07-25-24

 Hey there -

Can you believe it July is almost over.  And sadly today is my last post as Guest Designer at Just Us Girls Challenge.  I had such fun making these cards.

This week the challenge is:

I have quite a few stencils, so this was fun. I pulled something new from my waiting to be used stash.

I do love a stencil set that does not rely on stamps. Wild Blooms from Papertrey Ink fits the bill and is so very easy to use.  Love that. Altenew Inks were used in Wisteria and Hydrangea, Fresh Lemon, Firefly and Grass Field. I did not try to get even coverage on the stencils, I like the light and dark within the main color on the petals and the leaves.

I thought the drama of a dark cardbase would set off the gold embossed Ellen Hutson sentiment.

I hope you are inspired to play along with us and I look forward to seeing your creation in the Jugs gallery.

Thank you so much to the Just Us Girls team and Vicki for the invite. I enjoyed it tremendously.

Glad you could visit!

7-18-24

 Hello-

Time for another Guest Designer Post with the wonderful team at JUGS.  There is a fabulous mood board to get your mojo going.

The teals and the palms spoke to me for the creation of this card:

Here is a larger view of the mood board:

I hope you will all join in and play along at JUGS.  I look forward to seeing your fabulous creations in the gallery.

Thanks much for stopping by.

(stamps - Stampin Up Oceanfront and Paradise Palms)

7-15-24

 Hello from sweltering Maryland. 

 I so dislike the heat and humidity.  Our A/C is struggling to keep up with 95+ temps and 80+ humidity. 

We have all the vents closed downstairs so the cooling comes upstairs.  ITs not working well (88 in my crafty space right now.) 

Its no wonder I went where I did using Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge color graphic for their challenge:

I colored the sweet purr-maid with copics.  I used a combo of DOX inks to create my turquoise water.  Right now I want to be in that water with her.

The stamp set is Purr-Maid.

 

I made a second card today....gotta get back into the groove.  This one is visiting the gallery at Tic Tac Toe.  I went with the upper left to lower right diagonal.

The Altenew Cherry Blossom bunch underwent a mutation; and was colored with Copics, then fussy cut to land on top of an embossed panel of thank yous. I added sparkly gems to round out the card.
 

Thanks for visiting.

07-14-24

 Greetings-

When I am away from my craft space for any length of time...I lose all "muscle memory" to whip together a card. It is infuriating, since I have little patience to begin with...and the heat is making me so cranky.

I tossed two cards in the trash (I rarely do that, I find a way to fix it.) Before I got the card I liked and wanted to submit to Freshly Made Sketches.

 I did make a goof, but I think it just adds a bit of texture (my third panel wasn't big enough when I relooked at the sketch.  

 

Next I played with Color Throwdown, and made a guy card...I have 4 left to make for the year, so I was happy with those suggested colors. 

Happily I also used quite a few items from the new bin and it is actually getting a bit floppy...as in not stuffed so full the stamps, dies, and stencils don't move about.  Another win!

 

 I need some more practice making cards before I forget altogether how to construct one.  These were a good start.  Thanks for visiting.

 

07-11-24

 Hello-

Where do the days go...its time for my second Guest Designer post at Just Us Girls Challenge. 

This week the challenge is:

So many options for this one... but for me summer is always the beach and this lil cutie fits the bill!

I hope you can play along and I look forward to seeing all your wonderful creations in the Jugs Gallery. 

Thanks for visiting.

(The stamp set is from Gerda Steiner-Catch a Wave, and was gifted to me from the lovely Darnell. Thank you!)

07-04-24

 

 Hello-

I am excited to let you know I was asked to Guest Design for the month of July by the fabulous team at JUGS- Just Us Girls.  Thank you so much Vicki, its an honor and a pleasure to play along with the great challenges this month.

First up is Color Week... 

 

I'd love to see you all play along with the challenge. These are fabulous colors! 

Thanks for visiting.

(Stampin Up Cheerful Daisies)

06-25-3

 Hmmm...okay I promise its the last post for today...

After my stressing watercoloring session...I decided to pull out the Avery Elle Kracken stamp I've had a while and have been wanting to play with. But I had no ideas until I saw the sketch at Just Add Ink.  I turned the sketch to landscape design.  Time is running out so I had to post again today.

Here is the sketch:

         

So now I end the day on a happy note...maybe.  Laundry awaits...

If you visited again...thank you so much!

06-25-24-2

 Hello Again...

There was last nights early morning card and this one made this afternoon. So it feels like two different days...but the calendar disagrees!

Its been quite some time since I took an adventure making a card...did something uncomfortable.  For me its water colors...the little blips of color that do magic when wet.  Its been quite a bit since I did some unrestrained coloring.

I used Altenews Starry Flowers, and my oft neglected watercolors to come up with this card:

This card is going to the gallery at Altenew's June Inspiration Challenge.

  

When is the last time you pushed yourself or did a technique that was a bit uncomfortable?

Thanks for visiting.

 

 

6/25/24

 Hello--

Another bit of relief from the heat and I headed upstairs to make a card for my FIL to give to his golfing buddy for his milestone birthday next month.

The golf bag is from Whipper Snapper designs, and the sentiment is from Hero Arts.  I used the swiss dots embossing folder to create my "golf ball" using the debossed side to mimic the ball dimples.  I added some texture with heat embossing on the card base.

This card will be visiting the gallery at Can you handle the pressure, with the optional theme of sports.

Thanks so much for visiting.

06-16-24

 Hello-

Here's to the Dad's.

 A browse through the SU last chance stuff in April put this die set on sale at a significant amount off.  It is a die set that goes with a stamp set. But only 3 of the 12 dies cut any of the stamped images. I love this pirate ship, and its not difficult to put together.

Thanks for visiting.

06-02-24-2

 Hello-

I was able to keep the mojo going and have two more cards. One for Color Throwdown and one for Freshly Made Sketches.

First up for Color Throwdown:

 Thanks to Linda for the letterpress sentiment.  The pot and geraniums are from Greetery.

 

 

 

 Next up, for Freshly Made Sketches:

Stamp set is Color and Contour from Stampin Up.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by...again!

06-02-24

 Greetings,

WOW its June already.  I swear each year goes by faster that ever.

I have a birthday card for a July birthday, so there had to be fireworks and patriotic colors.

The fireworks are gold embossed, and the image is colored with copics in a neutral palet to let the red, white and blue come through.  I'll be sending this clean and layered birthday kitty off to Seize the Birthday and The Card Concept.

    

Thanks so much for visiting.

5-28-24

 Hello-

I love polka dots so when I saw Double D's challenge, I knew I would have to play along.

 I love those cute PI images from MFT. The paper is also from MFT. Copic coloring.

 

Thanks for visiting.

05-26-24

 Hello-

There is a wedding in the family next month, and a chance to get out a lovely Greetery set for the card.

It will be visiting  Just Us Girls and As You See It.

This card took time to put together, but I think the results are worth it.

 

Thanks to to Greta for sending along the lovely embossed piece behind the focal point, the flowers matched perfectly to the stenciled image.

 

Thanks so much for visiting.

5-25-24

 Greetings,

Another male card and the level of difficulty is higher as its for a 4 year old.  All of my weak points...lol

For this one, I again relied on some designer paper and a fun stamp and punch set from Stampin UP.

(Submarine Life, Whale of a time) 

Thanks for stopping by.

05-22-24

Hello-

I spent a few days organizing my messy craft room. I had bins on the floor bins on the desk, bins in my light box, stuff to put away and just general mess.  Today, I got to play in a sweetly organized space, YAY!

This card is going to Triple B....I rarely do bird cards, but this one was fun.

 

Its a thank you card inside. This is an old SU set Hey Chick. Peggy and I recently swapped a few sets. I love this chicken shes a fun gal I can tell.  I cut all the pieces in white and used markers for the coloring giving the dic cuts a bit of a rustic feel.

Triple B gave us a lovely moodboard, but I went with other colors...I've never seen a purple chicken, and this card was screaming to be made.

 Thanks for stopping by!

05-11-24

Greetings:

The dies are from The Greetery, and the sentiment is from Stampin Up.

I'll be sending this over to the gallery for Double D, the brief is pretty florals for Mom, Along with Four Seasons Spring Season May.

            

Thanks for visiting.

5-8-24

 Greetings,

So many man birthdays this month...and one more a bit more girly at the end.

I pulled out some designer series papers along with a coordinating stamp and die set from Stampin Up and went to work. (seaside bay and by the bay)

Thanks for visiting.

 

05-04-24

 Hello-

After a week of mid 80's its raining and 56 today.  Perfect day for that last pack of stew meat in the freezer.  Its been in the crockpot about 9 hours on low and if the aroma is anything to go by hubs and I will have a tasty bowl soon.

The rain is also good for making cards.  I have two cards to share for three challenges. 

First up Seize the Birthday - Off the Edge

Waffle Flowers mini slimline die finally came out to play with their wild flowers stencil (this is configured for the regular A2 postage collage die, but a bit of futzing around and I got it to work. The round sentiment is from the fall stamp set and the banner is from Pinkfresh. 

The size of this card is about half an inch shorter that the coin envelope I mail it in so it was perfect for an off the edge sentiment banner.

 

 

My next card was a redo of a panel that got sent to the trash.  I don't give up often but there was no saving it.  When I shop online I often check the clearance sections.  I found a Pinkfresh stencil set that was 4 panels so not so arduous  but the stamp set was not available. It looked dooable and it was marked WAY down; I took a chance on it.

The first attempt showed me there were two area of teeny tiny flowers that I could not make look right they needed definition. Outlining didn't help so back to the drawing board.  I used a black copic friendly pen to trace along the stencils opening for the vase and the leaves. Then I added the color using Altenew Inks. The final two stencils were all about the flowers and the shading on the leaves. Once that was done I was left with a bouquet floating above the vase. I drew in stems, added stems to the leaves and flowers and used some copics to color them in. As a final touch I outlined the flowers freehand as well. The sentiment got a touch of purple as well as a bit of whimsy.

This will go to the Flower Challenge and Color Hues.

   

Thanks much for visiting!