Rainy days never get me down!

The forecast predicts rain for the next few days.  Great weather for cleaning, packing up, laundry, and crafting.  Guess which one that I have decided will take precedence?  You have three choices, the first two don't count!  Tee hee!

The feeling of spring is in the air here.  Birds are singing in the morning and there are hibiscus flowers blooming here there were none before.  We need the showers to make the flowers.  So it was what I was thinking of when I thought of early Spring.  Thanks Joyce, for the heads up on Face Book for the next Mod Squad Challenge.  I had time to think about it.

I am entering this card in the following challenges.

http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.com/  Spring
http://www.newtonsnookblog.com/search/label/Inky%20Paws%20Challenge  Just ONE layer
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/   Anything Goes

To make this card, I used Tim Holtz watercolor paper and Distress inks.
I wanted texture on this one layer, so I used a stencil called Gingham by Simon Says.  After the embossing paste dried, I brushed on Colorshine in Chartreuse. usually you spray this on, but I wanted more control. 
The stamp set used are from Newton"s Nook and are Spring Showers and Basket of Wishes.  I combined the sentiments to make this one.
There is Wink of Stella on the puddle and the umbrella, hard to see. 
These stamps have such cute additional images like the little bird and musical note and others as well.  I used some inside the card.

Thanks again for sharing some time with me to view my blog.  I love hearing what you think and certainly could not have had a great a time here in Florida without all of you.  You are only a click away.  LOL

Make It Monday #202 and Simon Says Monday challange

       Make It Monday #202: Anchoring With Border and Banner Dies

                    Simon Says Monday Challenge: No Rules.

                               Here is the card that I did for both of these challenges.

 

 

I was inspired by the design paper with it's light green and pink. I did sponge some Spun Sugar on it to enhance the pink. Then I sponged some white paper with Bundled Sage and stamped the script with dark chocolate ink.  Next I die cut the stars with a die, Sketched Stars.  I think that I will use this negative on another card.  Never throw anything away!  The doily was a gift from a friend and it was sponged with the green too. To make a banner, I die cut the stars with a die called Dangled Stars, but I used the negative and cut it into a banner for this card.  To attached it all, I used a wooden star (friend gift) colored with copic marker and pink pearls. 
The sentiment is from Newton's Nook


These colors are so dreamy and yummy.  I often love the cards that other make using soft colors like these. 
Here is what I used for this card.
Jodie Lee Nature Garden 6x6 paper
GKD card stock in Fresh Asparagus and White, GKD ink Dark Chocolate
Distressed inks in Spun Sugar and Bundled Sage
Dies, PTI Sketched Stars and Dangled Stars
Sentiment from Newton's Nook, Love a la Carte

I will be entering this card in both of these challenges with week. 
Thanks for stopping in to see what I am doing this week.  I will be packing up in a day or two.  We will leave this warm, wonderful place where I have made my home for the last 7 weeks.  Back home to family and friends.  I think there is some bad weather expected on Sunday, so we will leave earlier than originally planned.  Don't want to drive in that stuff if we don't have to.

Have a fun creative week, thanks to all of you for the wonderful comments that you leave.

Just Us Girls #281 - Color Week

Just take a look at these lovely colors and I wonder what you see.  I saw Navy, Beige and Silver, so I made a card using  those three colors.  This is a plain and simple card for me, specially after the last several posts. 



In this card, I used a base of GKD, In the Navy card stock, then a layering weight of White.  After die cutting the two areas, I placed in some GKD design paper from Berries and Vines.  Tiddly Inks stamp set called For the Birds was stamped with silver embossing powder and heat set.  Then colored with Copic markers.   Next, to fill in some white space, some Pretty Pink Posh sequins in Cobalt Blue and silver, of course!

You can see the silver embossing in this view.

 

 

       

 

 

 

I have been trying to finish the inside of the cards that I do so that I only need to stamp a sentiment or write in something appropriate.  Aren't these little birds so cute?
Thanks so much for stopping by, The weather this week looks wonderful here and it will be our last week in the sunshine, so we are making the most of it.  I need to bring back some to last me for the month of March back home.  Silly me, I wish I could.

Oh, I keep forgetting to mention that I have had a Pinterst button on my blog for a long time.  All you need to do is chick on it and then the images will come up and you can choose the one that you want and pin it to your board.  Have fun pinning!

Thanks for your comments, they are loved.

Paper takes a Tole

One of my favorite online friends is hosting the challenge at the Mod Squad this week.  She wants us to make a card with paper tole.  I have not really done that, some paper piecing, but that is all.  I gave it a try with this card.

I think that flowers work the best for paper tole.  The petals are so easy to make layers of.  I also did the leaves on this image.  I just about threw everything on this card.  We are packing up next week, so I was trying to use up what I had. 

I started with a base of dark gray card stock from HL, with some texture in it.  Next is paper from Graphics 45, Artisan Style.  Then a die cut using Simon Says Chain link, and on top of that a die from Flourishes called classic frame, from Kraft card stock.  

Here is a look at the inside.

I used a stamp and matching die set from clearly Besotted called Remember.  It is basically for sympathy, but I added a birthday sentiment from Simon Says called handwritten Borders.  I wanted to make each flower different and accomplished that with glossy accents on one, and Wink of Stella on another.  Two flowers were cut from patterned paper and the other, white.  That last one, I brushed on using some water and my GKD Tomato Soup ink.    Fresh     asparagus and grass green inks for the leaves, also GKD. 



.Thanks again for stopping by and leaving a comment.  That is what it is all about.

 

 

  

My first video

I watched a video on Splitcoast Stampers the other day, and marked it, as I was very excite about it and wanted to go back to take a closer look.  It was showing a Peek a Boo card and it was really amazing.  Well, often those look easy, but are not.  I as so impressed with the crafter and how she gave such simple instructions to making the card, that I tried it and it was just as she did it. 
Her name is Norma Lee and here is where you can find the Peek a Boo Card..

Take a look and see what you think of the video.  I know some of you are interested in making one.(you know who you are)
Enough of talking, here is the card that I made.


Sorry for the shadow. 

 

I wanted to show how the card opened, and I got this big idea that I should do a video.  I almost pulled out my hair trying to get it to work.  Looks like I can keep my hair cut appointment

when I get home.  

 

This is the recipe for this card. 

GKD Card stock in Kraft and design paper from Berries and Vines

Oval Spellbinder die

lawn Fawn die, Spring Showers

Tiddly Inks stamp and sentiment, Hang in There

Simon Says die Party Banner

Pretty Pink Posh sequins in marigold

Heartfelt Creations  flowers

 

I am entering this card in Simon Says Wednesday challenge  Add a Little Texture

and I will post it on Splitcoast Stampers too.  There is a special gallery for Peek a Boo cards. 

Ok, no ideas that there will be more videos.  This one almost killed me and took a very long time to upload. 
Thanks for stopping to see what I do, and leaving some love.  I really do like it.

JUGS and Sieze the Birthday

                                   It's TREND TIME over at Just Us Girls

The challenge is to use burlap! Well, I almost missed this one, as I did not have anything burlap.  But. last night, I was going through some recently bought paper and found BURLAP!  That was all I needed, and I was compelled to make a card.  lol
I am also entering this one in Sieze the Birthday - Anything goes.  ( for Nancy)

The recipe:  GKD cardstock White and Turquoise Sea
                    PTI die Phrase Play #11
                    Avery Elle stamp  Party Animal
                    GKD ink  Innocent Pink and Passionate Pink
                    Simon Says ink Sea Glass
                    Printed burlap paper from HL
 Don't you just love those balloon animals.  I have wanted to use this set for awhile now. 
Thanks for dropping in and leaving some much appreciated love!

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

Power Poppy has a monthly challenge that looked very interesting.  Above is the sky inspiration on Power Poppy, and you can see the details HERE.

Let me tell you a little story.  My son lives in a little town in Wisconsin right in the middle of several lakes.  Look on the map below, do you see Winneconne? 


It is between Lake Winneconne and Lake Butte des Morts

     

There is lots of fishing there, both summer and winter. I was not surprised when he really got interested in fishing.  This last year, he build a fishing shanty.  Not just any shanty, it has all of the comforts of home, including heat, two beds and windows.  He posted a picture of his shanty and I was very impressed with the color.  Not sure if it is sunrise, or sunset, but it is gorgeous. 

This is a picture of a frozen lake, but the colors of the sky are what I was inspired by.  The red streak fading into yellow and then some light gray.  See what I mean about gorgeous? 

I captured the streaks in the sky with color shine, Mustard and Rose spray, and could not resist the snowflake in the background.  Of course the Power Poppy digital tulips are the promise of spring.

This is a close up of the Memory box  Lindeman, snowflake  I covered it with pink stickles.
the sentiment is from Flourishes Passion Flower set. The base is GKD navy cardstock. 



Here is a close up of the snowflake.


Sorry for the long post today.  I got carried away!  Hope you like my card. 
 Thanks for stopping in.  Love the comments.

 

MFT Color Challenge #15

 

One more post for today.  I used my new stamp set from MFT Sailor Girl to make this card in the colors for the challenge.  On a base of GKD heavy weight Navy card stock I layered Kraft light weight, then a layer of white.  the white layer was embossed with the chevron patters and then sponged with kraft, and a color as close as I could get, to the blue in the challenge.  Added the sailor girl that was fussy cut after colors with copics.  The sentiment is from the same set and I added the red heart what I brushed with Wink of Stella and then Glossy Accents.  I am liking this one.

 

Off I go as I have another idea for a card.  This one will take awhile, so no more posts for today.  At least, I don't think so.  Lol

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I do appreciate!

 

 

MFT Sketch challenge

I am just getting the card in time for the challenge at My Favorite Things.  I just love the stamps there and bought two more on my shopping trip with past weekend. 

I am using the Crafty Friends stamp set for this sketch.
I have placed her in the circle and paper pieced her dress with paper from Graphic 45, Artisan Style.  Also a purchase this weekend. 

I just love the font on stamps, they are perfect with the images. 

She is colored with Copic Markers. The die on the side is Simon Says Pinpoint border and Spellbinder Scalloped Borders Two.


Here is the card that I made. 

 

This is the inside of the card.

 

This card can be sent for any occasion. 

Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate all of the love that you leave. 

 

 

Papertrey Ink Challange #8

   


 Papertrey Ink Challenge #8  Introducing Blue Skies and the Challenge is ....... Drum roll
to make a Blue ombre anything. 

This is day 8 of the challenges and I have blue ink every where.  That is because I started out with a piece of white card stock and shaded it in an ombre effect with Distress inks.  Then I die cut the feathers from PTI's Feather Finery.  I stamped and embossed the layers with Platinum embossing powder, and I liked the effect, but the ombre did not show up as well. But I decided to use them anyway.  If you look closely on my card, I think that you can see the effect.

I am including this picture of the negative of the dies that I cut.  I decided to use just the largest feather for my card and the smaller one inside.  The other paper is a scrap piece that I used to blot my sponge before making the ombre effect.  I am including it so that you can see where I got my inspiration for my background on my card.  I really liked the light airy feeling.  Almost like a reverse Bokeh effect.  Sometimes a bunch of scraps or how the papers are on my desk are an inspiration.  You just never know where it comes from. 

 

It is another sunny day here is Florida and I am going out into and soak up as much as I can.  We are going back home in just two weeks. 

Thanks again for stopping by as I entered all of these challenges from PTI.  It was fun. 

 

Papertrey Ink Challenge #5

        Papertrey Ink Challenge #5   Use a new set, or one that has not been used much.

One of the first sets that I purchased from PTI was the Delightful Dahlia set, but I did not use it much as it never looked like the flowers that I saw as examples on the blog.  I just thought it was operator error......until, I realized that there was a Delightful Dahlia additions set.  So I ordered that and now I can play with it.  I am still learning about all of the layers that you can use to get a more real effect. 

On my card, I started with watercolor paper and use white heat embossing for the flowers and leaves.  Next I used my Distress ink pens to color them and added some water to blend the colors.  I used mostly shades of orange on the flowers and then stamped the additions with GKD ink Tomato Soup.  Really brought out the dimension. 
The BG is die cut with Lil Inkers diagonal die and I colored some of the diagonal with the Tomato Soup ink. this was all on a base of GKD Kraft card stock.  I fussy cut the flower and leaf image and Popped it out with foam tabs.
Here is what I got.

The sentiment is from the same stamp set, Delight Dahlia. 

I am very happy with  how this one turned out.

Thanks for stopping and look out for another post later today!  Thanks for your bits of love.  They are very much appreciated. 
 

 

Papertrey's Anniversary Day 7

Today the challenge is to use metallic and neutral colors only.  I have this Liquid Platinum Embossing power by Ranger, that melts like butter.  I used that on this card with the stamp set from PTI called Big Hugs.  On the heart, I used my Versamark pen to outline and make dots, and also on the border to add some interest to this card. 

The top of this card folds under the heart, which is cut into the back of the card.  Then I mounted the whole thing on a square of dark grey card stock after rounding the corners.



This is a better view of the Metallic Embossing


Thanks for stopping by, I enjoy the comments and they are so much appreciated. 
 

Papertrey Ink 8th Anniversary

They are celebrating 8 years of business at Papertrey Ink.  They have a challenge every day for 8 days.  I didn't think that I would be able to keep up with a challenge every day, but this is the challenge for day 4.  You are to make a bouquet of flowers with more than one stamp.

This is a precut card base that has some diagonal stripes in it.  I used Pretty Petals stamp set, which was a freebie, and some images from Shakers and Sprinkles set.  I even use hearts for the flowers on the bottom.  Notice the black card stand, a gift from my friend Judy Woodland.  So classy.

This card will be entered in day 4 of the Papertrey Ink Challenge. 
Thanks again for peeking in on what I do with my free time.  I love the cements
.

Papertrey Ink - Maile Belle

 



 Papertrey Ink is celebrating their 8th anniversary with so many challenges. This one is just to CASE on of Maile Belle's creations.  This one is from her blog and it inspired me to make this one. 

 

This is my card. 

 

The background is watercolors with splashes of gold.  Very hard to see here.  I added a few star sequins embellishments.   On a base of Lime Green bright card stock.

Ok, I think I am done for today.  Sorry for so many posts, but I love it when you leave a little comment. 

 

Papertrey Ink challange - Bags and Tags

The challenge  at Papertrey Ink is to create a bag and a tag.  After stopping at Hobby Lobby to get some design papers, as I did not bring enough.  Note to self for next year, "bring everything"
I made this gift bag from dotted Swiss pink paper.  Then added the tag, decorated with stars, circles, bows and vellum.  Gold cord handles finish it off. 


Here is the recipe:
 Dangles Stars die, delightful Dahlias additions (sentiment)
Bookmark Tag die
Tinsel and Tags dies
Wink of Stella in Gold

This bag will come in handy for Valentines Day this Saturday. 

Thanks for stopping by, I love the comments and as so very grateful for them. 

Have a wonderful day!



                     

Just Us Girls and Simon Says Monday

                 Just us Girls is Word Week..... Guess what the word is!  LOVE
                        Simon Says Monday "H" is for.....Heart
With Valentine Day coming just a week away, that is easy.  I used some water color paper and my Distressed inks in Picked Raspberry and Festive Berries sprayed with water.  Love this BG.  Then using only part of a stamp that I recently got, stamped the hearts in Memento black ink.  The die cut bucket that I got from a friend fits perfectly into the spray of falling hearts.  I also used the sentiment from that stamp set.  I popped up the bucket with foam tape, and used a clear foam tape on the U.  This is the first time that I have used the clear tape and boy, oh boy does it stick.  It stuck to my table cloth, my hand, my scissors, and finally the U.  Lol
Well, here is the card.

                      The stamp set is from Penny Black and is called Loads of Love.
This card was pretty easy, but fun to do.  I spend most of the day getting some sun.  I have been in Florida for a month already.  Time to get some tan. 
Love you guys!  Thanks so much for the kind comments. They always motivate me. 

Mod Squad Challange - Use Water

I went digging through my stamp sets looking for something with water.  I came up with this stamp set from Flourishes.  Unfortunately, you can no longer get them as they have closed.  :(
I still use them when ever I can as they are so realistic.
I will quickly get to it as this is my second post for today. 

I think that you can see the "water" in this one.  The set is Garden Picks and is colored with Distress markers and water is added to blend them.  I used a die cut from Lil' Inker called Tag and after cutting, embossed the negative with a Sizzix folder.  The focal image is Popped up with the gingham ribbon behind.  Again, on a base of dark grey CS. 
Thanks for stopping in.  I wish I could send some sunshine to all of you. 

Papertrey Ink's 8th Anniversary Celebration and Simon Says Wednesday challange

There are so many possibilities for prizes at Papertrey Ink, as they are celebrating their 8th anniversary.  There are color challenges and sketch challenges, so you can take your pick.
I love these colors and decided that was what I would do.

 

      Don't you just love all of these colors?  I like this one the best, but there are a lot to pick from. Take a look Here for all of the possibilities.  
I am also entering this in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge -   ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL
  
                Here is the card I did. I like to do watercolors and should really do them more.

I started with a watercolor paper and heat embossed with white, using the stamp set called Pretty Petals from PTI.  I tried to match these colors with the Distressed inks that I had.  Washed the whole paper with water and then added the color.  I some areas, I when back over with a small brush to define the petals and leaves.  Next I used a Spellbinders die, A2 curved Borders One, my favorite, to add some interest to the upper corner.  The sentiment is from a Flourishes stamp set called Chrysanthemums, no longer available. This panel was added to a layer of sweet corn from GKD and then a base of dark grey. 
Thanks so much for your kind comments. 

JUGS, Make it Monday, Seize the Birthday, and Simon Says Wednesday

Why not make it Four in One?  I am combining challenges this morning and this card will be entered in these Challenges. 
Just Us Girls #278 Wild Card Week, Where the Sentiment is the focal image. 
Make it Monday #200 Layering Cover Plates
Seize the Birthday, Anything Goes
Simon Says Wednesday, Anything goes

 

 

Here is the recipe:  GKD cardstock in Sweet Mango

                               Sunburst  cardstock PTI

                               Cover Plate, In The Woods, PTI

                               Stamp set Wet Paint PTI

                               Wink of Stella on the Happy

 

It sure feels good to be back in the crafting mode.  I wish you could see the sparkle that the Happy has. 

Thanks for stopping and leaving some love.  It makes me feel warm all over.