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November 30, 2018

Wine and Birthday Cake

Hi, I have a card to share with you that follows the sketch


I chose to make the card a longer version so it fits into a 
#10 business envelope.
I had such a hard time getting a clear photo of this card
for some reason.  In "real life" the sentiment is very clear and
reads "What kind of wine goes with birthday cake? It doesn't matter let's celebrate"  Both that sentiment stamp and the stacked wine glasses are stamps from Unity Company.  The stacked wine glasses are from
Let's Get Tips and the sentiment is from
I don't make this size card very often but I enjoy making them when I do.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by hope everyone has 
a great weekend.

November 27, 2018

Red Barn Birthday

Hello all, I hope everyone had a great time with family
and friends over the Thanksgiving holiday.

My daughter was born on Thanksgiving day 47 years ago.
Still loves the farm style decor so I made her this card
for her birthday.
It was created following the sketch this time over at

I stamped the barn using a GinaK stamp from the Farm Life set and
then colored in on kraft with Prismacolor pencils.
The background I embossed the Cuttlebug folder chicken wire and
added some corners and that was it.

Thanks for stopping to take a peak there is still time to play
along at Mojo Monday.

November 21, 2018

Loving Birthday Cross

Well hello there.  So sorry I have not posted in a 
while I have been working on a couple projects for a guy 
at church.

He asked me to make a religious birthday card for his wife
whose birthday is in December.


It is a large card, a letter size paper folded in half.
I love the pearl embossed background paper, I had used it for my son's
wedding card HERE.  The cross is one I found online
and uploaded it to Cricut Design Space and cut it out with
my Explore.  Since it is such an intricate design I put some
Stick-It adhesive on the back of the cardstock before I cut it out.
It worked great!  It is very thin and light so the Explore had no problem cutting it out.   The sentiment on the bottom is a Cricut file I had my Explore
write.  I love the new very fine point pens.

Here is the inside.
The verse I typed out in Word and then printed on pearl
paper.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you
all have a very Happy Thanksgiving, we have so much
to be thankful for.

November 1, 2018

What if Wednesday Sketch Challenge

Hi back to share a card I made following the sketch at
Here is the sketch


This challenge is put out by Repeat Impressions stamps,
you do not have to use them but you get an extra entry if you do.

The Kokopelli is a RI stamp that I have had for years so
I am not sure if it is even still available.  Since I live in the
Southwest I love these kinds of stamps.
I colored it using Catherine Pooler Inks and a water brush.  The
purple panel I embossed using a Southwest pattern folder.  The
happy birthday is a Gina K design stamp.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog.
Have a great day.

Challenges entered:
WHAT IF? Wednesday - sketch - ends 11/7
Art Impressions - Lots of layers - ends 11/7
Crafting with Attitude - anything goes - ends 11/25
Cute Card Thursday - anything goes - ends 11/7
Seize the Birthday - birthday - ends 11/6



October 27, 2018

Have a Beautiful Day

Hi, sorry I have not been posting too much lately
have just been in one of those funks that when I go in my
room I am all over the place and not settling down to
make a card.  But I have got some things cleaned up and
put away although you could not tell by looking at my room.
I did, however, get some Christmas cards done so that
is a good thing.

Today's card I made following this week's sketch over at

Sometime ago I had bought a 6 x 6 pack of 
Bazzill Kraft and Foil paper pad.
So when I saw this sketch I thought using that paper
would be perfect.
The oval center I cut with my Explore out of pearl paper
and stamped with a Unity stamp oval frame and heat embossed it in gold.
The sentiment in the center is also a Unity stamp.  
Well that is it I hope you like my card and have
a great weekend.


October 4, 2018

Sunflower Wedding Wishes

Hi, I had to make a card for a niece that is getting
married this weekend. 
Usually when I make a wedding card and try and use the
wedding colors or the wedding theme.

So the invitation was Sunflowers on a woodgrain background,
so I went with that.


The background woodgrain paper is from Cricut and it is pretty neat,
it has a lot of texture to it and is more like material than paper.
I used a GinaMarie die to cut the oval and then stamped it
with a very old stamp that I had.  I stamped it in
           dark brown and then heat embossed it with clear sparkly embossing
powder.  Did not picture too well but is pretty in person.
I added some Martha Stewart sunflower stickers and
a few brown sequins.
Entered in the following challenges:
Aud Sentiments - use a 2 word sentiment - ends 10/8
Craft Rocket Challenges - Autumn/Halloween - ends 10/27
Crafting with Attitude - anything goes - ends 10/28
Moving Along with the Times - Autumn/Fall - ends 10/10

September 21, 2018

Coloring on kraft

Hi I haven't done this technique is a very long time
and thought I would give it a try on kraft paper.

I stamped on kraft cardstock using one of the stamps from the
December 2017 KOTM.  Then using my Prisma pencils I
colored just one of the flowers.
I cut it out using a Gina Marie stitched die and added a
banner sentiment.  The sentiment is also a Unity Stamp.
And that was it a very simple quick card to put together.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend.

September 20, 2018

A Sweet Friendship

Wow, a month since I posted last, well I have a good
reason for that.  A "sweet" friend and I went to visit my
                              Mom out of state for a few weeks.  It was a
fabulous trip.  

So when I got home I had to make her a card to thank her
for going with me.  My Mom loves her too and calls her,
her adopted daughter.  This friend means more to me
than I can out into words.

I used this week's sketch over at Tuesday Morning Sketches
to create this card.

Here is my card.

I LOVE how this card turned out.  I created the background
using Distress Oxides, Abandon Coral and Fossilized Amber.
              I really like how these two color blend together.  I recently got a
few spiritual stamp sets.  The above was from a stamp from the
Penny Black set called "Faith"  I am sure you will see
more card made using these stamp sets.  I stamped
it using the Catherine Pooler Ink Coral Cabana.  The
vine/branch is a CP die from one of the SOA boxes.

I will share this card on the following challenges:
Tuesday Morning Sketches - sketch - due 9/23
Crafting with an attitude - anything goes - due 10/3
Little Miss Muffet - anything goes - due 10/5
Through the Purple Haze - bright colors - due 10/6
CASual Fridays - break out the sequin - due 9/25


August 21, 2018

A Simple Card

Hello, hope everyone is having a wonderful day.
Today I have a simple card to share with you following
the sketch over at The Stamping Bug.


I have a hard time doing CAS so I embossed the background.  When
I was first picking out my paper, I could not decide whether to us
the coral paper or the turquoise paper so I just
used both for a matting.  I stamped the
sentiment and that was about it.

There is still time left if you want to play along with this CAS sketch

Here is the sketch.

August 16, 2018

Midnight Dahlia

Hi, today I have something to share with you that is
not a card.
Every month at Vanilla Arts, Amy Shulke does a live stream 
to teach coloring and she is am an amazing teacher.  I love
her style of teaching.
It is always a Power Poppy image so this month
the image was Midnight Dahlia.


I so could not color this without Amy's help.  I am pretty happy with
how it turned out, except for my stars in the background😏.
The background is made on Cryogen paper using distress inks,
Faded Jeans, Peacock Feathers, Dusty Concord.
It measures about 6 1/4 so I am not sure what I will
do with it.

Well, thanks for stopping by. 



August 10, 2018

Hot Air Balloon - Dreams

Hi today I have a card to share with you using a 
Close to My Heart stamp and pack of paper.
Over at the Outlawz they have a challenge every Sunday
that is called Songs & Rhymes, this week the song is
"Up Up & Away".
I knew right away what I wanted to do, I had had this
hot air balloon stamp and paper pack called Balloon Ride
for several years and it was perfect for this theme.

I stamped the image and then colored it with my Copic
markers trying to match the colors in the paper.  I cut it out using a
Gina Marie Die.  This card also follows the sketch this week
I kind of flipped the sketch a bit to make it work with my image.
The sentiment is a Unity stamp and thought it went well
with the image.

Thanks for stopping by hope you are having a great weekend.

August 8, 2018

Hip HIPPO Hooray!

Hi today I have a fun card to share with you.
I created following the sketch this week at
Here is the sketch.


Isn't that Hippo cute.  The image the progressive freebie challenge
over at the Outlawz and is from Sandra Caldwell
I colored it using Copic markers.  I had the perfect stamp
to go with this image and it is from Pink by Design.

Thanks for stopping by you have plenty of time to play
along with the MFT Sketch Challenge.




August 4, 2018

Yet another Black & White Card

Hi, I have a simple card to share with you.
It is another black and white card for the 
Unity Stamps Facebook challenge, however, it is made
following the sketch over at Palm Trees & Pogo Sticks.
I am just getting in under the wire because the challenge ends
tomorrow.


The image is from a Unity stamp set called
Insightful Meadows.  The sentiment is also a Unity Stamp.

Well that is it for today, I will try and make something a 
bit more colorful next time.

July 30, 2018

Black & White Card

Hi, the current challenge over at the Unity (Shoe & Tell)
Facebook page is to make a card using only black & white.
It sounded interesting so I thought I would give it a try
and here is white I came up with. 
The flower image is from the Dec 2017 KOTM called 
"Start of Something New" and the sentiment I
stamped and heat embossed, is from the set
The lacey back piece is a die from Gina Marie and it
cut from a pearly white piece of paper, the sentiment is
on the same paper. You can't see it in the picture but
the whole center piece is pop dotted for a bit of dimension.

Now I thought it would be fun to do one with the colors
opposite, so here it is.
So tell me which one do you like better.  I think I
am leaning towards the first one.

Thanks for stopping by.

July 22, 2018

Hickory Dickory Dock.............

............the mouse ran up the clock.
That is the song for this week's challenge over at
The Outlawz, Sunday Songs & Rhymes.  
I had struggled a bit with this one and then I found this
cute little file on an Etsy shop called BoxerScraps.  The background
paper is also from an Etsy shop this one is called

So here is what I came up with.
I thought this could be a new baby card or a birthday card
for a small child.
I printed it out and then cut is using one of my Gina Marie dies.
The words I printed and cut using my Cricut Explore.  I amazed
myself because I made this card without following a sketch😁
something I never do.

So come on over and join The Outlawz.

July 15, 2018

Fireside Christmas

Hi, over at the Outlawz message board the challenge
on Sundays is Songs and Rhymes and this week the 
song is "It' beginning to look a lot like Christmas".
I was honored to be asked to be a guest designer this week.

So here is my card using that song as inspiration.


I created this card using my Cricut Explore.  All the images 
are from NitWit collection called Fireside Christmas.
I love the collections that they have.  I just import the images
into Design Space and then print and cut them out.
The tree and the chair are cut separately and then pop
dotted to add dimension.  I also used the Explore to write 
the sentiment.  I printed it on glossy photo paper
so the colors are very vibrant. 

So head on over to the Outlawz and sign up to be a member
and join in the fun challenges.

July 13, 2018

Tulips for Your Birthday

This was a fun card to color and design.
Over at The Outlawz message board, they have a freebie
every month for you to use and if you post a card using if you
will automatically get the image for the following month.

This is my first month playing along and our fabulous image

I colored this using my Copic markers and then did a little
detailing using PrismaColor pencils.  Something I have
learned from taking the monthly Livestream class from
Amy over at Vanilla Arts.  She is a fantastic teacher, I love her
approach to things. 
I knew right away when I saw this tulip border image
that I wanted to cut it out using the fancy frame die from Gina Marie dies.
I stamped the happy birthday using a Stampin Up stamp from the
Rose Wonder stamp set, added a few sequins and that is it.

Thanks for stopping by I hope you enjoyed my card.

Challenges entered
Aud Sentiments - Flower + Sentiment - ends 7/16
Crafting with Attitude - anything goes - ends 7/29
Cute Card Thursday - anything goes - ends 7/17
Little Miss Muffet - anything goes - ends 7/24
Sieze the Birthday - birthday option +sequin - ends 7/17



July 6, 2018

Christmas Snowflake

I thought I better get a little head start on my Christmas cards.
Every year I usually send out about 40 cards and most
of them are the same and then some random ones I made
during the year.
I am really thinking this might be my mass produced one.

I followed the sketch (of course) this week at 


Here is my card.
It was so hard to get a good picture of this.  The
snowflake is very sparkly and the Merry Christmas is
heat embossed in silver.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, have
a great weekend

July 5, 2018

Playing with my Distress Oxides (again)

Hi, I had a little fun yesterday doing some
ink smooching with Distress Oxides.

 The colors I used are Squeezed Lemonade, Candied Apple and 
Faded Jeans.  I smooched some of each color onto a 
piece of acetate, sprayed it liberally with water and then
turned it over and placed on watercolor paper.  I put a large
clear acrylic block over the acetate so I could get even pressure and
since it was a clear block I could see the colors moving.
I stamped the flower from the Unity Stamp set "Rebuild Your Life" and
heat embossed it with gold embossing powder.
I went back after it was all dried and re-wet the flower area
with a water brush, let it sit for about 20-30 seconds and then
dabbed it with a paper towel to lift a bit of the color off.

I hope you like my card.
Challenges entered
Unity Show & Tell - CAS - Facebook page
Addicted to Stamps - CAS - ends 7/10
Creative Moments - anything goes/summer - ends 7/9
  

July 1, 2018

A Teddy Bear and His Poppy

Hi, I have a quick post for you today
as I am trying to sneak in at the last minute for
the challenge this week at CASology
Their challenges are always clean and simple style
with an added element.  This week that element 
was BEAR, so I hauled out my Wild Rose
stamps and stamped this cute little guy.

Isn't he cute?  I wanted to try and add some texture to
him to look like fur but it didn't go well, so I had to color it all
over again.  I have had this stamp for years but rarely use it
even though it is one of my favorites.

Well thanks for stopping by hope you had a wonderful weekend.

June 27, 2018

Beautiful Poppies

The current challenge on the Unity Stamps Facebook
page "Unity Show & Tell" is to do some water coloring.

                      I love to use my Zig Clean Color pens to watercolor.  
                                   The colors are so vibrant. Here is what 
I came up with, following this sketch from Stamp Nation.


I used the poppy stamp from the Unity Septemeber 2017
kit of the month called "Flowers, Foilage & Fall".
I love poppies when we go to see my Mom in Colorado
there are poppies all over the place.
I used 3 colors on the poppies, a red, an orange and a yellow
then blended it out with an aqua brush.  I added some
very pale blue to the background, it looks much better
in person, the picture makes it look much darker than it is.

I hope you like my card.
Challenges entered:
Crafty Addicts - anything goes optional flowers - ends 7/3
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes - ends 7/4
Creative Moments - anything goes - ends 7/9




June 25, 2018

Paper Piecing Daises

Hello, hope everyone had a great weekend.
Today I have a card to share with you using paper piecing.
I love to do it but often forget about it, so when the
Thursday challenge over at The Outlawz was
anything goes with a twist - paper piecing. 

For my card, I chose to use one of the Unity stamps
from the "Free Your Dreams" set for the daisies and the
sentiment came from the "Be My Bird" set. 

I use some small polka paper for the flowers and
colored the stems with Copics.  I love the way it turned out.

Thank you for stopping by. 

June 22, 2018

Lori's Garden Vines

Hi, hope you are having a great day and have lots of
fun stuff planned for the weekend.

Today I have a card to share with you that I made using
this weeks Wednesday sketch over at The Outlawz.

When I saw this sketch I thought "oh man what am I going to
use for that flourish in the corners."
I looked through my dies and didn't find anything so I
went to Cricut Design Space and searched for
flourish, and didn't see anything so then I search corners
thinking maybe some fancy corners would come up.
Well, I did find the perfect corner flourish for my card.
I spent a lot of time looking through my stash for the perfect thingsto use to make this card.  I had picked out my paper before
I found the pretty corners and they came from an
SEI pack called Aunt Gerti's Garden.  The center polka square
was from the same paper pack.
Then when I found that flower in my stash I knew it wouldbe great for this sketch. 
The vine corners are from the Cricut Imagine cartridge
called Lori's Garden.  I think this was my favorite Imagine
cartridge.  I am so happy that I can access all my Imagine
cartridges in Design Space.  I printed and cut them using
my Explore and they cut perfectly, I was a bit worried because
some of the branches were so thin.
The happy birthday wishes is a Catherine Pooler die and
I thought it worked great on this card.
I didn't realize that the vines corners and the paper
are both from a garden named pack.
I just noticed that there is nothing colored or stamped
on this card, weird for me.

I hope you like my card, would love to hear your thoughts.

Challenges entered:
Crafting With Friends - anything goes 
Crafty Catz - anything goes/twist blooms
Creative Fingers - anything goes


June 20, 2018

Dancing Girl

Hi, I have a quick fun card to share today.

I am trying to do some cleans & simple cards sometimes I
have a hard time leaving so much blank space, but I find as
I am doing more of then it becomes a bit easier.

This week over at CASology the theme is "jumpy".
At CASology is always clean & simple cards and then with 
a theme.

Here is what I came up with.

The stamp is from Clear Dollar Stamps and I have had it for many
years, in fact, I don't think they are even in business anymore.
I colored her with my Prisma Pencils and then added a bit of 
watercolor background.  Stamped a sentiment
added a few sequins and that was it.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

June 18, 2018

Multi Step Stamping

Hello, I have another card to share with you that is 
using the Kitchen Sink stamp multi stamping flower.
This is the same stamp as I used in my last post, while I was
making the previous card I had stamped out a few of the
flowers in different colors to decide which colors I wanted
to use.  So when I saw the sketch this week at 
Crazy 4 Challenges it was perfect to use one of those
flowers I had stamped.

Here is the sketch

and here is my card.
I replaced the center square with a circle that I die cut using a 
stitched circle. All the papers are from a Close to my Heart
paper pack called Roxie.  It is a few years old but I love the colors
and patterns.
Even the 2 strips across the card, they are the top strip
of 12 x 12 piece of paper that I cut off.

It was a simple card to put together but I love how it 
turned out.
Thanks for stopping by.


June 14, 2018

Flowers of Friendship

Hello, hope everyone is doing well.
Today I have a card to share with you that I created following
the sketch this week at 
A couple years ago I heard of stamp company named
Kitchen Sink Stamps most of their stamps are multi-step stamps
so the images you stamp all the layers separate so it gives
them dimension.
Both of the flowers were stamped in 4 layering including the
center.  The sentiment is from the same set.  The set
is called Daisy you can check it out HERE.
I used Catherine Pooler inks to stamp them,
The yellow background in an embossing folder from
Cuttlebug.
That is it, hope you liked my card and I am grateful you stopped by.

Challenges entered:
Freshly Made Sketches - sketch - ends 6/18
4 Crafty Chicks - Birds & Blooms - ends 6/20
Aud Sentiments - anything goes/sentiment - end 6/18
Crafting with Attitude - anything goes - ends 6/24
Southern Girls - anything goes - ends 6/27

June 12, 2018

CAS(E) This Sketch

Hi I have another card to share with you today.
I have felt like messing around with my Distress Oxides to
make some background papers.  When I saw the sketch this 
week at CAS(E) this sketch I knew it was perfect for using some
Distressed paper.

Here is the sketch this week.


Here is what I came up with.

I used watercolor paper and did some smooching using my Oxides 
in the colors Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Abandoned Coral and Candies Apple.  I love this combination of colors.  I popped the 
                                 watercolor strip to give it dimension.
I stamped the flower using a Simon Says Stamp and then colored
it using the same colors then misted it with water and hand cut it out.
The happy birthday stamp is from Bo Bunny.
I added a few sequins to bling it up a bit and that was it.
I had so much fun making the watercolor paper I made a few
other in different colors while I was at it.

Thanks for stopping by.

June 8, 2018

A Humorous Birthday

Hi, today I have a card with a bit of humor on it

I have had this stamp set for a number of years and haven't
used it much.  I love chickens so when I saw this stamp set
from Rubbernecker I had to buy it.

I made this card following the sketch from last week over at 
The Outlawz.
I stamped the chicken on kraft cardstock using 
Catherine Pooler inks, Eucalyptus and Sauna.  I used my
MISTI (as I do for all my stamping) so I could stamp it
a couple times to make it show up on the kraft.
The chickens and the sentiment are both from the same
Mark's Finest stamp set, unfortunately, they have closed
down their shop.  I must have bought these stamps 6-7 years ago.
I used my chicken wire embossing folder for the background and
the background chicken paper is a single sheet I had.
Added a bit of twine and that was it.
I will enter this in the Retro Rubber challenge that
wants you to give your love to some old stamps.  The challenge
is open until June 15th so you still have time if you wish to play along.

Well, I hope you liked my card and got a chuckle out of it.
Just have to figure out who I can send it to that would get a chuckle also.


June 7, 2018

A Cheery Get Well

Hello all, when I started to make this card following the sketch this week
over at Sketch Saturday I knew I wanted to use the new
ink colors from Catherine Pooler.  As I was working on the pieces
and started to put it together I thought it was just
right to cheer someone who is sick up.  The colors are
so bright and cheerful.

This is the sketch.



I started out by stamping the atrip across the card with a 
dotted stamp that came in the last Stamp of Approval box using the
new inks, Limoncello, Grape Crush and Be Mine and then a 
little bit of All that Jazz.  I just love these inks, the colors are
so vibrant and the names are so fun.
Then using those same inks colors I watercolored the vase and flowers,
The vase & flowers are a Gina K stamp I have had for a long time.
The sentiment is a Rubbernecker stamp, stamped in Grape Crush.
I embossed the yellow using a Darcie embossing folder.

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

Challenges entered:
Sketch Saturday - sketch ends 6/8
Aud Sentiments - Anything goes + a sentiment - ends 6/18
Crafting with Attitude - Anything goes - ends 6/24
Creative Knockouts - Anything goes - ends 6/23



June 4, 2018

Kokopelli - Have a Great Day

Hi, back to share another card with you.
Hope you all had a great weekend.
For this card I followed the sketch this week over at
The House that Stamps Built.


Here is the sketch.

I live in the desert in Arizona so I love all the southwestern things, when
I saw this stamp from Repeat Impressions I just had to get it.

I colored it with my Poloychromo pencils and mounted it on a distressed piece of paper.  I embossed the side panel with a southwestern embossing folder
then a simple square embossing paper on the back.
To the corners I used my Nuvo drops to had some copper dots.

So that is it, I hope you like my card and thanks so much for stopping by.

May 29, 2018

(CAS)E this Sketch

I play along this week at the
(CAS)E sketch challenge, I love CAS or clean and simple
but I often have a hard time with them. 
So I made this card following this sketch.

So out of my comfort zone but I am pleased with how it turned out.

I wanted to use the latest 4 Catherine Pooler inks that
just came out.  A couple of them actually came on in a previous
Stamp of Approval box, but they were just added to the store. 
I wish the colors would show up better in the picture.
The bottom circle are stamped in Grape Crush, the dots above it
in Limoncello and Be Mine.  The dotted line was stamping
using All Tha Jazz.  I love CP inks they are so vibrant and stamp perfectly. 

Maybe I can get more comfortable doing CAS cards if I practice them and make some more.


May 25, 2018

Watercolor Background

Hi, woohoo posting 2 days in a row.

I love creating a card following a sketch and recently I ran across another
challenge that has a weekly sketch challenge it is

Here is the sketch for this week.

I was drawn to the watercolor look of the yellow in the background
so I got out my Catherine Pooler inks and went to work.


I used 2 of the colors from the Spa Collection for the watercolor look,
Stone Blur and Rose Petals.  Then for the strip across I cut out
a piece of paper using one of the new CP border dies that came in the
lasted SOA box.  Then I colored it using Daydream ink.
The butterfly is a Close to my Heart Stamp, that I stamped in
Stone Blue then with an aqua brush I filled in the pink area with
the Rose Petals ink.  To finish it off I added a couple
flower buttons.

Challenges entered:
Paper Craft Crew  sketch - ends 5/29
Clean and Simple - CAS card - ends 5/29
QKR Stampede  - Anything goes - ends 5/31