Flowerful Friday: The Real Deal

I went into my stamp room to tidy up a little, looked out the window and that was the end of tidying up.  I had to go outside.

The garden path beckons.

The cherry tree is blooming.

The fiddlers are fiddling.

The forsythia is bursting.

Even as pesky as the violets can be, they're still pretty.

As this post goes live, we've just come home from our first camping trip of the year.  Gorgeous weather.  Oh, my goodness, spring has arrived!  I'll visit again soon, I hope.  Wishing you a beautiful weekend!

Whatever Wednesday: Landscape, Inlay Style

Hello again!  More fair weather card making today.  When the sun comes out the cards get simpler.  I needed a masculine "thinking of you" card, and this one fit the bill.  It left my house so quickly I don't even remember what I stamped inside.

I'd been admiring the Tutti Designs stained glass dies and had all of them bookmarked for future shopping.  Well, along came a not-to-be-resisted sale at Dies R Us, and three of them jumped into my basket.  This one is "Landscape".   Appropriately named.

It's a no-fuss card design, but colorful, and I have to say I could thoroughly enjoy making bunches of these.  Absolutely no special coloring skills required.  In fact, it seems to want this child-like simplicity.  Maybe I'm just telling myself that so I can keep on making them along these lines.  That's the plan, I'll confess.

I needed a quick card, but I still wanted to have fun with it, so I did this somewhat like a jigsaw puzzle.  Cut the die from white paper and poked the inner pieces out, just letting them fall in a jumbled up pile.  Glued the die cut outline onto the wood grain panel, and then commenced putting my puzzle together.  I determined where each piece fit and then colored it accordingly, using Copic markers.  Finished up with a second die cut outline glued over top for dimension.

I made one of these on vellum, too, with a black outline and some embellishment, but this simpler one with the white outline had my heart.  I'll look forward to coloring the other two -- birds and flowers.  I'm curious as to how they'll turn out.

I'll pop back in when I can.  As of this writing I'm officially out of cards, but we'll see what happens.  Coloring is in progress, sigh... springtime!  Enjoy your day!

Monday Fun Day: Birds and Blooms and Thinking of You

Welcome to Monday!  The sun came out and suddenly all activity turned to spring things such as gardening and preparing our trailer for a season of camping and travel.  I'm surprised I stamped at all, but I can't seem to stay away from it entirely.  I recently finished up a batch of two dozen cards for a friend, so now I'm back to playing with my new or not-yet-used goodies.

Today I'm using a new-to-me stamp set, recently received as a gift, and I adore it.  Perfect for fair weather stamping when I don't have much time.  The stamp set is Inkadinkado "Pattern Play Inchie".  Nine different inchie stamps to mix and match, three of which I used here.  That little tag stamp is going to come in handy!

Also new to me is the Memory Box Pinpoint Double Frame die and the gingham paper.  I know... sales... what're you gonna do?  I have to stop looking.  I bought a whole 12 x 12 pad of the gingham paper at Wal-Mart.  What was I even doing in the craft section?  I went there for dog towels, sheesh.  Well, since I now have so much gingham paper I made the whole card with it.  I lined the inside with white to make it more sturdy.  Worked like a charm and turned out pretty cute!

I added a little more designer paper with the borders and flags, plus a linen thread bow.  It all worked out to make a cheerful get well card.

Thanks for sharing time with me today.  I hope you're enjoying some pretty spring weather.  It sure is uplifting!

Flowerful Friday: Twofer Challenge -- Pets

Hello!  I have quite a few photos today, so I'll use my words sparingly.  Today is Flowerful Friday, but I was running out of time to play along in Darnell's Twofer Pets-Theme Challenge.  I couldn't pass this one up, so I combined the two -- flowers and pets.

I used dog stamps and flower dies, and many of you know I have two Golden Retrievers, so we'll imagine these dogs are Wally and LuLu.  The first is a "hello" card.  The stamps are Inkadinkado Dogs, and the die is Sue Wilson Daisy Cluster.

The die cut is colored and layered and popped up, and 1/4" punched, glittered circles added to the flower centers.

The second card is a Valentine for my Rich.  I'm about 10 months ahead!

Both cards are easy, clean, cute, and I wish I loved everything I make as much as I love these cards.  The Valentine is a 5" square, lots of white to avoid looking too busy.   A very pretty Joy! craft Square Frame die and Die-namites Rose Bouquet.

A closer peek at the Rose Bouquet which was cut from designer paper.  I colored the rose buds and leaves/stems with Copic markers, and left the bow as is.  It might be my new favorite thing to do with die cuts.

We're asked to photograph both cards together for the link, so here's my twofer together:

And the inside of each card:

Also, Darnell suggested it might be fun to show a pic of our own pets, so here's my real-life twofer, Wally and LuLu:

Guess which one's the girl.  Our son taped that flower to her head and she seemed very proud of it, even though I'm sure she didn't even realize it was there.

I'll wrap this up with the link and graphic.  I'm sure glad I made time to play along.  Thanks Darnell and Twofer Team!

Twofer Challenge -- Pets

Double D Challenge: Friendship

Are you ready for another Double D Challenge?  This one has all kinds of possibilities as the theme is "Friendship", one of life's most valued treasures.

I have many stamps and sentiments that would work for this challenge and would have fit the mood board perfectly, but I chose to use one of my new Stampendous Laurel Burch stamps called "Leopard Jungle", which includes these three parrot friends.

Our mood board:

The team votes on favorites, but there is also a prize for a random winner:

You may wonder where the leopards are in this Leopard Jungle stamp.  Well, it's a large stamp and I used only the top half of it.  Alternatively, I could color only the bottom half where the leopards are, or I could color the whole thing.  It's like three stamps in one.  A bargain!

Colorful, isn't it?  I used Copics on X-Press It Blending Card, and some DCWV Animal Crackers designer paper.  A frame made with Die-namics Wonky Stitched squares, and accented with Die-namics Wild Greenery dies.   Nothing subtle here at all.  It took some time to apply all these different colors, but sometimes you just have to let it go.

I hope you can join us with your version of a friendship card.  There is a nice variety of inspiration by the team on the Double D blog.  Have fun, and enjoy your day!

Stamps:  Stampendous Leopard Jungle, Penny Black Friends Matter  Paper:  X-Press It Blending Card, white card base, CTMH Citrus Leaf, Neenah 110 lb white for leaf die cuts, DCWV Animal Crackers designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Die-namics Wonky Stitched Squares, Die-namics Wild Greenery, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Monday Fun Day: Drink Rainbows, Eat Glitter

Happy Monday!  Well, here I am having fun again.  I hope it's a good day for you, as well.  Would you like to see more rainbows and blue skies long about now?  Across the northern hemisphere the weather is still pretending it's winter, but throwing in a nice day for a teaser now and then.  I wish it would make up its mind!  Guess I'll just have to pretend, too... pretend it's not pouring down rain outside right now.

I played with a new stamp set today.  No, it's not that cute little mouse girl.  It's the sentiment -- one of several in Your Next Stamp's Whatnot Sentiment Set Eleven.  Lots of good, useful sentiments in the set, but, honestly, this is the one that sold me.

I didn't have a Your Next Stamp character to go with the sentiment (although I have some cute ones bookmarked for later, ahem) so I pulled out this very old, yet still joyful, mouse girl by Great Impressions.  Mixing old with new is a real treat for me and justifies that hoard of stamps sitting in the drawers.  I know you have them, too.

Okay, the particulars:

• The background is rubbed with SU! Tempting Turquoise, then splattered with water.
• I made the rainbow with oval dies, which wasn't quite as easy as I expected it to be, so now I'm thinking along the lines of a rainbow die set -- another "later" for my wish list.  Smeared the rainbow with glue and sprinkled with SU! Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  It's all sugary and I love it!
• Poppystamps Stitched Landscapes and Twirly Clouds.  Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangle Stacklets.
• Punched flowers and sparkly Nuvo drops sprinkled across the landscape.
• Copic coloring.
• The little mouse girl is popped up because she's jumping for joy, so happy about her friend's birthday and the prospect of drinking rainbows and eating glitter.

If you've read to the end, thank you for that.  I enjoy our little visits.  We're all in this stamping thing together, aren't we?  Have a happy day!

Flowerful Friday: Camellias with Verse

Today's stamping is another card for my friend's order.  She loves flowers and scripture, and has specifically requested this verse.  The flowers and the verse are both digital stamps from Power Poppy -- Camellias and Garden Fireworks.

I printed the Camellias a while back, having goofed around with filters in Photoshop.  Gave them a somewhat sketchy look, but I can't remember exactly how.  I do like it, though.  I did some selective coloring and cutting in order to make everything fit on the card.

The Camellias are printed on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and colored with Copic markers.  The card front is covered with some delicately patterned designer paper and a pale chartreuse frame.  I left it embellishment-free for ultimate mailability.

That wraps up the week, friends!   Lots of busy stamping fit in around the rest of life's agenda.  Today is our son's birthday and it's Friday the 13th.  The first time his birthday fell on Friday the 13th it gave me a real creepy feeling, but this year we're celebrating with him and simply enjoying ourselves.

Thank you so much for dropping in.  Have a good weekend!

Whatever Wednesday: CAS Christmas Card Challenge

Hi there!  I'm playing along in the CAS Christmas Card Challenge today.  The prompt this time is "Ornament".  I really needed a nudge this month, being busy fulfilling my friend's card request, so I appreciate this challenge immensely.  Must make progress on those Christmas cards!

Happily, I've used another printed-but-not-yet-used digital stamp from my box.  This is Power Poppy's Acorn Ornaments, sentiment included.

Lots of white space, easy to mail.  I do love a splash of color on an all-white card.

Colored with Copic markers on X-Press It Blending Card.  The frame was made by nesting two Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangle Stacklets.  I added a Poppystamps Wispy Pine Needle Corner, cut in green and coated with Crystal Stickles glitter glue.

I have to say this was a very quick card to make.  CAS sure saves a lot of time.

Sending a thank you to the CAS Christmas Card Challenge team for all their inspiration, and a big thank you to all of you for stopping by.  Have a good day!

Monday Fun Day: Cute as a Bug

Happy Monday Fun Day, friends!  I sure am glad there are three little girls next door who are all cute as bugs because it gave me a good reason to color this Bugaboo "Cute as a Bug Sign" digi.  It's one I've had for a while, but not yet colored, tsk tsk.  I'm making every effort to catch up with all these stamps, digis, dies, embossing folders... but then I went shopping and have received a few gifts, as well...  I believe I'm still gaining, though.  I have plenty to keep me busy!

Oh, my goodness, this was a fun card to make!  Printed on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and colored with Copic markers.  Bright colors, polka dot paper.  Lots of grins and giggles!

The Ladybug Border is a Joy Crafts die.   I cut it in red, then left the die in place to use as a stencil for coloring all the black with a fine-tipped Sharpie.  I also brushed over the die with Wink of Stella, but it doesn't show in the photo.

Happiness!  I hope it gives you a smile.  Enjoy your day!

Flowerful Friday: Red Roses for Sympathy

Welcome back!  Today's Flowerful Friday is another sympathy card.  Still working on that order and making prettier cards when I have the chance.  This is an 1893 illustration from The New Guide to Rose Culture.  I promised myself I'd color more of the digis I saved from Digital Two For Tuesday, so they'll be sprinkled in here and there.  Remember, everything at DTFT is a freebie.  You can find these roses here.

This image does have a vintage look, but I lightened it up with white and pretty aqua.  You can see it's printed in sort of a teal-green.  I like that.  However, it was absolutely not my idea.  It was my printer's idea.  It does the strangest things when it needs a nozzle cleaning, and it needs a nozzle cleaning every time I use it.  Well, I forgot... and imagine my surprise when it printed this color.

I printed on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and used Copics for coloring.  Retired Just Rite sympathy sentiment in die cut rectangle.  Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frames.

I'll pop in with something cheerful on Monday.  Staying focused...  Have a happy day!

Whatever Wednesday: A Suitably Masculine Sympathy Card

Midweek greetings!  I've been working on a card order -- mostly sympathy, get well, and thinking of you.  Although my friend says she doesn't mind extra postage, I try to keep her cards mailable with one postage stamp.  However, they do have to look crafty, which is why she comes to me in the first place.  In an effort to make some quick progress I started out simple, creating four cards with this design:

As stated in my title, it's suitably masculine.  She cards everyone so I can't forget the guys.  Ordinarily I shy away from black for sympathy cards, but in this case it was the best effect for the silhouette die.

Spellbinders Bird Call die, layered and matted on some old Prima designer paper.  A very old Just Rite sympathy sentiment set which remains an all-time favorite.  The leaf sprig is Die-namics Wild Greenery.

The next photo is the same design, different card.  Maybe you'll notice the slight color variation.  A little more pink in this one.  The first card has a textured white base while this card uses Neenah 110 lb white.  The black silhouette is layered on white with a little showing at the top edges for highlight.

Inside they all look like this:

Really and truly simple but there's something about it I like.  If it helps anyone with a quick idea for a masculine sympathy card, then it was worth the effort to post it.

I'll see you again on Flowerful Friday.  Till then... have a happy day!

A New Month

We've turned the page on our Golden Retriever calendar, which means we have a new picture to enjoy before we turn the page again.  Just thought I'd share...  This is Wally, our Field and Stream boy.  He always looks like he's posing for a magazine shot.

Honestly, I'd intended to share each month's photo when we turned the page, but most of these I've shared before, either here or on Goldens and Garden (which I haven't posted to in forever, sorry).  So, for all dog lovers and friends of Wally and LuLu... here's a little catch up.

January -- Wally

February -- LuLu and Wally

March -- LuLu

The last three pictures will enlarge when you click on them.

We do enjoy a good deal of outdoor life with lots of exercise and fresh air.  Winter doesn't stop us, but, ohhhh, how I'm looking forward to a break from all this dampage!  See you tomorrow!