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 

Freshly Made Sketches

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

Layered Birthday cake

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

Sometimes I play along at PowerPoppy's blog (they always have many different challenges going on) and the 

Hues to Use challenge, well I was so thrilled when I got an email

from Julie at Power Poppy asking me if I wanted to be a guest

designer for this week's Hues to Use.  Of course, I said yes!

So here are the colors I was to use for the challenge.

Magenta, White & Gray.

I chose to use the Layer Cake that Marcella drew.  Marcella is a fabulous artist, you will have to go take a look around her shop PowerPoppy.  She has some
fanstatic flower images then she generally draws from flowers in her own garden.

I was worried a bit about getting the gray in there bu, in the end,d I think I pulled it off.
And THEN something else happened (I think me being a guest designer was meant to be), I get monthly emails from Amy Shulke at Vanilla Arts witha free image and the "recipe" for coloring it.  Amy also has monthly instructional Livestream for a small fee, well wouldn't you know it this months video was on coloring this exact PowerPoppy Layer cake image.
YIPPIE!!!!!! I signed up immediately and boy am I ever glad I did.
Her Livestream instructions are the best I have ever seen.  Her approach to coloring is great and helped me tremendously because she
doesn't concentrate on "light source" which I have always had a hard time with.
However, following her instructions you can see how much dimension you
can add and this was my FIRST class of hers.
Thr background was done using Distress Inks and the image was colored
primarily Copic markers.  Then she uses Prisma pencils and
Staedtler triplus fineline pens to add in details.  Just the small details she teaches you makes all the difference in the world.
So working together with a Power Poppy image and Amy's instructional videos
it was a win win for me and I am sure it would
be for you also, so check out PowerPoppy images and then head on over
and see what is going on at Vanilla Arts.

Oops, sorry got sidetracked a bit.  I made the card by cutting out a
rectangle in the center of the front panel because I wanted to
mount the image behind the cut-out.  Then using a Gina Marie die
I cut the magenta loopy rectangle, then had to cut the center part out.
I embossed the white panel using a Cuttlebug folder and added a few sequins.
The sentiment is also from PowerPoppy that I printed and cut out using
my Cricut Explore.
Thanks for stopping by and taking a look around and reading
through my long-winded post.

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

Naturally Inspired Card

Well hello, everyone.  I am super excited because my

new Stamp of Approval box arrived yesterday.

This "Naturally Inspired" collection has so many awesome

goodies in it the possibilities are endless.

I had a sketch I wanted to do and it was PERFECT for using

some of the goodies on the box.

Here is the sketch............

I knew the Lattice die was exactly the shape of that center piece.

I stamped the background piece of the panel using the cross-hatch
stamp in the new Catherine Pooler ink color All that Jazz that came
in the box.  The flowers were stamped and cut out using the matching dies.
Then I stamped the "birthday wishes" and heat embossed it in white.
All those things came in the SOA box and oh so many many more.
I am sure I will be back soon to share another project I make using
some more of the elements int he Naturally Inspired box.
Thanks for stopping by.

Playing with my Distress Oxides

Hi, I got to play a bit with my Distress Oxides inks

so I created this card following the sketch

this week at MFT Sketch Challenge.

Here is the sketch I followed to make this card.

Here is the card I created.

I used my Oxide paper on the left side of the card and then stamped some 

distress images on top of it.

The banner with the sentiment is from Hero Arts.

And that is about it for this card.

Thanks for stopping to take a peak.

A Bit More Time to Craft

Hi, I am here to share my April project for 

A Bit More Time to Craft. I used the challenge sketch
from Retro Rubber to create this card.  

I used a digital paper from "Regal" for the maroon background

and the upper corner is from "Merry Christmas".
I added some faux stitching around the edges.
The qualify at Retro Rubber you need to use a
stamp that is at least one year old.  The happy birthday stamp I used is from Scrappy Cat and is probably 5+ years old.
  I placed a button on the corner to
add some dimension.

Who's on First......

Hi ya, hope everyone is having a great weekend so far.

Since we are in the middle of baseball season and hubby

and I love watching baseball I picked this

Rick St Dennis image Baseball Boy to color.

I colored him using my Inktense pencils and a little

Copics here and there.  I pop dotted him onto the baseball

Cuttlebug folder that I embossed on kraft paper

and then colored in some of the images.  Luckily had the baseball

paper in my stash.  

For the saying, I went with the old Abbott & Costello comedy 

routine from the 1930s.   

I used Design  Space and my Cricut Explore to write the

saying and then cut the label.

This little guy reminded me of the old time baseball players

so that's the first thing that came to mind.

Don't forget to check out the CraftingCircle blog as they are 

spotlighting artists all month long, plus there is a Crafty Awesomeness challenge.  Rick St Dennis was spotlighted on June 1st so yu can read about him. 

Rick St Dennis also has an Etsy store that has 

some darker type images on it.  

Will be entered in the following challenges.

Creative Corners - Just for men

Stamping with Dragon - One for the guys

PDE Linky Party - Anything goes

Kitty Bee Designs - Masculine cards

Crafting with Friends - Anything goes

No Spring Chicken.

Hi everyone thanks for stopping by.

I am so excited to share this card with you today, I think it came out so cute.

A while ago a bought this set of stamps from Mark's Finest I just had to have it as the sayings were funny and I kind of like chickens.

I printed the red checked paper using my Imagine and the Kate's Kitchen cartridge.  I kind of had to settle for this, I spent hours going through my huge paper stash and could you believe I did not have one piece of paper with a chicken on it!  

On a recent shopping trip :) I picked up this Cuttlebug folder that is chicken wire so that worked out perfect even better than chicken paper I think.  I took a piece of the clam shell packing from a Cricut cartridge and ran it through the Cuttlebug, then I rubbed silver ink over the embossed plastic but it did not dry too well on the plastic, but that's OK you can still see the embossing against the white background.  I stamped the two chickens on the white paper before I put down the chicken wire.

Here is a closer look at the chickens and the embossed plastic.  The piece of barbed wire border I cut using the Old West cartridge, then added some score lines.

Now in order to get the full effect of this you need to see the inside stamp.

Isn't that cute?  I hope the recipient doesn't get offended, I don't think so she has a pretty good sense of humor.

Well thanks for stopping by and I always love to read you comments and appreciate each one of them.

Challenges for this card

Love to Create  Anything goes   ends - 9/30

Make it Monday   Always anything goes   ends - 9/30

Spots and More Spots

Hi, I have a fast post here to share with you a birthday card I made a couple of weeks ago.  Sorry I got so far behind on posting my cards.

It was a fun card to make and has a a few different textures.  I Cuttlebugged the white strip with the Spots & Dots folder, then Cuttlebugged each of the circles with one of the images on the clock folder.

Here is a closer look at the embossing.  I added a piece of bling to the center of each circle.  The happy birthday is stamped on a cut from Art Philosophy that I welded back to back so it would have the banner/ribbon cut on each end.
Well thanks for stopping by and hope you have a fabulous week.

Challenges for this card
Make it Monday  Always anything goes  ends 7/8
Creative Inspirations  Anything goes   end  7/3
Charisma Cardz  Anything goes   end  7/4

Birthday Party Hat & Balloons

This card is very bright and shinny.  I made it following a sketch (of course).

The card is 6 1/2 by 5 inches,  The party hat and balloons are cut from the Celebrations cartridge.  The cuts were cut from glitter paper, the balloons I ran through the Cuttlebug with 3 different folders, then covered each with Diamond Glaze, pretty neat because the glitter shows through the Diamond Glaze.  I also covered the hat with Diamond Glaze and then added some bling to it.
I cut the "happy birthday" using the Create a Critter from the same glitter paper.
I glued it to the white square and then put matching brads on the corners.  Then I forgot that I wanted to run it through the Cuttlebug, so I thought well what the heck I will still run it through, so it embossed the happy birthday AND it also smashed the brads and left the embossing pattern on them.  That is how much pressure out little Cuttlebug's can put on things.  You can see it better in this picture.

I tied some cord around the bottom of the balloons then mounted them with different heights of pop dots.

Thanks for stopping by, i hope you enjoyed looking at my card and while you are hear take a look around my blog and I hope you find other cards you like.

Challenges for this card
Kaboodle Doodles  Layers   ends -  9/25
Simon Says Stamps  dies and/or punches   ends  - 9/27
Ooh La La  dies cuts/punches   ends  - 10/2
Make it Monday  Always anything goes  ends  - 9/25
The Paper Shelter  Anything Goes   ends  - 9/27

Simple and Pretty 2 cards

This week I am hosting the RAQs Challenge on the Cricut message board.  The way the challenge works is every Wednesday the host posts 3 sketches to follow, when you get them done you can post them on the message board thread.  It is a great place for inspiration and also take your card making up a few notches, I know it did mine.
So here is my cards for the challenge.  The first sketch is this one by Tami Mayberry, see this post on my blog to see this one, as it is also my card for the Crafty Creations challenge this week.
Here is my card for the second sketch.

It is a very simple sketch and the card is 8 1/2 by 4 inches and fits into a business size envelope.  I love how this turned out.  Because of the size I had to Cuttlebug it with two different folders since one was not long enough.  The top is Swiss Dots and the bottom is a Sizzix folder.
The flowers are cut from the Flower Shoppe cartridge.  This is a fabulous cartridge for making flowers and you all know I love to make flowers.

The flowers were cut from yellow and pink cardstock them sprayed with Glimmer Mist to give them some sparkle,  I even misted the white part of the card.  "You Touched My Heart" is a stamp.  I added a few pearl accents.  The whole card is very sparkly
  Would love to hear what you think of my card.
Then after I made this card they posted a Color Challenge on the Cricut message board so I made another one.  The colors are purple, orange, olive.   This one is a bit brighter.

I did a little different embossing on this one.  I made lines using my Martha Stewart score board and them I embossed every other with one of the Cuttlebug boder folders.
Here is a close up of the flowers

Thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment. I love to read them, besides that way I knew you were here to take a peak.

Challenges for this card
Make it Monday  Always anything goes  - end 8/14
Pixie Cottage   Say it with flowers  -  end 8/16
Sentimental Sundays  Flowers  -  end 8/13
Ginger Loft  Make it Sparkle  -  end 8/19
Crafty Calendar  Hot Colors (second card are hot colors)  -  end 9/2

A Patriotic Thinkg of You

This card I made following a sketch in the Cricut message board.  Decided to go with a patriot theme, since I will be sending it to a friend of our that is in basic training for the Air National Guard in Texas.  I know how important it is for them to receive mail during this time since it is the only communication they get during basic training.

The "thinking of you" is from Alphalicious cartridge, an older cartridge.  The papers are from a DCWV mat stack that has such a nice combination of plain colors and patterns to go with them.  I love this stack it is so handy.  The tag is cut from Stand and Salute and is suppose to be a dog tag.  I cut it out of silver paper and I added some "chain like" cord to it as the chain.
I love using my Cuttlebug folders to add that special touch to cards sometimes, however many times they are too small for the cards i make so they don't cover the entire surface I want them too.  This one being a patriot theme I wanted to use my stars folder, but it did not quite cover the area.  then I had an aaaah  haaaa moment (rare LOL) so I did part of the paper with the stars and the other part with a stripe folder to make it look like a flag.  i think it came out pretty cool.  You have to be careful when using two folders so you don't run over each other.  Here is a closer look.

Didn't it come out neat, I was pretty happy with it.
I left the inside very simple so I could write a note in it to our friend and see how she is doing.

While you are here don't forget to check out my giveaway at the top of the post.  Tomorrow is the last day

Thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment. I love to read them, besides that way I knew you were here to take a peak.

Challenges for this card
Raise the Bar   Anything Goes  -  ends 8/10
Paper Take Weekly  Anything Goes  - ends  8/8
For Fun Challenges   Anything Goes  - ends 8/9
Make it Monday   Always Anything goes  -  ends 8/14

Serenade Butterfly

Thanks for coming to take a look as what I created today.  This card was made following the RAQs challenge on the Cricut message board (as most of cards are LOL).  All the papers were printed using my Imagine and the Heirloom cartridge.  I am really enjoying my Imagine, it makes it so easy to put patterns and colors together.

The butterfly was cut using the Serenade cartridge and so was the scalloped circle in the background.   I set up the cuts that I wanted then filled them with the colors or patterns.   The stripped ribbon like banner is a file I set up in Gypsy (or CCR when it is working) and is very very easy, I just took an rectangle to the size I wanted then placed a triangle at the bottom and that's it!

I cut the butterfly about 3 1/2 inches, I slightly inked the edges, Cuttlebugged the two layers then sprayed with Glimmer mist, which slightly broke down or smudged the the color and I was please with the effect of that accident.  I glittered his  body to add a touch of sparkle.
Well while you are here why don't you take a look around and see if you like what you see on my blog to become a follower.  Thanks for stopping by.

I will be entering this in the following challenges
All Sorts Challenge  Free and Easy   ends 7/15
Paper Take Weekly  Anything Goes ends 7/10
Stampin for the Weekend  Wings and Things  ends 7/21
Truly Scrumptious  Things with Wings ends 7/11

Stars & Stripes Forever

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE............I feel very honored to live in this fabulous country and am very thankful to all who make it such a great place to live.   I made this card in honor of our nations colors, the land of the free and the home of the brave.  One of my favorite things is honoring our country and I love making card using red, white & blue even if they are not necessarily a patriot card.

I will probably send this card to my grandson who is in the Navy studying to work on the submarines, just a note to tell  him I am thinking about him and miss him terribly.
I was created following the sketch this week at Card Patterns.  If you ever need some inspiration or a sketch to follow be sure and check them out they have some great sketches to work with.

I used the Cuttlebug embossing folders "stars" on the white area.  The star and swirls were cut from the Home Decor cartridge using my new Imagine to cut them in the color I wanted.  It was really cool as I could go into the colors and pick the exact shade that I wanted.  The Imagine also cuts like a dream on these intricate cuts.   The two stars on the bottom are the left over center star from the star swirl on top, it leaves it with a slight red edges which is nice.

The stars & stripes are cut from the Stand & Salute cartridge out of red glitter paper, I had the Imagine do two passes (cut) on this because sometimes the glitter paper is a bit hard to cut with just once by.

I even finished the inside very simply and left blank so I can write a note in it.
Well I thank you for stopping by and hope everyone is having a wonderful time with their family and friends today

Challenges for this card
Crafty Our Passion - Anything goes  ends 7/10
Stampin for the Week  Favorite things  ends 7/7
All Sorts Challenge Free & Easy (we live in the land of the free) ends 7/31
Card Making Mamas  Red, White & Blue  ends 7/7
Fairy Tale Challenge America  ends 7/7
Splendious Creations  Red, White & Blue ends 7/7
The Shabby tea Room  Red, White and Blue ends 7/10

High School Graduation card

I have a grandson that is graduating from high school in May.  His school colors are black and silver.  I made it following a sketch this week at RAQs Challenge this week on the Cricut message board.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out, even though it has some bling on it I still think it works for a boy.

The congratulations grad and the cap are stickers I bought at Michael's.  I was pretty excited when I saw them as I knew they were the perfect colors for his card.  The bottom paper is from a school stack I got at Big Lots last year.  Sometimes you can find some pretty cool things at Big Lots. I used a ruler I found on clearance to cut the wavy edge, well actually it is torn using the ruler.  I Cuttlebugged the silver piece of paper with the "traffic jam" folder.  The stripe across the bottom is a black piece of ribbon with a silver piece of ribbon on top of it.
Here is a close up of the cap, it is satin with some bling on it.

Can you believe it is already going to be graduation time, the year seems to be flying by.
Thanks for stopping by.  Leave me a comment so that I know you were here.

Diamonds are a Man's best friend ?

This card went together very fast for me (about an hour) that in itself is amazing LOL.  Not much Cricut just the diamonds from George.

Lots of Cuttlebug, well some...........I Cuttlebugged the red & purple diamonds with Argyle folder and the background paper with a checked foldr that came in one of the sets.  The card is 5 x 6 1/2.  I thought it made a great male card.  Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Card ---- Getting an early start

As we all know Christmas sneaks up on us every year.  Each year with good intentions we are always going to start our Christmas cards early so we are not rushing at the last minute.   I made this Christmas card for RAQs Challenge on the Cricut message board this week, I think it came out very pretty. 
Although I really like this card, it will not be my Christmas card this year.  I make all my cards the same each year (easier for me to keep track of :}) and I already have one sample almost made.  Will share that with you when I get it done and at least get into late October.
I so wish there was a way to take pictures of pearl like paper so it would show up better.  The white and the blue are some very very pretty paper I got from Paper and More, they have fabulous papers and their service is great.  You can get some sample packs fairly inexpensive and all samples ship for $1.00, check them out you won't be disappointed.   I Cuttlebugged the white circle with the "Winter House" folder and added some crystal Sitckles to the snow spots, Santa flying over is a small stamp that I heat embossed with silver.  The other white paper I embossed using the Sizzix snowflake embossing folder.  Snowflakewas from the Cricut cartridge called Christmas at 1 1/4 inches, twice from the pearl white and once out of glossy silver paper then I pop dotted them and added a blue pearl to the center.  The whole card measures 6 1/2 by 5 inches. 

Here is a close up of the snowflake, you can see the pearl paper a little better in this picture.  This is a pretty simple and quick card to put together and I hope I can get some of you inspired to at least start thinking about those Christmas cards.

A simple but lovely card

I am trying to post some of my older cards that I made before I started my blog, some of my favorites.
If you know me you know that one of my favorites "looks" is all white with  a touch of color.  I love the white to be embossed with the Cuttlebug.  This card is 6 x 5 1/2 which is bigger then a Cuttlebug folder (except for the new ones) so for the Swiss Dots part I had to emboss it in two steps.  I read on a blog a while back on how to do it without showing a line, sorry I don't remember who it was to give them credit.  The Swiss Dots part I Cuttlebuggesd as much as I could down one side/end, then turned the paper around and lined up the folder to do the other end.  The trick to not get a line where is joins is to run it through the CB just to where the other stops and back up the Cuttlebug, so not go over the same area again or you will get a flat mark.  I hope this makes sense.  The left side of the card I embossed using my Martha Stewart scoring board turning the paper on an angel.   The paper is very pretty pearlescense white.

The turquoise strip and the butterfly is from some paper that I made/colored using Tim Holtz Alcohol inks on photo glossy paper.  The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch, punched twice, added some pearls to the center for more dimension.  Then I happen to have the pleated ribbon that I got in the dollar bin at Michaels that matched perfect.  Don't ya just love when that happens :)!

I hope you enjoy this card as much as I did making it.  I love your comments and look forward to reading them.

Here is a close up of the butterfly so you can really see the colors on the paper.

Happy Birthday Tag Card

This card was made using one of the sketches at RAQ's Challenge this week on the Cricut message board.  It also uses the colors from the Ad Color Challenge which are; robin egg, bubblegum and off white. 
I wish that the sparkly would show up better in the picture, I sprayed all the pieces with Glimmer Mist, so the card has a glimmer to it.  The tags were cut from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge at 4 x 2 inches.  I torn some paper from K & Company Gypsy Baby paper pad and covered the tags with the pieces, it was like putting a puzzle together.   I Cuttlebugged the back ground paper with the new 5 x 7 Polka Dots folder,  then distress the edges of the  with Tim Holtz distress tool.  I love that they are coming out with larger folders as I like to make my cards bigger then the A2 size some times.  This card is 5 x 7.
The brads I had just picked up at Michael's last week and the colors fit perfectly into the Ad challenge.  I also FINALLY got an i-Rock by Imaginisce, I had been wanting one for a while but every time  I went to Michaels with my coupon they did not have any.   So I just had to use it and add some more bling to this card :).  Happy Birthday is from an older Stampin Up set.    What do you think, it reminded me of a baby card (the colors)and I was going to make it into one but didn't know when I would use it so it ended up as Happy Bday.