through the Craftroom Door - anything goes - ends 8/22

Tuesday Throwdown - anything goes - ends 8/22