April Calendar

Hello -

April is a foreshadowing of whats coming in May.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Color Throwdown 586

Greetings,

Wow I can't believe its already time for my last Guest Designing post over at Color Throwdown. My thanks to Vicky for the invitation, I truly enjoyed playing along each week. Now on to the colors.

 Lisa is playing hostess and this is her color swatch:

The colors are pink, purple and white.

I'd love to see ya all in the gallery at CTD, this week.  Thanks much for stopping by.

Noel

Greetings,

I am woefully behind on Christmas cards already.  But here is one more for the stash inspired by CAS Christmas Card Challenge - winter flowers.  I had a new to me Poinsettia from Taylored Expressions in my bin. So out it came.  I decided to no line copic color it.  I stamped the flower in red ink and then colored it leaf by leaf hoping to use some really dark reds to give each petal definition. The center was filled with nuvo drops that ran together...no worries though, the yellow gives a nice pop against all the red.  A small sentiment from CTMH was added next to the big bloom keeping the card CAS.

Thanks so much for visiting, stay safe.

Beary Birthday

Hello-

This afternoon I spent a few hours crafting with my friend Peggy.  We practiced social distancing -- she is in Maine and I am in Maryland.  We facetimed while we each worked on our cards.  We are both happiest with coloring. 

Another set out of my bin, Beary Special Birthday from MFT.  I used almost all the images and sentiments from the set, so this one gets filed.

I have four cards to show for our 4 hour crafting session and each was inspired by a particular challenge.

First up is Seize the Birthday with toppings - A touch of green.

Next Watercooler Wednesday - Tristan's Anything goes with a masculine twist.

Then Addicted to Stamps - Anything goes.

And last but not least, CAS on Friday - Birthday

Thanks for stopping by.  Keep Safe. Stay Home if at all possible.

Cool Cat

Hello-
Another day and I am still in a weird dream much like a geopolitical thriller about a loose virus.  Oh wait...I am awake.  I thought watching too much news had been bad...Yesterday hubs and I got up and went to the grocery at 6 am hoping it would be uncrowded and stocked up.  Not too crowded easy to maintain social distancing...but the shelves...no milk, meats sparce, frozen foods decimated, bread...what bread? Hubs did manage to snag some burger buns.  Produce poor.  So its reality smacking ya in the face.  We did go to Panera afterwards and picked up some fresh sourdough loaves which I later cut in halves and froze.  We don't eat a lot of bread, but its nice to have some when you want it. 

Okay well my odd mood is reflected in the cards today...not my best designs...but the messages are heartfelt. I used up two new stamp sets and a die set.  That bin is getting less crowded by the day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Color Throwdown 585

Hello -

I can't believe its already my third post guest designing for Color Throwdown.  The hostess this week is Jodi.  Here is her color swatch:

The colors are teal, coral, green and cream.

Thanks so much for visiting, and I'd love to visit your card over at the CTD gallery!

Dreams of Paris

Hello-

So, how are you all doing?  One would think with social distancing we'd all have more time to craft and make cards, projects, catch up on scrapbooking, sewing projects etc. I'm having an up and down response to all this. My logical brain tells me to remain calm and just hunker down. This social distancing is not much of a difference from our usual routines. Hubs and I are home-bodies at heart. I need to ration my CNN time I think. It gets me anxious. So on to something much more fun.

So on to another stamp set out of my bin. This one is from Newton's Nook called Newton Dreams of Paris.  The card made was inspired by several challenges - If You Give a Crafter a Cookie,  Fusion Card Challenge, Inky Paws Challenge.

I stamped the tower first and embossed in gold. It was fussy cut and placed on the cardfront which had been prepared with a strip of gray patterned paper. I added a touch of soft yellow to the tower for it to stand out a bit more.  The three hot air balloons were stamped and colored with the colors from the Inky Paws Challenge. The placement of the tower and the balloons are for the sketch portion of the Fusion Challenge.  And of course the tower itself is for the If you give a crafter a cookie challenge.

    

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Wildflowers

Hello-

Along with laundry that never seems to end...I played with another stamp set from my bin.  This one is called Wildflowers from MFT.

Inspiration for the cards came from two challenges, Just us Girls - Black Background, and Watercooler Wednesdays - Occasions.

I stamped each image and a few of them twice before coloring with Copic markers.  I then over-stamped them with versafine to get a nice bold black outline.  Once again I put my poor thumbs to work fussy cutting.  The shapes were fairly easy.  (I have got to learn how to cut them out using my small cameo.)

I grouped all the yellow together inside a small cut frame also by MFT, added a sentiment to the frame and mounted them on a black card base. A few yellow gems were sprinkled about. I love the dramatic look.

The remaining pieces were placed together on a pierced square sitting in my paper bin. I added blue gems and a blue card base.  After cutting down the card base, I added a sentiment using the left over bit of cardstock.


Thanks so much for visiting.

More Pawly Plushies

Hi there -

I still had those adorable Clearly Besotted bears out on my table, so I decided to play with each one. I did not buy the dies for them and I really dislike fussy cutting, but I have to say these were fairly stress free fussy cutting.  I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to fussy cutting, but I didn't say a bad word or even think one while cutting out the six bears and two balloons. So for me that's a big thumbs up!


Two of the cards were made for challenges, and were inspired by two sketch challenges.

For CAS Colours and Sketches :

 

For Freshly Made Sketches:

 And here are the other 4 bears:

For this card I created the sentiment on my computer and printed it directly onto the card base.  I have those days where I just want to cuddle up with a soft blanket and shut out the rest of the world.  I am at heart an introvert.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Bear Hugs

Hello-

Since I am unlikely to be gallivanting around for some time in an abundance of caution...its time to tackle my bin of new unused stamps and dies.  I am pledging to myself nothing new until all have been used at least once.  Below is a photo of my bin...there are things in there over a year old but I so had to have them at the time...I know as crafters we have all been there.

First up, a rather new set from Clearly Besotted Pawly Plushies. The set is get well themed.  I have a few sets in the same theme but I wanted something new and these Clearly Besotted bears are so cute.

This card is going to visit the Just Us Girls Challenge - Heal


 

Thanks for visiting!

Color Throwdown Week 584

Hi there -

I'm back with Color Thowdown for another Guest Designing post.  This week Amy is our hostess.

 She has chosen Lime Green, Green, Black and White for this weeks colors.

Remember you can always use neutrals as well in your creation.

I would love to see your creations in the  CTD gallery this week!

Thanks so much for visiting.

A little green

Hi There!

I was busy in February with an abundance of good things. You may have noticed several Guest Designing opportunities have come my way.  Some were for single posts and two were for month-long weekly postings.  I am the type of person that has to have her  "homework" done way ahead of time.  So, I kinda burned my self out with all the cards and haven't made anything other than a design opportunity card.

While I took some time off from creating, I got pulled into politics on television and in turn lately to the news of the Covid19 virus.  I wish all of you good health and good sense in dealing with this situation.

I've managed to pull myself  away from the television, and had some crafty time...well after I cleaned up the disaster the room was.  Today's St. Patrick's Day card is inspired by two challenges:
The Card Challenge (the shamrocks) and Inspired by (the green shades).

I added a couple of green alcohol inks to a small sheet of yupo.  Once dry I cut out the shamrocks using a paper smooches die.  I made a couple of cards, some with 3 shamrocks and some with just 1 shamrock above the sentiment.

                                  

Thanks so much for visiting.

Twofer Card Challenge 25

Hello -

Can you believe its time for another Twofer Card Challenge?  These months are flying by.

 

And this month's Prompt is:

If you've seen my Twofer Card Challenge design team posts before you'll know I start with my main piece (Stamp, Die, or Stencil).  This month is it is Sweetest Somebunny by MFT.

Next up comes the design, or layout, or sketch to make sure both cards are different.

I seem to digress a bit each time from the sketches by the time I am finished, but still maintain two distinctly different designs.  By moving the sentiment, I though the cards ended up being too similar.

I originally made these cards in November. Now in February, the similarity in the cards is still bugging me, so I made another card and changed up my Twofer from the sketches above.

So there is no sketch for the new card, but here it is in Twofer Style and individually.

Each Card Separately.

2nd Attempt Twofer.

Here are my original Twofers together. They look very similar. The bunny image is just moved and the sentiment remains below the main image. Not distinctly different.

Thanks so much for visiting, and I really want to see your creations in the gallery!

Guest Designing at CAS Stencil

Hello-

I can't tell you how thrilled I was to have been asked to Guest Design by Loll at CAS Stencil.  I love all the CAS challenges (Stencil, Watercolor, Mix it up, and Christmas).  I always learn something each month.

This month's  stencil challenge is:

There are several videos over at the main challenge page for CAS Stencil to walk you through the technique.

I chose a Penny Black stencil, pressed my versamark ink pad directly to the paper through the stencil.   I then added copper embossing powder from Ranger and finished with heating. Next I added the little sentiment from CTMH and heat embossed it as well. I die cut the panel and mounted it on a pale gray card base.

Thanks so much for playing along; I really hope to see you in the gallery!

Guest Designing at CTD 583

Hello-

Its been an exciting year as far as Guest Designing goes.  I was thrilled when Vicky asked me to Guest Design at Color Throw Down during March. I said yes immediately.

This week Broni chose the palette:

The colors are pink, orange and blue.  

You are also free to use neutrals in your design as well. For a complete listing of the rules pop on over to the CTD Blog.

I really hope to see your colorful creation over at CTD this week.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Card Chain February

Hello-

This month at the Card Chain Challenge-

 I love the colors, 

 

 the sketch,

 

and the theme of nature.

My card is going to Chris, and I hope she likes it.

I added a bit of sparkle to the darker areas.

Thanks for visiting.