Birthday Chick

Hi, everyone!  I'm back for one last challenge this month, and this one is at my old stompin' grounds -- Double D.  Their challenge is "Balloons" and I just happened to have a -- you guessed it -- not-yet-used stamp that was perfect for it!

It's a Bugaboo digi called Chickz - Happy Birdday Chickie.  I was nearly caught up on my Bugaboo digis when along came one of their 50% off sales.  I weakened.  Anyway, this one is no longer not-yet-used (yay!).

Bright birthday Copic coloring here.  I drew the border rather than add a layer.  It's lightweight, easy mailing, nothing to snag up.  Put one postage stamp on it and it's ready to go.  I mail all my cards, so that's important to me.  The mail can be brutal, no kidding.

Double D Challenge:  "Balloons"   


Thanks ever so much for stopping by!  I hope to see you again soon.  Have a happy day!

'Something New' for Penny Black Saturday Challenge

Hello!  It's a new week, new cards, and more new or not-yet-used supplies.  Today I'm sliding in with not much time to spare for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge with the theme "Something New".  I double checked and it's okay if your "something new" is several months old like mine, as long as it's the first time out of the package.

I'm using a Penny Black set called Be Happy.  Personally, I love the set.  It's not as mainstream as some of their stamps and I'm not sure it was real popular, but what do I know?  I just know I like it.

I wanted a clean look to this card, because that's how I felt at the time.  No inky backgrounds or designer paper.  I cut a frame and added some jungle foliage, not that giraffes generally live in the jungle, but they do live in the desert sometimes, so maybe...  Giraffes also do not have plants growing out of them, but that's what I love about it.  Is it a planter, or is it a whimsical fantasy piece?

By the way, do you know about Okapi?  They're the only living relative of the giraffe and their natural habitat is the rain forest, except they're endangered and now are mostly found in zoos.  They look more like a zebra.  Very cool!

Supplies for this card are listed below my signature.  Wishing you a happy day!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge  

Stamps:  Penny Black Be Happy set, SU Itty Bitty Backgrounds  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, grocer's kraft, Bazzill spring green  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Accessories:  Scotch brand foam mounting tape  Dies:  Hero Arts Wood Frame, MFT Die-namics Wild Greenery

Bowl of Beauty

Happy Friday!  A little more watercoloring today.  Sigh... this is the ever so lovely digital Power Poppy Bowl of Beauty with a sentiment from the clear stamp version, Strong and Beautiful.  Not shy about the colors today!  I used my Tombow markers on Arches 140 lb hot press paper.

One thing about the Tombows is that I can get some very rich, vibrant color with them.  Sometimes that's exactly what I want, and the middle of winter is the best time for it!

It didn't even take too long, considering I spent very little time on the card design.  Honestly, that can take longer than the coloring, but when the image fills the card front, well...  my job is done!

Wishing you a happy weekend!

Ice Cream Bouquet

Greetings, friends!  How lucky was I when I won a GC for Graciellie Designs digital shop?  Very lucky, I tell you!  So I went shopping, of course, and took my time browsing, looking for something different from other stamps in my collection.  I loved this ice cream bouquet!  The set is called Sweetness.

I watercolored with Gansai Tambi paints; really just splashed on the colors and didn't leave much in the way of highlights, but I don't miss them.  It feels okay to me.  Ordinarily I'm excruciatingly detailed with watercolors.  I used sherbet colors and added a strip of designer paper that had all the same colors, stitched it up and good to go.  The sentiment is from the set, too.  Printed separately and popped up.  I lightened the image just a bit before printing.  It's not 'no-line', but 'light-line'.

It was nice to sit down and throw some paints around.  Watercolor is my favorite, for sure.  What's next?  I'll have to peek in my project bags.  See you soon!

Twofer Hearts

Hello!  I have a fun post today as I'm playing along in the Twofer Hearts challenge.  This could not possibly be a difficult theme for me, seeing as how I use hearts on my cards so frequently, but it took me a while to get around to it.  Nevertheless, here they are:

My hearts in common are the smaller of the die cut stitched hearts.  One card is a Valentine, the other a St. Patrick's Day card.

The Valentine is a new-to-me Gerda Steiner stamp set called All Cats.  Along with the lovable cat and all the hearts is another new-to-me item:  Precious Marieke Ribbon Border die.  I'm hoping it will help with some of my vast hoard of ribbon which I need to either use or lose.  It's taking up way too much space where I'd rather store stamps!

Next, the St. Patrick's Day card is using some golden oldie wood block stamps.  The Leprechaun from DOTS (now called CTMH) is one of my first ever stamps.  Too cute to give up!  The sentiment is from Art Impressions, dated 2001.  A perfect pair!

The hearts are Tutti Designs Stitched Nesting Hearts.  Designer papers are years old from my stash.

Thanks for your time today!  I hope this week is going to be a good one for you!

Birdhouse In Frame

Well, I didn't get much done in my stamp room this week.  Last week I was on a roll in there, this week I was on a roll in other areas.  However, I did make a card just so I could use this darling little Cottage Cutz Birdhouse with Vine which I found last month at Scrapping Cottage in their 'retired' category.  I thought this sweet set would make a nice accent on a flower or critter card, but then I was gifted the Sue Wilson Leafy Frame just this month, so I wondered how the two of them would work together.

Hmmm... so I think it's a lot of frame for that little bitty birdhouse, but I do adore the look of it, the colors, the whole works.  The background is Salty Ocean and Twisted Citron Distress Oxide inks directly on the card base, and the birdhouse and punched heart were colored with Copics.

The Leafy Frame does not cut an outer edge, so you can decide if you want to make a frame or an inset pattern.  For this card I cut a panel of white 4 1/2" x 5 1/4" and centered the frame die over it, and that's my card size.

Whether I'm playing with dies or coloring a 'picture' I'm reminded of how much I loved this stuff as a child.  I'm still that same kid, but with better toys.  Are you with me?

Have a happy day!

Stamps:  Hero Arts Small Greetings set  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 & 100 lb  Ink:  Distress Oxide Salty Ocean and Twisted Citron, Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Accessories:  Heart punch, 1" circle punch  Dies:  Cottage Cutz Birdhouse with Vine, Sue Wilson Leafy Frame

Beach Day

I forgot to say I'm on Goldens and Garden today.

Thank you!

Benton Loves His Bubbles

Good grief, I haven't colored Benton since 2013!  I looked it up.  He was new to me then and it was the first and last time I colored him.  That's just wrong!  However, in the midst of chipping away at my collection of new-to-me acquisitions, I came across a bubble bath challenge.  Did you know January 8th is National Bubble Bath Day?

I did break out one not-yet-used item for this card, and that's the bubble stencil.  Actually, it's a bokeh stencil, but it's perfect for bubbles, too.  Benton and his bubbles were stamped in Memento London Fog ink and colored with Copics.  I cut out the words of the sentiment and used a flower punch on the ampersand.  The sketch is current at Freshly Made Sketches.  I followed it to the letter because, really, there was no reason to deviate.  It was ideal for Benton.

The Bubble Bath Day challenge is at Day of the Month Card Club.  They're somewhat new, this being their 11th challenge.  Each runs from the 7th till the end of the month, which gives us slow stampers plenty of time to play:

Also:

Freshly Made Sketch #417 and Double D Challenges "Use a Punch" (a punch was used on the ampersand in the sentiment):

Supplies for this card are listed below my signature.  That's all, folks!  Enjoy your day!

Stamps:  Inky Antics Pampered Benton  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, soft blue Bazzill  Ink:  Memento London Fog, Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Soft Sky for bubbles  Coloring:  Copic markers  Accessories:  Newton's Nook Bokeh Stencil Set, sequins, flower punch  Dies:  Lawn Fawn Outside In Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Stackables, Spellbinders Nested Lacy Pennants

Wish You were Here

One last card for this week, friends.  It's using a Rubbernecker stamp I bought before Christmas but didn't get around to till now.  Heck, a lot of my not-yet-used stamps have been waiting much longer.

I will confess I have a great fondness for cute stamps on cute cards that are light, bright, colorful, and fun.  Of course, you know I also love gorgeous flowers and... well... whatever.  I love a lot of things.  Today my heart belongs to these Rubbernecker 3 Cats in Tree.  I colored with Copics on watercolor paper and cut with the coordinating die.  The frame and heart were cut from a watercolor background.  The sentiment is another RN stamp:  Day in Paradise.

As you can see, I embraced the white space and left the background very clean with nothing more than an embossed card base.  The card is 4 3/4" because I recently bought some 5x5 envelopes which I thought was an unusual find.  I like this card size.  Not too big, not too small.

Inside I stamped an old JustRite sentiment and added another die cut heart.

I hope I'll have some cards next week.  I've been on a cleaning and homemaking binge for a few days, but I'm sure I'll get to my stamp room now and then, too.  Wishing you happiness, and I'll see you soon!

A Rose for Sympathy

While I was taking a little blog break Marcella at Power Poppy came along and gave us a new digital stamp... and when I say "gave" I mean it's FREE to everyone!  It's called Rose -- a simple name for an image of classic elegance.

Marcella created this digital rose in collaboration with Alyce Keegan of Kit and Clowder for one of Alyce's free coloring classes.  This is a big deal for anyone who wants to learn more about coloring.  I checked it out and I'm a little bit stunned by her generosity.  What an opportunity!

For today's rose I used SU Watercolor Wonder crayons (retired), coral over yellow.

I bring these watercolor crayons out to play every now and then.  They're a bit waxy so the colors spread differently than regular paints.  Also, I don't get a lot of saturation.  Nevertheless, I still have them after all these years, and they look so pretty all lined up in their tins.

Needing to replenish my sympathy cards, I chose Power Poppy's Soothing Sympathy clear set for my sentiment.

I'll see you again on Friday.  Wishing you a happy day!

Framed Dahlia

Hey there, and happy Monday!  I don't know about you, but I have a lot of not-yet-used stuff.  I'd like to say I won't buy anything more until I use what I have, but I'm a stamper/card crafter and that's not how it works for most of us.  Every time I look at the not-yet-used baskets or the printed-but-not-yet-colored digi box my head gets all gushy and it's hard to decide what to do next.  There's so much wonderfulness in those baskets!

So I picked out a few things and got some project bags together.  This keeps me focused.  No particular order or preference.  In fact, some of my favorite things have been waiting the longest.  It's as though I'm afraid to mess them up or something.  I don't know, sigh...  Anyway, this pretty little Stamplorations Framed Dahlia stamp was a gift received last summer.

I'm working on my birthday card stash so I stamped an old Hero Arts sentiment and stitched it label-style between the cardstock layers.  Designer paper on a ribbed white base.  Butterflies cut from designer paper.  Using up bits of this and that.  Coloring is Copics on watercolor paper.

My layered birthday card and I are playing along at Seize the Birthday today:

I'll be back shortly with another little something from one of my project bags.  Six more projects in this batch.  That shouldn't take long, right?  A new year always starts with the best intentions.  Supplies listed below.  Have a happy day!

Stamps:  Stamplorations Framed Dahlia, Hero Arts Day to Celebrate  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot pressed watercolor, ribbed white, SU Whisper White, SU Cameo Coral, Bo Bunny Prairie Chic designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  Impression Obsession Butterfly Set

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Hello there!  Do you feel refreshed after Christmas and eager to start a new year?  I sure do!  I have no particular plans or resolutions, but now that the holidays are behind me I feel like I've got some spare crafty time.  So... one thing led to another and I ended up with three cards today.  I'll blame it on organization.

It started with my effort to find space for a rather large purchase of miscellaneous envelopes -- some from CutCardStock, most from our local Staples.  Just stocking up.  In the process of organizing I gathered up a whole bunch of pre-cut cards and moved them to a more handy spot.  Right away I put one of those pre-cut cards to work... the glossy checkered card here:

Promise, I'll list all supplies at the end.  I felt the checkered card was perfect for this retired cars set (Henry).  I've colored him often and love him every time.  However, it was an unrelated Fiskars sentiment set that prompted me to use Henry.  Party on the front, huffing and puffing on the inside:

I hadn't used that particular "over the hill" quote yet and it needed a home.

A second Henry resulted from a stamping error and rather than put him, uncolored, into the card parts drawer I colored and cut him out and gave him his own card.  All stamps on this one are from the Henry set.  The smile word was cut apart after stamping in multiple colors.  I now have a spare "smile", sheesh, and will have to use it soon.  Both Henrys are watercolored with Tombow markers.

Well, gee, I had one more checkered card base (years old) so I upcycled a birthday card I received from our insurance agent.  That's the glossy white panel with sentiment.  I liked the clean style of the original card, but wanted to dress it up minimally for the hand crafted look.  The glossy checkered card base and glittery balloon were all it needed.  Love how this came out!

Well, this was fun for me.  Did you think this post would never end?  I know!  Just wanted to put the related cards in one post.  Supplies are listed below my signature.

Wishing you a wonderful start to the new year.  Thank you so much for stopping by!

Stamps:  Sparkle N Sprinkle "Cars-Henry" (out of business, retired), Fiskars "Make a Wish Quotes"  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot pressed watercolor, Neenah 110 lb white, Cool Caribbean, glossy black, orange glitter cardstock, glossy checkered pre-cut card, upcycled bday card  Ink:  Palette Noir, Memento Tuxedo Black, Cool Caribbean  Coloring:  Watercolor with Tombow markers  Dies:  Lil' Inker Silly Stitched Die Set, Impression Obsession Balloons, Tutti Designs Celebrate Word Set, Memory Box Stitched Circle Layers, Memory Box Banner Parade