Season's Tweetings

More from the Christmas Card Workshop today!  I'm determined to use all my new or not-yet-used Christmas stamps this year, preferably at least two with each set.  Today it's Power Poppy's Tweet Tidings.  I loved this Chickadee in Barberry as a digital set, but even more now that the Chickadee has a little friend to sing with.  I think those music notes take the cuteness to a whole new level.

The coloring is a combination of Copics and watercolor.  Stamped in Memento ink on Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolor paper, the stamped images are colored with Copic markers.  I like the softer look you get using Copics on watercolor paper, plus I was able to add a gentle glow around them with the watercolor.  You can do that with Copics, too, but for me it's easier, quicker, more subtle and more nicely blended with watercolor.  Watch out for the Memento ink, though.  It will bleed if it gets too wet.

As you can see, the Chickadees are out singing in a snow flurry.  My white paint splatters nearly obscured the bird on the upper branch, and my banner covers up most of the other bird, but I still like it.  At any rate, it's a stamp and I can make more.

So I did.  No paint splatters on the next card, but I added snow using a white pearl pen and microfine glitter.  I also managed to use some of my new Christmas ribbon, which I thought was just the ticket with this stamp set, even though I had to think hard to figure how to work it in.  My brain doesn't seem to think in terms of ribbon these days.

Additionally, Card #2 utilizes an embossing folder on Core'dinations paper, sanded to bring out the pattern.  More details are in the recipe below my signature.

Lots of stamping going on at my house, but I had to stop long enough to restock the groceries, sigh...  We have to eat, and Thanksgiving emptied out the refrigerator.  Enjoy your day!

Stamps:  Power Poppy Tweet Tidings  Paper:  Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolor, Stampin' Up! Mellow Moss, Core'dinations for the embossing folder, Bazzill Walnut, American Crafts Kringle and Co designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU So Saffron and Crumb Cake for watercolor halo, Copic markers for coloring stamped images  Accessories:  Ribbon, sequins, Viva Decor Ice White Pearlen-Pen, Elizabeth Craft Warm Diamonds Microfine Glitter, white acrylic paint, Cuttlebug Heritage Collection embossing folder  Dies:  Spellbinders Ribbon Banners, Poppystamps Main Street Stitched Tags, Taylored Expressions Basic Buckles

Mr. Purdy Loves the Snow

Welcome back!  A big ol' snow fall may not be everyone's idea of a good time, but Mr. Purdy loves it.  He feels like celebrating!  Doesn't he look happy?

I think his name is Mr. Purdy.  I'm not sure.  He's a stamp from Plum Purdy which doesn't even makes stamps anymore.  Some of the best stamps are the oldies.

I colored with Copic markers and touched some of the snow with glitter, then framed him with Poppystamps Dancing Snowflake Frame.  I used some new-to-me Nuvo Jewel Drops for accent -- translucent with a hint of color.  The sentiment is from a handy little Poppystamps set called Believe in Magic.

I made two of these cards exactly alike.  Moving right along!  Sorry to rush off, but I've got a lot more coloring to do.  Merry, merry!

Vintage Baby

Hello, friends!  Well, it's Shop Till You Drop Day or, as in my case, Stay Home and Craft Day.  I've got a baby shower to go to tomorrow and I finished the card in the nick of time.  Easiest card I ever made, too, seeing as how the paper did all the work.

It's busy times like these I'm happy I've got a cupboard full of designer paper.  The mom to be loves vintage so I pulled out this Graphic 45 "Precious Memories" collection.  Oh, I thought about fancying it up a bit more, but in the end I just cut a scalloped edge and added ribbon and buttons.  The folded card measures 3 3/4" x 6 3/4".

There's not much to shout about except to say it's okay to go easy on yourself sometimes.  It's still a hand crafted card and Graphic 45 did a much better job than I could have done in a pinch.  Now I'm heading back to the coloring table for a while.  Have a happy day!

Gingerbread Couples

Hi!  No coloring today, except on the die cuts, but I thought I'd share my cute little gingerbread couples.  Just quick and fun!

The first card shows the Die-namites Gingerbread Couple in their entirety.  Cut in white and colored with Copics.  The card is busy with designer paper and curlicues and snowflakes, but very Christmas-y.  Spellbinders Elegant Ovals and Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflakes were used on both cards, and the designer paper is Echo Park "The Story of Christmas".

The next card is simpler, at least in the design.  This time I cut two couples, one from red card stock and one from green.  Cut away their border and arranged them along the lower curve of the oval.  The sentiment is from Power Poppy's "Spice it Up" set.

I made a third card with the Gingerbread Couple, too, but didn't photograph it.  I've been very busy with the Christmas cards, time willing, and not all of them will get photographed.  I'm really hoping I'll make so many cards I'll have some left over for next year.  A girl can dream, can't she?

Sweet gingerbread wishes for happy holidays, including Thanksgiving for all who are observing it this week!

Spice it Up with Purple

Hello, friends!  Monday again and counting down to Thanksgiving here in the US.  This has always been a favorite week because, not only did it mean special time with family, but it was extra days off work.  Always a rush getting ready, but since retirement I have time to prepare so it's even better!

I do not have a Thanksgiving card today, but it's somewhat food related.  I've colored some spiced up oranges all tumbled up with cranberries and Christmas baubles.

The stamp set is "Spice it Up" from a 2015 Power Poppy Christmas release.  The bright colors make it festive and the sentiment is fun.  Just rummaging through my Power Poppy stamps looking for a sentiment and I felt compelled to stop and color.  I did use the sentiments from this set on some other cards, but the images are so pretty...

Coloring is Copics on Neenah 110 lb, then cut a pretty border with an oft used favorite Spellbinders A2 Bracket Borders One.  A scrap of Graphic 45 paper, sequins, and baker's twine -- an easy finish.

I'm sure I'll be back on Wednesday, but if I don't "see" you I'd like to wish a happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate.  Take care!

Baby Sweet Pea

What, no Christmas card today?  You wouldn't believe the rate at which I've been making them.  It's all this rain.  Nice weather for hiding out in my stamp room.  Well, the babies keep coming with no regard for the time of year, and they're always a delight.  This card welcomes a third little girl to the family next door.

It's all die cuts so relatively quick... you'd think.  These things still take time.  The Die-namites "Sweet Pea" front and center is another of my bargain basement finds at Dies R Us.  I might be doing a good job of clearing them out as this one is gone now.  It's bigger than I expected, even though dimensions are clearly written on the packaging, but it all worked out in the end.

Other dies are as follows:

Spellbinders Grand Squares --  for the pink frame
Joy Craft Square -- all pretty with lattice for the peas to grow on
Memory Box Stitched Scalloped Circles
Memory Box Precious Hearts

More Christmas cards coming next week, but there's another baby on the way, as well.  I'll see you soon.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Here Comes Santa Double D Challenge

Hello again and welcome to another Double D challenge!  Santa will be here before you know it, so that's our challenge today -- Here Comes Santa!

And here's my card made with Power Poppy's Flowering Santa:

Our inspiration board:

And a prize for a random winner:

The snowy Santa in the middle of the inspiration board was my jumping off point.  I watercolored with a combination of Tombow markers and Spectrum Noir sparkle pens.  The snowflake dies were coated with micro-fine glitter.  The snowflake dots were made with a white pearl pen, then sprinkled with micro-fine glitter.

I know there's going to be awe-inspiring entries for this challenge.  You all have knocked my socks off many times!  Team Darlene and Team Diane have lots for you to see on the Double D blog, too, so hop over to check them out, and then play along with your own Santa.  Enjoy!

Stamps:  Power Poppy "Flowering Santa" clear stamp set  Paper:  Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolor, red Bazzill card base, Neenah 110 lb white for snowflake die cuts  Ink:  Ranger Archival Watering Can (dark gray), Palette Noir for sentiment  Coloring:  Tombow markers and Spectrum Noir watercolor sparkle pens  Accessories:  Viva Decor Pearlen Pen - Ice White, Elizabeth Craft Warm Diamonds micro-fine glitter  Dies:  Lil' inker Designs Side Stitched Rectangles, Spellbinders Create-a-Flake Five

The Christmas Gang's All Here

It's looking mighty Christmasy in my stamp room lately.  I'm really getting into the spirit of it now.  Birthday cards for this month are done, Thanksgiving cards are ready to mail, so why not?

Today I've got one that's all cute and fun.  When we went camping in our trailer last month I took my Copics and all the digis I had printed up, but the only one I colored was this Bugaboo "Christmas Trio Blocks".  Now it's made into a card and ready to share.

There's some more of my new Christmas ribbon doubling as a sentiment.  First time use of those cute little Christmas trees, too.  Over a period of time I've taken advantage of the greatly reduced close-out prices on Die-namites dies at Dies R Us.  These trees are called "Slender Trees".  No longer available, but they still have some nice dies for picking and choosing.  They always look better when cut than they do on the packaging.

Each tree is cut once from green glitter paper and once from Neenah 110 lb white, then layered for a little bit of dimension.

I mentioned camping...

LuLu spotted her collar where it was hanging to dry, and she wanted to put her "jewelry" back on.  Wally and LuLu loved the trailer and the whole camping experience.  When there are a few unclaimed days and a break in the weather we can't wait to go again.

It's a busy time for stampers, but what a good time it is!  I'm glad you stopped by for this little respite.  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Bugaboo "Christmas Trio Blocks" digital stamp  Paper:  X-Press It Blending Card, Neenah 110 lb white, green glitter card stock, retired SU Polka Dot Parade designer paper  Ink:  Printer, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Stickles Stardust glitter glue, ribbon, Die-namites Slender Trees dies

Oh Deer, Christmas is Near!

You know you love a stamp set a lot when you bookmark it after seeing it on someone's blog and months later you still love it enough to go back and get it.  That's the story with this "Oh Deer" stamp set by Lil' inkers.  I was smitten after seeing this card on Joan Bardee's blog way back in May, but I waited... and then when I was a lucky random winner in Darnell's most recent NBUS (never before used schtuff) challenge I went shopping.  Of course, you can never get just one thing, can you?  More on that later.  Many thanks to Joan and Darnell!

As soon as I had time I sat down and made three cards, similar, but with small differences.  All are watercolored with Tombow markers on Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolor paper.  The first is on a red card base.

The next two are on a kraft-color base.  Each uses a different paper from the retired BasicGrey "Jovial" collection, and the curve is cut with Spellbinders A2 Bracket Borders One.  I changed up the banner color on each card and gave one a blue wash in the background.  Finished with some splatters toward the top of each image.

There's one more sentiment in the set, plus snow and holly berry stamps, but I'll save those for another time.  Three cards is all I had in me when it comes to production line stamping.  I hope you enjoyed!  These are my first Lil' inkers stamps and they've got me hooked now.  Have a happy day!

Winter Wedding and Bridal Shower Cards

Here's a project I was committed to that I'm happy to have finished.  It's just two cards, but it took me all of one afternoon to make them, and that was after I'd already planned out the design of the wedding card.  My hat is off to all the folks who make fabulous cards using die cuts only.  It doesn't come easily to me.

I promised a friend I'd make cards for a wedding and bridal shower scheduled for December.  Since it's a winter wedding I thought I'd use cool colors, somewhat wintry, but with flowers, so I created a nosegay with blue and silver and lots of white.

The leaves are cut from silver glitter paper.  I added glitter to the roses and scattered pearls throughout.  The netting around the edges is multiple organza flowers folded in half and glued in place.  The "love" is layered a few times for dimension.

I seldom make cards that don't fit in an envelope, but this card will be hand delivered and at 5 1/2" it fits in one of the square clear boxes I have on hand.

Dies used on the wedding card are as follows:

• Cheery Lynn French Pastry Doily
• Die-namites Leafy Flourish
• Memory Box Chloe Stem
• Frantic Stamper Sending Love/Hugs

Next is the bridal shower card which was much quicker.  It's A2 size.

I've had these Prima flowers forever.  They come complete with snow and glitter.  I added the pearls and tucked in the die cut umbrellas.  Stamped a sentiment from Penny Black's "To You" set.  The embossed layer is done with a Cuttlebug Heritage Collection embossing folder.

Dies for the bridal shower card:

• Memory Box Petite Umbrella
• Die-namites Leafy Flourish (with a few branches snipped off)

I still have a couple of baby cards to make this month.  Life doesn't stop just because we're getting close to Christmas!  Have a happy day and I'll see you again soon!

Pumpkin Spice is Nice

Just a simple, but colorful fall card today.  After a few beautiful days there's a chill in the air that's making it sound mighty nice to wrap my hands around a warm cup of brew, whether coffee, tea, cocoa, or a pumpkin spice latte.

I've used another of my Verve Coffee Please digital stamp creations, and this time I stretched it a bit larger and watercolored with Gansai Tambi paints on Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolor paper.  There's nothing more than a border of patterned paper and some stitching to dress it up, and it's ready to mail for a November birthday.

I've been busy making Christmas cards when I have a chance, but then I turned right around and started a wedding card project, so my room is a mess and it's making me crazy.  Hopefully I'll finish something today and clean up.  Have a happy day!