A bold Hello

Hello...wow how can it be that June is tomorrow?  Where have the last 5 months gone?   I woke up early this morning and did some coloring.  I chose some bold color combinations for this version of the stamp. I colored it earlier with pastel shades, that card you can find here.

This WPlus9 stamp fits so many directions on a card.  Landscape, portrait and diagonally...so you can have a lot of fun with it.  The biggest plus...I have a hard time arranging flowers on cards...this beauty takes all that stress out of the equation.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jugs 395

Hi there!  Hubs and I are celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary.  I married an amazing man whom I love more today than the day we wed.  He is handsome, smart, kind, witty, generous and he is my best friend.

Our anniversary is the only time I can get away with a frilly card for  him and I thought the Just us Girls Photo Challenge was a perfect inspiration for his anniversary card.

Our wedding colors were red, white and black. So I used a lot of white with touches of black and red.

The scroll work on the upper most cookie was the inspiration for my card.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Addicted to CAS 112

Hi there, we are back from our trip to Ohio to see our nephew's graduation.  I had several pre-posted cards for the week we were gone, and here is my first card now that we are back.  It's another graduation card for the son of a friend of ours.

The code word at Addicted to Cas is Graduation.

I am hoping my subtle dry background embossing of mortar boards doesn't violate the CAS rule.

The sentiment comes from Stampin Up - Teeny Tiny wishes. The sentiment strip was cut with an MFT die, and the embossing folder is from Darice.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Birthdays

Hello ~

Between May and June I had 20+ birthday cards to make as well as Graduation, Mother's Day and Father's Day cards.  Here is one style I made. I did make similar cards in differing colors for this design...I really liked it...I first used this design on this card. 

The flower is from  Concord and 9th, the color blush was done with an Ink duster brush and the sentiment is from CTMH.

Thanks for stopping by!

Band Birthdays

Hello

Our nephew's have birthdays just a few days apart.  They are both active in their high school's music programs.  The instruments aren't quite right, but I think they will do.

The stamp set is MFT's Strike up the band.

Thanks for stopping by!

A I Watercolor Stamps

I am still obsessing over these Water Color stamps by Art Impressions.  My friend and crafting pal Peggy is similarly obsessed.  Our last few crafty sessions were just playing with these stamps.  I love the rocking chair below, it's part of Peggy's stash.  The arbor is mine, and the palm trees were a mistake so I framed out just a part of the whole 4x5 panel I had colored to the bit I liked.

I've been using mostly Tombow markers and a few Marvy ones - the sepia which is used for almost all the outlines.  Both work well, but if I am going to stamp some of Peggy's stuff to take home and work on later, those panels must be stamped with the Marvy markers.  Color can be pulled from them even two weeks later...the Tombow's did not perform well after a day for pulling color from the stamped lines.  It might be the paper I used - Canson XL.

Thanks so very much for stopping by!

Congratulations

The second of our three nephews is graduating from High School this spring.  I have one graduation cap stamp in my collection, which I got out of the Michael's $1 bin several years ago.  This is the 5th graduation card made with the stamp. I'd say I've gotten my money's worth.

I followed the school colors, and colored the caps with copic markers.  I deliberately left three un-colored to keep the design from being too colorful.  I really like the mix of colored and plain mortarboards.  The edges of my white card base were also colored with the matching copic shade as was the banner.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

An afternoon of Watercolors

Greetings

If you have seen a few of my previous posts, you know that I am a bit obsessed with the Art Impressions watercolor stamps.  I will admit there was a learning curve for me, but once passed that it is so relaxing to stamp, dab with a damp brush and create something lovely.

Here is the collection from my crafty day with Peggy.

 And the individual shots:

The two with the 3 cats will be going to my Dad, he really liked the last one I set of the barn.

Thanks so very much for stopping by!

Coloring

I couldn't sleep. Arrghhhh.  So I colored.

Now...maybe a lil nap.

Thanks for stopping by.

Seize the Birthday and Fusion

Hi there!

This card is for one of my BIL's.  He was best man at our wedding 9 years ago.   The card was inspired by the blue striped rug in the graphic at  Fusion.   I am also entering it to Seize the Birthday - no toppings this time for me.

I am a big fan of the monochromatic card for masculine projects.  The card set comes from CTMH. The patterned paper is a left over from an old SSS card kit. The twine is from Hemptique.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Mother's Day

Hello and Happy Mother's day to all of you who have children, fur babies or others you care for.  Mothers have the toughest job and in my experience are the most selfless people around.  My Mother was my best friend and not a day goes by that I don't think of her and miss her.

This card is for my Fabulous MIL. She is one of the best people ever.  I am so blessed to call her my friend as well as well as Mother-in-law. She loves pink and bit of sparkle.  Several of the blooms have been brushed with wink of stella, though it doesn't come through in the photo.

I used the Lawn Fawn box card die, and Penelope's Blossoms for the card along with the grass die from LF.  I had to use markers on the stamps rather than ink pads, and there was a LOT of die-cutting going on. 

FMS287 and CAS Watercolor Flowers

Hi there, its been a bit rainy and drippy here the last few days and I am absolutely loving it. The end of the week has promises of a heat wave - ugh!  So, I'll just have to enjoy this while it lasts.

I have a card for two challenges today.  The sketch from Jen at Freshly Made Sketches is fabulous, and the theme of flowers at CAS Watercolor Card Challenge is a no brainer for me. I love flowers.

Thanks much for stopping by!

Going Dotty Wednesday at Simon and CTS 221

I am back again with another card today.   This one is for Simon's Wednesday Challenge which is all about the Dots and I used Donna's  sketch from Case this Sketch.

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Thanks for stopping by!

JUGS Mother and C9 Florals

A quick post for two challenges, Just us Girls - Mother and Where Creativity Meets C9.

I am trying to use up the ink in my set of Memento Markers which are going on being 7 years old. Some are beginning to dry out and the brush tips are getting mushy.  So I am using them to get the ink out before they all dry  out.  They are great for stamp inking, and can be used to water color as well.

I colored the stamp with a lighter red and green, then after stamping the sentiment, I colored in the flower with the original red so that the color was even, then tried to get some depth with a darker marker.  It's not well blended, but I kinda like that look for this flower. I made these cards for some girlfriends who are fabulous Mom's, and they are smaller cards 2.75 by 4.25 inches. Stamp set used is from Concord and 9th -called Happy Words a great sentiment set with this bonus bloom.

 


Thanks much for stopping by!

Muse 214

Hi there.

I am often drawn to the cards Anita creates for Muse, this week I am playing again and Anita is the Muse. Her card is below.  I have no mandela or medallion type stamps at the moment so I went in another direction though still inspired by her round stamping, blue and purple coloring and black touches.

I don't often make a card without stamping and only diecuts, but today I have. The dies are double pierced squares from Avery Elle, Hello and Confetti Circle from Simon Says Stamp. The color is provided with some ink blending of Broken China and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide inks.



Thanks for stopping by!

Casology 247 with Color Throwdown 441

Hi and Happy Friday!

One card for two challenges.  The word flow for Casology 247 reminded me of Simon's Stitched Flourish ribbon which I have not used nearly enough; and the colors of pink, blue, and lavender from Color Throwdown reminded me I hadn't yet played with my Distress Oxide inks.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

       

Set for my bestie

Hi there!

I  was talking on the phone with my bestie, wishing her a happy birthday (her birthday card was posted yesterday).  She kinda had a surprise birthday dinner, what was supposed to be a small gathering turned into a much bigger dinner than she had expected.  The food was great, and she enjoyed the evening.  As we were talking she said she would need to get her thank you's out this week.  I asked if she had any on hand...and quickly offered to send some to her.  She accepted, and after we got off the phone I started to play.

I really enjoy making these random stamped image cards.  I used a set by Mama Elephant with some Hero Arts and Simon Says Stamp inks.  The layers are die cut with dies from WPlus9 and Simon's.  Several were made in each of the color combos. They include inside card and envelope flap decor. I hope she likes them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday

My bestie's Birthday is in May.  I always want to make a special card for her. She is the best friend anyone could want.  She and I have known each other since 1974, when I first moved to California as a barely teen. She is and has always been a fabulous friend. The most difficult part of living on opposite sides of the country is not being able to hop in the car and grab some time together face to face; we make do with frequent phone calls.  She loves pink...so I have to incorporate it. 

This is actually the second coloring of this stamp for the birthday card. My first version I tried over-stamping with my misti...but I must have moved it a sixteenth of an inch...just enough to create blur on the outlines.  At first I was completely irritated with myself...but then I decided I wasn't overly fond of the original petunia shades instead of a light pink they were more light lavender.  So a new card stamped and colored and I got this version. I also added some blue-green leaves to the second version.  I so love this one! Hard to see but there are a few clear sparklie nuvo dots around the bouquet from Wplus9. The sentiment is from Concord and 9th, the die is Lawn Fawn, and the card base is Stampin Up.

I am adding this floral birthday card to two challenges:  Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes, and Always Fun Challenges #4 - Flowers. 


Now that first card panel...I wish I had photographed it but I did not.  I did manage to fix it enough to use in a die cut though. A black sharpie to make the blurred lines a thick outline did the trick.  It was late, and I managed to adhere everything to my clear embossed card base which I had stamped upside down.  No more do overs on this card...its gonna be mailed as is. The hearts and dots are so small it is not really noticeable.

Thanks so very much for stopping by!

Cupcake Inspirations 405

I am finally getting to play along with Cupcake Inspirations.  They have a color challenge this week using the color combo below:

I used Altenew's Amazing You floral stamp set, some pink vellum, pink cardstock, and iridescent sequins.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

The Card Chain Challenge

I am back to playing in the card chain challenge; this month my card goes to Dawn in New Zealand.  I am trying out something a little different. The challenge I chose was to use the colors - sky blue, navy blue and red.  I happened to have some fabric roses that perfectly fit those colors.

The fabric is attached to sticker paper, this stops the edges from fraying.  Then the images in the fabric I want to use are cut out.  Next, I arranged my bouquet, popped some  press and seal on so it stayed in place while I turned it over to apply adhesive.  I mounted it on an ivory color card base as that matches the fabric background best.  I decided on a bold die cut sentiment in a matching red cardstock. The die is layered 4 times from some light weight cardstock.  I am pleased with the results.  I do have a handful of more floral patterned fabric squares, so you'll be seeing more of these in the future.

Thanks much for stopping by!

Inspired by and Less is More

Hello!

Two challenges this evening. My color choice was inspired by the yellow inside the bookcase in the Inspired by all the Little Things photo. I added the smaller sentiment with foam which gives a nice shadow, and added shadows to the flower petals with multiple memento markers for the challenge over at Less is More. Links to both challenges are below.

I am entering these challenges - Inspired by all the little things #54 and Less is More #326.




Flower image is from Concord & 9th, Sentiment is from Mama Elephant. 
Thank you so much for stopping by!