Christmas Dove for May

Hi friends!  I have failed this month to reach my goal of two or more Christmas cards, but I do have one, and it's made with oldies I uncovered during the extensive cleaning, tidying, organizing project I've undertaken in my craft room.  The most time consuming project is the process of consolidating my dies to group several dies or die sets onto one magnetic sheet.  I'll have to share more on that later, but it's saving a lot of space and looking much tidier.  It's a long process and I'm not even done with the birds yet.  There are a LOT more letters in the alphabet!

Anyway, that's where this card comes in.  I found two doves already made up and sitting with the die in its envelope.  Per this organizing project I'm no longer keeping the spare cuts in with their dies because that was adding bulk, so there goes another whole job of organizing the spare parts.  In this case I decided to simply layer the two doves and make a card.

At the start of the project I went through all the dies to see what I might possibly relinquish.  There are currently 10 die sets sitting on the give-away pile, and this wreath was up for consideration, but I decided its time has not yet come.  When I opened its envelope I found one wreath cut in green, so I cut another in white and layered it.  To make the die appear more dimensional I Copic colored just the bow (it's all one die), then went over the bow with a Ranger Distress Embossing pen and embossed with clear powder.

The sentiment was already stamped, cut, and waiting.  In the photo below you can almost see that the card base was stamped in Versamark with my old SU Flannel Plaid background and embossed with clear powder.  It makes for a glossy textured card front with a hint of pattern, much more visible in real life (and actually very cool).  Put it all together and there's one more Christmas card for the box.

That's lots of talk for one rather simple card, but there's so much more to this craft than just putting a card together.  The thing is, I love all of it -- shopping, creating, organizing, sharing.  I feel so fortunate to have such an interest.  How about you?

Total Christmas cards in the box:  14

Happily, I'm able to play along with Jo and Guest Joanne in the Christmas Kickstart Challenge this month as their theme is Season's Tweetings.  I do have a bird or two in my collection (ahem).

Thanks for putting up with me.  Stay crafty, my friends!

Stamps:  Poppystamps Christmas Banners (dies included), SU Flannel Plaid  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 & 110 lb, SU Always Artichoke (bottom wreath layer)  Ink:  SU Real Red for sentiment, Versamark for Flannel Plaid background (barely visible on card base)  Coloring:  Copics for bow  Dies:  Cheery Lynn Peace Dove, Tutti Designs Wreath with Bow  Other:  Ranger Distress embossing pen, detail clear embossing powder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape to slightly lift dove's wing and tail

Double D Challenge: Splatter

Hi there!  How about another Double D Challenge?  It's all about splatter today.  Big splatters, little splatters, crazy splatters, tidy splatters... let's get messy!

I don't know about you, but my splatters generally get messy.  Today wasn't too bad.  I had my splatter screen and craft mat, and my splatters were fairly well controlled.  I used them as a background for the rose cone -- Penny Black's Flower Scoops.  The cone and rose are separate stamps so you can use them in a variety of ways, but I rather like them together.  I thought it would work as a birthday card with the "sweet wishes" sentiment (Cottage Cutz).

All the coloring was done with Copics on watercolor paper, including the butterfly and die cut words.  After coloring the butterfly wings I went over them with a brush tip Ranger Distress embossing pen.  I love that thing, but I forget to use it.  It's perfect for smaller things such as the butterfly.  I then embossed the wings with a years old Iridescent Peacock powder which gives it clear and truly iridescent stay-in-place sparkle.

The team has some fine samples to share with you, so hop over to Double D and check them out and then I hope you'll splatter along with us!

Have a super day!

Stamps:  Penny Black Flower Scoops  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, Close to my Heart Vineyard Berry, SU Pink Pirouette  Ink:  Palette Noir, SU Rose Red & Pink Pirouette  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  Lil' Inker Silly Stitched Die Set, Memory Box Canyon Butterflies, Cottage Cutz Sweet w/Shadow & Wishes w/Shadow  Other:  SU Subtle embossing folder (on card base), Ranger Distress embossing pen, Iridescent Peacock embossing powder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Birds on a Flowering Branch

Hello and welcome!  I finally have a card to share.  Actually, I made this card maybe two weeks ago, but my big (old) computer where I edit photos simply would not start one day.  It wouldn't even start in the shop for the tech guru.  He was able to save my hard drive but not my programs (also old), so here I am, starting over, learning new software.  Even my monitor wouldn't start with the new computer, so off I went again...

Pictured below is a beautiful Penny Black stamp from last year.  I watercolored with Twinkling H2Os, then added an Easy Expressions from The Ton, and embellished with a few small gems.  I miss my old editing programs, but I'll get the hang of it.  During the cropping and straightening process things went a little wonky.

I'm playing along in the following challenges:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge:  Anything goes or your favorite Penny Black Stamp.  I love all my PB stamps from cute to beautiful, but I'm drawn to anything with a bird, so today it's this stamp called Confidant.  Are they whispering secrets?
Triple B Challenge:  Birds, blooms, or butterflies.  I can't resist.  Look at all that pretty pink in their inspiration board!
NBUS Challenge #86:  Never before used schtuff.  Yes, this beautiful stamp has been sealed in its package since last spring.

 

That's all for now!  Life is busy, but I'll try to be back soon.  We have out of town visitors next week, so housework must be done.  Sophie has already been to the beauty parlor.  An adventure dog can start to look a little scruffy after a while.

Scruffy Sophie

Stay crafty, my friends!

Stamps:  Penny Black Confidant, The Ton Easy Expressions  Paper:  Strathmore 140 lb cold press watercolor, natural white card base, Neenah white sentiment  Ink:  Ranger Archival Watering Can, Stampin' Up Brocade Blue & Memento Tuxedo Black for sentiment  Coloring:  Watercolor with Twinkling H2Os  Other:  Clear gems, foam tape to pop up sentiment

Double D Challenge: Watercolor

Hello friends, and welcome back!  We're kicking off another Double D Challenge today.  Our theme is near and dear to my heart -- watercolor.  Have a look at this beautiful inspiration board:

Since I do love to watercolor my first inclination was to stamp a pretty image and start painting.  However, I also wanted to watercolor some of these Spellbinders flowers so I went that direction.  Then I thought about all the watercolor backgrounds I have in my bag o' backgrounds and I rummaged around and came up with something very rich and summery and here we go -- watercolored Vintage Florals.

It felt a bit like cheating but, hey, it's watercolor.  The green leaves are from another watercolor piece.  It's good to find a use for those backgrounds because I'm mostly a designer paper kinda gal and they get left behind.  Today I'm happy to be using both!

I embossed a piece of 49 and Market Vintage Artistry in Mango with Spellbinders Molded Frame 3D folder.  It's very heavy paper so it worked out nicely.  I sanded some of the raised edges to enhance the embossing.  I cut a frame from another Mango piece -- maybe the flip side? -- and set it into the debossed area of the panel.  The butterfly is cut from the Mango paper ephemera sheet.

That's the details, folks!

The team has their wonderful interpretations of watercolor to share with you on the Double D blog, and we'd love to see yours as well.

Thank you for visiting, and have a lovely spring day!

Stamps:  None  Paper:  Arches 140 lb cold press watercolor, Cougar Natural card base, 49 and Market Vintage Artistry in Mango designer paper  Ink:  Forgotten  Coloring:  Smooshed watercolor  Other:  Spellbinders Vintage Florals, Spellbinders Molded Frame 3D embossing folder, MFT Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frames, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Feline Better

Welcome back, friends!

One of my favorite crafty activities is to design cards with patterned papers or embossing and tuck them away in a drawer for future use.  No pressure to make a card, just having fun with the basics.  Now and then I remember to pull one of those out of the drawer and use it.  It can be fun to start from the bottom up and see what happens.

Today I started with a card base I'd created way back in February 2024.  I have some older than that, too, and it seems to me it's time to use some of the oldies in order to make way for the new ones I continue to make.  I chose the adorable and not-yet-used Inky Antics Charming Kitties #1 for this card.

I Copic colored and hand cut two of the stamps to line up three kitties on the front.  Are they not the cutest?  The sentiment is a vertical stamp, but I inked one word at a time to make a horizontal sentiment which fit better with the sketch.  Sizzix Woodland Borders add some pretty trim.  I'm loving those borders even more than I thought I would now that I'm actually using them.

I used every kitty in the set including the little guy who's pictured below, sitting inside the card with another sentiment:

Love!

I made the card specifically for a friend who is healing from an injury.  She'll just have to smile!

We all need to do more of the things that make us happy.

Take care, and have a joyful day!

Stamps:  Inky Antics Charming Kitties #1  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 & 110 lb, years old designer paper (Chatterbox maybe)  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  Sizzix Woodland Borders, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Spec-tacular Vase

Hi friends!  I've had a few things going on, in and out of my craft room -- it's springtime, after all -- but the only thing I accomplished this week is to finally color up this Spec-tacular Vase by Stamping Bella.  I don't know why it's been so long since Stamping Bella has crossed my radar, but one day I stumbled upon the Spec-tacular series of stamps and I was completely enchanted.  There are a bunch of them at Simon Says Stamp -- look here -- and, oh, my gosh, I want them all!  Can you believe I narrowed it down to one?  I'm sure I'll be going back for more.

I picked up the Spec-tacular Sentiment Set while I was at it.  I have other stamps that will work with these sentiments, too, and one of them is set aside for coloring soon.

Today I watercolored with a variety of Stampin' Up inks, but the gray is Tombow marker.  I managed to include some very old Webster's Pages designer paper with the frame and hearts.

My Spec-tacular Vase will be visiting the following challenges today:

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #40 -- Anything floral goes, with optional mood board.
Addicted to Stamps and More -- Make your mark.
NBUS Challenge #85 -- My never before used schtuffs are the Spec-tacular Vase and Spec-tacular Sentiment Set.

I had a spectacular lot of fun with this.  I hope your day includes some fun as well.  See you soon!

Stamps:  Stamping Bella Spec-tacular Vase and Spec-tacular Sentiment Set  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, Cougar Natural card base, very old Webster's Pages designer paper  Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black  Coloring:  Watercolor with Stampin' Up inks and gray Tombow marker  Dies:  Memory Box Wrapped Stitched Frames, Paper Smooches Hearts

Daffodil Trio

Hello, and welcome to a new week at my happy place!

While spring is still fresh and young I thought I'd color some daffodils.  Those in my garden have long since come and gone, but Penny Black's not-yet-used Flower Scoops from last year will work nicely for a friend's birthday later this month.

The SSS Teardrop Pinpoint Frames on the pretty designer paper provided an extra feminine starting point for the base.  The additional mat was measured and cut with my paper trimmer, and the corners punched with an oldie but goodie decorative corner rounder.  I brushed the edges with Stampin' Up Mellow Moss ink and stamped a sentiment from another PB set.  Off to a good start!

The daffodil bouquet was colored with Tombow markers and blender on watercolor paper, then hand cut and shaped from the backside with a roller ball type stylus.  It's popped up on foam tape, plump in the middle with the edges curled back.  Three iridescent sequins finish the card.

Speaking of springtime and happy place...

Ridley's happy place is anywhere with a ball.  You can probably guess that on this April day he'd been chasing it quite a bit.  It can be hard to get any work done out there, but he's worth it.  The forsythia has now dropped a lot more blooms as the green leaves push them out of the way to have their turn in the garden.

Challenges today:

Triple B Challenge:  Birds, Butterflies, Blooms  -- Today I have blooms.
NBUS Challenge #85 -- My never before used schtuffs are Penny Black Flower Scoops and Simon Says Stamp Teardrop Pinpoint Frames.  I feel like a broken record as many times as I've linked to this challenge.

 

That's all for today, friends.  Wishing you peace and happiness and plenty of crafty time.  Thank you for visiting!

Stamps:  Penny Black Flower Scoops, Super Day  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, Hammermill Premium 100 lb white, Paper Rose Flower Shoppe designer paper  Ink:  Memento Toffee Crunch for image outline, Memento Tuxedo Black sentiment, SU Mellow Moss shading on mat  Coloring:  Tombow markers and homemade blender  Other:  Simon Says Stamp Teardrop Pinpoint Frames, Marvy decorative corner rounder, iridescent sequins, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

April's Christmas Cards: Snowbird

Hello again, friends!  I'm going to share the card I made for the Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge even though I'm barely making the deadline.  The important thing is that it inspired me to get busy.  My goal is to make two or more Christmas cards per month, preferably more.

The challenge board reminded me of this pretty Stamperia Dewdrops paper.  It's 8x8 double sided, enabling two card fronts from a sheet, so that's what I did.  Very simple with only minor differences.  The bird has appeared on my Christmas cards many times.  You know I've got basketsful of not-yet-used supplies, but I still turn frequently to the oldies.

Inside each card is this sentiment with a snowflake cut from the designer paper.

Total Christmas cards in the box:  13

It's better than zero!

I'll be moving along to spring now, thank you.

Have a beautiful day!

Peace On Earth Challenge

Stamps:  Inside sentiment Stampendous You and Yours  Paper:  Hammermill 100 lb premium white, Stamperia Dewdrops designer paper  Ink:  Stampin' Up Bordering Blue (bird) and Brocade Blue (sentiment dies and stamp)  Dies:  Memory Box Airin Bird Background and Snowflake Bird, Cottage Cutz Season's Greetings sentiment, Impression Obsession Small Snowflake Set  Other:  1/8" hole punch and Stickles Diamond glitter glue for snowflake centers