Bird-day Party

Hello and happy Monday!  I hope you're all enjoying these early days of fall.  Even here on the Oregon coast it's my favorite season.  We've had a little rain, a lot of sunshine, and very little wind.  It's a good time for a bird-day party in the garden.

I used my Penny Black Songbird Celebrations set one more time before putting it away.  This is my 4th card with the set so I'm feeling pretty good about it.  Copic colored, a little sponging in the background, and some sequins to finish it off.  The 5 1/4" square card allowed room for these two stamps without crowding, and it gave me a chance to use some scraps of pretty Mintay paper.

I'm happy to be sending my party birds along to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  It's always anything goes with an optional twist.  The twist this time is "favorite color".  I didn't use much of it, but for the last few years my favorite color has been yellow.

Thanks so much for your time.  Have a great week!

Stamps:  Penny Black Songbird Celebrations  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, Mintay Bloomville designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  Apricot sequins, Signo Uniball white gel pen (balloon highlights), Wink of Stella (on party hat)

Birthday Linky Party for Nancy!

Hello, there!  Today is all about wishing an extra happy birthday to my friend, Nancy, so we're having a linky party organized by Loll on her blog.  Check it out, and then we hope you can create a birthday card and link it up to wish Nancy a happy birthday.  Pretty sure Nancy won't mind us saying it's a milestone -- 75 years young.  Seriously, if I can be as young as Nancy at 75, I'll be a happy girl!

My card makes me think of Nancy, not only because I made it for her, but because she loves nature and simplicity and alcohol inks.

This is actually regular ol' SU inks which I spread around with 91% alcohol on photo paper.  I don't remember if I spritzed the alcohol or dabbed an alcohol soaked tissue, paper towel, or cotton ball.  The important thing is dye-based inks and 91% alcohol with either photo paper or glossy paper.  It's fun to experiment with whatever you have laying around.  I'll experiment more soon and see about taking pics along the way.

I layered the die cut trees, and finished the card simply with an embossed sentiment and a die cut leaf, all on a shimmery copper card base wrapped with copper cord.

Thought I'd share a pic of Nancy and me for old time's sake.  Photo was taken April 2004 in her driveway after we'd been garden shopping (we did that a lot).  Nancy and I worked at the same medical center for many years, started our stamping journey together, and shared plenty of other interests, as well.  Until COVID we continued to enjoy play dates and visits, sigh.

When I was looking for this picture I came across a wealth of other pics showing activities with friends, fun groups, lots of laughter.  That has all quieted down for the time being.  Someday we'll be normal again.

Happy birthday, Nancy!!  Big virtual hugs!

Stamps:  SU It's Your Birthday sentiment  Paper:  Photo paper for background, shimmery white, shimmery ivory, shimmery copper  Ink:  SU inks for background (cannot remember colors), Versamark for sentiment  Other:  Terra Cotta embossing powder, copper cord, 91% alcohol, Poppystamps Boddington Tree Border, Impression Obsession Small Leaf Set

Snowy Tree Scene

Welcome back!  Fiddling around with some things I'd pulled from the drawers, making a mess on my desk... I decided to turn some of the mess into a card.  The die is Tutti Designs Fir Trees Arch Scene -- not yet used, but definitely on the Christmas card line up this year.  Two 110 lb layers over an alcohol ink background.

About that background... I own exactly 3 alcohol inks which I bought when they very first came onto the market way back in I-don't-know-when.  All this time I just haven't been sure if I wanted to start collecting a whole other thing, if you know what I mean.  Anyway, this is my 3 color background on photo paper with 91% alcohol as the blending solution.  It looks fine to me.

The snowflakes along the bottom of the card are those that popped out when the die was cut.  Quite usable and not something I could bear to toss out.  Cutting two dies I ended up with 16 snowflakes this size.  I used some inside the card, as well, but still have quite a few little snowflakes left.  They'll be showing up on other cards.

I'll send my card with its NBUS tree die over to NBUS Challenge #18.  I know, practically every card I make heads over to that challenge.  It's just that I have so much NBUS and I'm trying to use it.

More supplies are listed below.  Thanks so much for your time today!

Stamps:  SU Heard from the Heart sentiment  Paper:  Neenah 80 lb card base, 110 lb for dies, photo paper for AI background  Ink:  SU Bermuda Bay for sentiment, alcohol inks are Wild Plum, Stream, and Butterscotch  Other:  Tutti Fir Trees Arch Scene

Three Little Birds in Navy and Turquoise

Hello, and happy Monday Fun Day!  This is when the cute and/or quirky stamps come out (as if I need a reason).  That seems to be the "buy me" trigger these days.  I saw these birds on Bonnie's blog right here, loved them, looked them up and bought them before I even left a comment on her post.

I white embossed (same as Bonnie did), but then watercolored with SU inks.  It's been forever since I used those inks for watercoloring.  In the past they were my go-to medium, but then so many other things came along.  I really enjoyed this and will use them again soon.

The "thanks" is a resin disk that's been in my stash for a long time.  Rummaging around in my self-adhesives, I unearthed this and two others that I hope to use soon.  I'll list all supplies at the end.

• I probably would have given these birds a lot more color, but today they're representing me at Color Hues Challenge #2 -- Navy and Turquoise.  Neutrals are welcome.  I think they look great in these colors!
• It's my Three Little Birds first time out of the package, so I'll be heading over to Darnell's NBUS Challenge #18, too.

  

Thanks for your time!  I just received a new package of stamps in the mail (ahem), so I'll be admiring them and shuffling them around on my table for a while and, hopefully, using them soon.  They're fall stamps and will definitely be getting colored this year.

Enjoy your day!

Stamps:  Impression Obsession Three Little Birds, Hero Arts You're a Great Friend, SU Itty Bitty Backgrounds (splatters)  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb watercolor, Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, SU Cool Caribbean  Ink:  Versamark, SU Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Night of Navy, Creamy Caramel  Other:  White embossing powder, resin sentiment disk, Paper Smooches Foliage 1

Twofer Trees

Hello on a Thursday!  Today's play is for the Twofer Card Challenge.  The prompt is "trees" and I have no shortage of tree stamps and dies.  The hard part was choosing which to use.  Ultimately I went with a very old wood block stamp from All Night Media called Tall Pines.

The sympathy card will go into a batch I'm making for a friend.  I stenciled a cloudy sky in Pale Plum and the hillside in Going Gray.  There's a moon nestled in the clouds, but I'm not sure how obvious it is.  After all the ink was applied I smooshed the whole panel with Versamark ink and embossed with ultra-thick embossing powder.

The Christmas card shows the trees stamped just once on black cardstock and embossed in white.  The Memory Box Pine Forest Frame was cut in gold and situated over top.  I brought the sentiment in from the side and dry embossed a border along the bottom of the card.

Two different occasions, two completely different card designs, both using the same tree stamp.  Now I've filled a card need and I used a beloved old stamp from my stash.

Twofer Card Challenge #31 -- Trees

Thanks for taking the time to visit.  I hope you have a beautiful day!

Sympathy Card --  Stamps:  All Night Media Tall Pines, Just Right Sympathy Nested Sentiments  Paper:  SU Whisper White, other black  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Pale Plum, Going Gray, Versamark  Other:  Ranger Queen's Gold embossing powder, gold brads, Heffy Doodle Cloudy Skies stencil, Spellbinders Scored and Pierced Rectangles, Spellbinders Double Ended Tags, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Christmas Card --  Stamps:  SU Many Merry Messages (retired)  Paper:  SU Whisper White, other black, gold mirror  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark  Other:  Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder, white embossing powder, Memory Box Pine Forest Frame

CAS Christmas Tree

Hello and happy Monday!  I hope you're well and keeping spirits up.  All is good when I'm in my stamp room and my Golden Retriever bubble where I can set everything else aside.  Speaking of which,  I set the summery cards aside for the moment so I can play along in the CAS Christmas Card Challenge.  The prompt is "Christmas Tree".  I could do a million of 'em with all the different Christmas tree stamps in my collection, but for now I have these two:

I used one Bugaboo digital stamp called Christmas Tree Row.  The digi image is a row of 6 trees, cut down the middle to make two cards.  Unfortunately the Stickles glitter did not photograph very prettily, tsk tsk.  I took multiple pics, the glitter was dry... too much time spent, so I called this one good.

CAS Christmas -- Christmas Tree

NBUS #18 -- My Bugaboo digi is a first time use.

All done for Monday Fun Day!  I'm running a little behind this week so I'm not certain when I'll pop in again.  It all depends on how the stars line up... or something.  Take care! 

Stamps:  Bugaboo Christmas Tree Row digi, Hero Arts Christmas Greetings  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, Bazzil white card base, red for mat, glitter paper scrap, Echo Park Story of Christmas designer paper  Ink:  Printer, Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  Sizzix Primitive Stars die, Stickles Golden Rod, Holiday Red, and Stardust glitter

Old Time Hollyhocks

Let's wrap up this busy week with Flowerful Friday and some pretty Power Poppy Old Time Hollyhocks.  This is a digital stamp and one of many I printed a while back and have not yet colored.  They're all sitting in a box and I love to look through them and take my time choosing.  It can be hard to narrow down the choices.

This one was printed on Neenah Super Smooth, so I colored with Copics and then stenciled the background.  Truthfully, it didn't turn out as pictured in my head, but certain things went wrong and... well... you know how it goes.  Products are listed below.

Whether end of summer or stepping into fall, my Power Poppy teamies have been coloring some lovelies to show you.  See here:

• Stacy
• Broni

I'm so glad you stopped by.  I just want to say how deeply sorry I am for the hardships all are facing due to the fires here in the west and the crazy weather all across the country.  Some of the smoke settled in on us here and it gave me just a hint of how awful it is for those who are closer to the fires.  Hugs to all!

Stamps:  Power Poppy Old Time Hollyhocks digital stamp  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, scrap designer paper  Ink:  Printer, SU Pool Party  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  Self adhesive silver border strip, Carabelle Studio 'Tricot' stencil

Floral Frame Twice

Hi there!  Today I have two more cards made with the Stampendous Floral Frame stamp.  For the first card I did something a little different in that I stamped the floral part repeatedly to make a background.  The coloring is a little different, too.  It's Copics, but with absolutely no blending.  It's just simple and cheery.  The big "hello" is a Cottage Cutz, the hearts are punched.  I'll list everything below.

The next card is a quickie with more of the simple coloring.  I drew borders with a marker and punched the corners.  I don't know if you can see the subtle texture of the blue card base.  It was done with the new-to-me Subtle embossing folder from Stampin' Up!  I'm really loving that folder because it turns all my plain cardstock into textured cardstock.  I put the whole folded card in the folder so it's textured on all sides.

I have one more card for tomorrow and then we'll see about next week.  See you soon!

Card #1 -- Stamps:  Stampendous Floral Frame  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, black Bazzill, SU Rich Razzleberry textured  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  Center oval from Memory Box Oval Master Frame, Cottage Cutz Hello Phrase  Other:  SU 3 in 1 heart punch

Card #2 -- Stamps:  Stampendous Floral Frame  Paper:  X-Press It Blending Card, SU Bashful Blue  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Brilliant Blue marker  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  SU Subtle 3D embossing folder, McGill corner punch

Blooming Birthday

Welcome back and thanks for coming!

I'm using two of my newest stamps today -- Rubbernecker Brushed Flower #6 and Special Joy -- because I always need more birthday cards.  I have more new flowers from Rubbernecker and I'm loving all of them.  New favorites.  Just sayin'.

This is the simplest Copic coloring using only yellow and green because I'm playing along here:

Color Hues Challenge #1

It's also a very CAS design because of this challenge:

CAS Mix Up -- Embossing with Dies.  Several videos are linked on the challenge blog.  The one I watched is Embossed Impressions.  Now I finally have a die embossing sandwich that works great!  The die I used is Impression Obsession Fancy Cut Out Border.  I'm ready to go again on this technique.  It's way fun!

Of course, I have to link up with Darnell's NBUS Challenge #18 again, too.

That's all for today.  Thank you so much!

Bird on a Mushroom

Hello again!  It's an unusual situation that I'll have a post every day this week, but there are certain challenges that caught my eye and I'd like to join in before the week is over.  At the same time I've got my self-challenge to use all the summer-themed NBUS I set aside, and fall is closing in fast, so the race is on.  Pretty sure I'm going to lose that race, but I'm still having fun.

Today I have an All Dressed Up digital stamp called Woodland Bird.  Maybe it doesn't look like a birthday card, but it is.  I made it for our 9 yr old neighbor.  The bird with mushrooms is the digital stamp.  I added the sentiment and music notes from my stash.

For extra color and festivity I added die cut fun flowers and plenty of sparkle.  The heart which hangs from the mushroom has "tweet dreams" written on it, but I covered that with a punched heart, considering this is a birthday card.  Sorry, no balloons or cake or candles.  Coloring was done with Copics.

Sharing the inside which uses an oldie bird stamp from my stash, plus the music notes (from a Power Poppy Christmas stamp set), and a brand new-to-me Rubbernecker sentiment.  A lot of different things from my stamp room came together for this card!

 

I'll list supplies below my signature, but first -- today's challenges:

Double D Challenge -- Colorful.  I had this challenge in mind from the beginning and I'm hoping this is colorful enough.

All Dressed Up Challenge #108.  Anything goes with an All Dressed Up image.

NBUS Challenge #18.  The All Dressed Up digi stamp and the inside Rubbernecker sentiment are NBUS.

Thank you so much for your time today.  Wishing you all things wonderful!

Stamps:  All Dressed Up Woodland Bird digi, Power Poppy Tweet Tidings (music notes), Power Poppy Best Day Ever, inside -- Great Impressions bird, Rubbernecker Tweet Birthday  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, retired SU designer paper  Ink:  Printer, Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  MFT Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frames, Memory Box Flower Stack  Other:  Stickles Cinnamon and Stardust glitter, Wink of Stella, SU 3 in 1 heart punch, Scotch brand foam mounting tape (one flower)

Mushroom Scenes -- Two Cards

Hello and happy Monday!  When I sorted out all my not-yet-used supplies for last-of-summer card making, I did not forget the dies.  You know how I've gone nuts a few times at The Scrapping Cottage on their sales... well, I've done a pretty good job of using my Cottage Cutz dies, actually.  Today I've played with mushrooms.

All supplies are listed at the end of this post, so I'll be brief here.  I just want to say how fun these cards were to make.  On the first card I colored the Mushroom Garden with Copics and cut a window to an ink blended panel.  I used DOX inks and brushes for that.  Stamped the sentiment multiple times to get it good and crisp over the chalky inks.

On the second card the Spring Mushrooms die is all one piece so I made it a silhouette (so easy), and then I remembered Newton's Nook Garden Mice (thanks to Cat).  Yay!  Framed the mushroom scene with some paper I'm trying to use up, plus cut a little hillside to ground the mouse and his mushroom.  Again, supplies are listed at the end.

So this was my Monday Fun Day post.  I'm trying to get back in the swing of Monday Fun Day, Whatever Wednesday, and Flowerful Friday.  It helps me stay focused, and Mondays are a good excuse to indulge in the cute stuff.  Not that I need an excuse... I might do cute stuff on Wednesdays, too, or flowers...  just sayin'... that's why it's called Whatever Wednesday.  I'll stop talking now.  See you again soon!  Stay safe, stay well.

Card #1 --  Stamps:  Impression Obsession Fill Your Day  Paper:  SU Whisper White, Neenah 110 lb for dies, Mintay Bloomville designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Oxide Scattered Straw and Abandoned Coral  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  Cottage Cutz Mushroom Garden, Lil' Inker Silly Stitched Die Set, circle die for window

Card #2 -- Stamps:  Newton's Nook Garden Mice, SU Sassy Sayings II  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, black, My Mind's Eye Rosy designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Oxide Salty Ocean  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  Cottage Cutz Spring Mushrooms, MFT Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frames, Poppystamps Stitched Landscapes  Other:  Heffy Doodle Cloudy Skies Stencil

Humming By

Hello, again!  It's time to wrap up the week on the stamping blog.  I've made so many cards I don't know if I'll have time to post them all before Christmas, but maybe if I double up whenever possible.  Today, however, it's just one card -- Power Poppy Trumpet Vine Visitor digital stamp, sentiment included.  Actually, there are 5 images in this set.

It's not brand new in the shop, but it's one of many I printed a while back and have been gradually coloring.  An image like this is timeless, thank goodness.  This one was printed on Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press paper and watercolored with Tombow markers.  I tried to keep the coloring loose and not worry overmuch about the detail.  There are smudges and other imperfections, but that's one thing I like about watercolor -- it's very accepting and forgiving.  Just leave some highlights and it's bound to look okay.

The frame was watercolored, too, with multiple inks.  The card base, which is covered with some old designer paper, was pulled from my card parts drawer.  Hooray for using another piece from that drawer!  Honestly, I tried many different colors for the card base, and this one just seemed to work best.  You had to have been there.

By the way, my scale says this card with lining and envelope and protective cover sheet still comes in under one ounce.  Hooray again!

Thanks so much for spending part of your week with me.  Wishing you all happy days till we meet again!

Stamps:  Power Poppy Trumpet Vine Visitor digital download  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, Neenah white card base, BasicGrey June Bug designer paper  Ink:  Printer  Coloring:  Watercolor with Tombow markers  Other:  Memory Box Wrapped Stitched Frames, Memory Box Stitched Circle Layers

Floral Frame Watercolor

Hello there and welcome!  It's about time I colored this very fun bouquet that's been sitting unused in my basket for a few months.  Shame on me.  Just look how cheerful it is!  I love how the flowers are splashed together all carefree, and that's the way it begs to be colored, too.  No muss, no fuss, and I adore it!  The stamp is Floral Frame from Stampendous.  One image and lots of sentiments.

I watercolored with Tombow markers.  I did not plan to cut out the image, but I stamped it crooked, so this was the fix and the card is better for it.  You know how that happens.  The striped base is some heavyweight cardstock.  The black oval was already cut and waiting to be used.  A super quick card.  Why did I wait so long?  After I finished this one I colored two more.  So easy!  I'll share them a little later.

Today's card is heading over to Darnell's NBUS Challenge ~ 18 which is always anything goes as long as it's never before used schtuff.

I'll be back soon.  I've been doing a lot of stamping and coloring since our last camping trip.  I think we're done with that for a while as everything is very dry here in the west and fires are raging.  We're safe, but many people are not so fortunate.  Hugs to all!

Stamps:  Stampendous Floral Frame  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press, black, Park Lane 110 lb designer cardstock  Ink:  Palette Noir  Coloring:  Watercolor with Tombow markers  Other:  Center oval from Memory Box Oval Master Frame